Late last year, we got some eye-opening reports on how hard the pandemic has been on Scientology from someone inside the organization. We dubbed them The Insider, and they told us about chaos caused by Covid, new details on the ‘Chase Wave’ financial debacle, a detailed description of the Ideal Org scam, and predicted the new ‘Golden Age of Admin’ that was on the way. Now they wanted to give us another update, this time about the Ideal Org program going through some changes. – T.O.
It is rather well established that the “Ideal Org program” is a monumental failure in that it has not resulted in any “expansion” for Scientology – unless you’re counting square feet of real estate, which Miscavige certainly is.
What has also been suspected is that the “cost” of these new buildings are grossly inflated. Many of the furnishings are produced in house by Sea Org members [read: enslaved workers] at a cost far less than would be attainable in the real world with all those “pesky labor laws.”
In my previous writings on the Ideal Org program I stated “If the actual cost exceeded 40 percent of the total funds raised, I would be surprised. It’s likely less.” Now I have confirmation of my suspicions.
Scientology claims that the Ideal Org program is a roaring success. Anyone that’s been on staff has at some point looked around at the abysmal state of their Ideal Org and thought “The way all these other orgs are expanding, we must be the worst org on the planet!” The big joke is that everyone has that same thought, and no one is expanding.
Long before the building is staffed and opened, the public spend years fundraising with the promise of unprecedented expansion in their city. If you are on staff in an Ideal Org today, it’s almost certain you weren’t there during the fundraising. Most of the staff are shipped in from all over the country and world, as there simply aren’t enough public to man it up locally.
As difficult as it is to staff an org when you have so few participants, it’s easy enough to shuffle around staff from here and there; or failing that simply fill it with Sea Org members as has been done in Columbus, Kansas City, and Orlando.
But when it comes to fundraising, you can’t just shuffle money around like staff – and as the whole point is to extract wealth – the burden falls on the local public.
This has usually been accomplished over a relatively short time period (in Scientology years), about a decade or so. I’ve previously detailed the methods used to obtain money from broke public known as the “Chase Wave.” But that particular scheme is no longer in place. So, what now? How is Miscavige to continue the ruse? The answer to that has come from several Scientology insiders in South Africa.
As I will illustrate, what’s happening in South Africa demonstrates two potential things:
Without the Chase Wave, opening new Ideal Orgs in the USA is practically impossible; at least in the way its been done so far. And Miscavige is aware of this, and is enacting a new plan that will continue to allow Scientology to claim that it’s growing, while the only actual growth is square feet of real estate.
From roughly 2014 to 2019 in the USA, virtually all Ideal Orgs were mostly funded by local public obtaining credit cards or bank loans. This was incredibly successful at fleecing the public of money they don’t even have. Prior to that, it was funded by the wealthiest among local and then national and even international Scientologists. But that well eventually ran dry, which necessitated the Chase Wave scheme.
In 2019, Miscavige removed all Sea Org Registrars from post – for no other reason than the banks were catching on and it was causing a “flap.”
Without this fraudulent scheme in place, Scientology is finding it much more difficult to come up with the tens of millions “needed” to open new Ideal Orgs.
Aside from Johannesburg and Johannesburg North, Ideal Orgs yet to open in South Africa include Port Elizabeth, Durban, and Cape Town.
Unlike the US – which hands out credit cards like candy on Halloween – “coming up with money” in South Africa means having the cash. And as there are so few Scientologists in South Africa – and even fewer with any money – Miscavige has had to adjust his strategy.
The first major change in his new “pilot program” is that instead of raising all the funds and then starting the renovations, they now raise the funds as they go, and do the construction in phases.
According to an insider in Cape Town, the org is well underway in terms of construction, while the funds raised have not yet passed the halfway mark.
The second major change is that the “cost” of the entire project has been cut significantly. And this is the big one.
A 10 percent drop would be believable, 20 percent a little suspect, and anything approaching 30 percent or higher completely farfetched. Especially when you consider that the “cost” is a hard number given to the local org by the Int Landlord’s Office, and in many cases was set over a decade ago. Not to mention, prices in construction have only gone up in recent years.
But the prices weren’t dropped by 10, 20, or even 30 percent, they were reduced by 66 percent.
And not just in one case, but in every org still needing renovation in Africa. All three projects were cut by two thirds. Port Elizabeth for instance, for the last decade has been fundraising with a target of nearly $20 Million Dollars. That was cut down to just over $6 Million. Cape Town and Durban – which were similarly priced – were also cut by two thirds.
South African Scientologists are being told that the cost was off for various reasons. It’s easily blamed on “SPs” – now removed of course – and no one asks any further.
Not only were the prices cut down, but in the case of Port Elizabeth, the work is done. The building – like Chicago and Austin – stands completed and empty awaiting the return of their staff from Flag.
This demonstrates that Scientology previously marked up the cost of the Ideal Org by 300 percent. Given these three cases as evidence, it would not be a stretch to conclude that all Ideal Orgs were similarly marked up. Which as I previously posited, is the actual purpose of Ideal Orgs.
It also shows how desperate Miscavige is to keep up the lie that Scientology is expanding. By renovating the orgs at the actual cost, Miscavige is giving up his take.
Previously, if the actual cost were $8 Million, at a 300 percent markup the public would be required to raise $24 Million – nearly $16 Million of which would go straight to Sea Org reserves.
By giving this up, Miscavige will be able to open a whole gaggle of orgs at once and claim “unprecedented global expansion,” when the reality is, that couldn’t be further from the truth.
Miscavige may think he’s getting away with it, but the South African Scientologists still in and under the radar say differently. Public have noticed the obvious absurdity of these recent changes.
Whereas before, every new Ideal Org was making tens of millions for Miscavige, they’re now being done at cost. While the Sea Org will still own the buildings and therefore gain an asset, the massive markup is no longer feasible. Dave’s Golden Goose is dead. Another nail solidly in the coffin of the Church of David Miscavige.
– The Insider
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Short video message from the proprietor
We have one more day off before the Danny Masterson trial resumes in Los Angeles. Yesterday, we sent out a short video message to subscribers to tide everyone over. This morning we’re releasing it to everyone.
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Technology Cocktail
“Arthritis occurs at three places on the tone scale. The first is .375, an area of extreme apathy where motionlessness in general makes it easy for deposits to occur. The second is its harmonic, .75, the area of grief, where the suppression of losses of allies or possessions causes a rigidity, a belated effort to hold that which already has departed. The third is the next harmonic, 1.5. This is the band of anger.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1952
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THE PROSECUTION OF DANNY MASTERSON
We first broke the news of the LAPD’s investigation of Scientology celebrity Danny Masterson on rape allegations in 2017, and we’ve been covering the story every step of the way since then. At this page we’ve collected our most important links as trial begins and Danny faces a potential sentence of 45 years to life in prison.
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THE PODCAST: How many have you heard?
— The Underground Bunker Podcast
[1] Marc Headley [2] Claire Headley [3] Jeffrey Augustine [4] Bruce Hines [5] Sunny Pereira [6] Pete Griffiths [7] Geoff Levin [8] Patty Moher [9] Marc Headley [10] Jefferson Hawkins [11] Michelle ‘Emma’ Ryan [12] Paulette Cooper [13] Jesse Prince [14] Mark Bunker [15] Jon Atack [16] Mirriam Francis [17] Bruce Hines on MSH
— SPECIAL: The best TV show on Scientology you never got to see
[1] Phil Jones [2] Derek Bloch [3] Carol Nyburg [4] Katrina Reyes [5] Jamie DeWolf
— SPECIAL: Your Proprietor’s updates on the Danny Masterson trial
[1] Sep 21 [2] Sep 28 [3] Oct 4 [4] Oct 10 [5] Oct 11: Day One [6] Oct 12: Day Two [7] Oct 13: Day Three [8] Oct 17: Day Four [9] Oct 18: Day Five [10] Oct 19: Day Six [11] Special interview with Chris Shelton, Oct 19 [12] Oct 20: Day Seven [13] Oct 21: Day Eight [14] First week in review, with Jeffrey Augustine [15] Oct 24: Day Nine [16] Oct 25: Day Ten [17] Oct 27: Day Eleven [18] Oct 28: Day Twelve [19] Second week in review, with Jeffrey Augustine
— The Underground Bunker Podcast on YouTube
[1] Marc Headley [2] Claire Headley [3] Jeffrey Augustine [4] Bruce Hines [5] Sunny Pereira [6] Pete Griffiths [7] Geoff Levin [8] Patty Moher [9] Marc Headley [10] Jefferson Hawkins [11] Michelle ‘Emma’ Ryan [12] Paulette Cooper [13] Jesse Prince [14] Mark Bunker
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“I hypnotized, one time, the staff of St. Elizabeth’s. Told them they’d heard a good speech and left the stage. They all came around afterwards saying, ‘What a good speech that was you gave!’ That was a mean thing to do. That was certainly backing out of it, wasn’t it? But it was in the early career of Dianetics and I felt very much like backing out of it. I was preceded by someone who told all of them how bad it was over ‘Ron-ward.’ They might afterwards have suspected my knowledge of the mind, but certainly not my knowledge of hypnotism. It’s very easy to hypnotize groups.” — L. Ron Hubbard, November 1, 1956
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“The cause of war is incompetent government. The cause of ‘secret intelligence wars’ is incompetent intelligence services. We have no intention of getting loused up here so be alert and handle it both as ship organization and with your own personnel PRO ashore. We are honest legitimate people. Where we go money flows in. The enemy must not be permitted to cut income off from our local friends because Jewish international bankers hate anyone who help such a country as this.” — The Commodore, November 1, 1969.
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“My reality on the whole track has expanded many times over. My postulates work far far better. My self determinism and pan determinism is exponentially greater. In many sessions I found myself blowing huge chunks of stuff that had derailed me many times through the years and it’s no longer anywhere around and I don’t think I could re-mock it up if I tried!”
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1995: Kim Baker this week resigned as a Director of FACTNet. She also signed a 17-page declaration against Joe Harrington, Larry Wollersheim, Bob Penny and others. Kim posted extensively to explain her actions. Here are excerpts from her various posts. “In sifting through to the very basic issue here, I found that the fundamental issue is whether Scientology uses mind control, or not. Clearly, where we all agree is that mind control is an evil thing. So, those who accept that Scientology uses mind control will oppose it on that basis, because they are opposing an evil thing. I have come to believe, based on my personal experience, only, that they do NOT. This will jar many people, because I have been advocating that they do, for so long. And so, I need to jump back in time, to when I wrote ‘My Story.’ I told some of you, in private, that I had been subjected to some extreme measures by OSA. This was not true. I lied. I did have an ethics handling, I was questioned about people like Old Timer, Homer, and Dennis, but not in any coercive manner. At this stage, I was operating in fear and paranoia, interpreting every statement and utterance by anyone in the Church as having sinister implications. What FACTNET is doing is wrong, and what I was doing in supporting it was wrong. This is a different kind of violence we were advocating – attack the copyrights themselves, take away from them that which they hold sacred. An eye for an eye makes the world blind, and so, EVEN IF the Church is making a lot of money from them, EVEN if the Church has been provocative, THIS IS NOT THE WAY TO DO IT. Scientology HAS helped people. To the degree it helps people, they will continue to support it, and to the degree that it helps people, it DESERVES to expand. To the degree that it fails to help people, it will not expand, or get any support – my evidence is here at the Local Org, where they do not deliver a very good service – and so, they stay small. And so, if Scientology is not genuinely helping people, it won’t expand. The only justification for attacking the Church the way I and FACTNET have been is if they are using mind-control to expand, artificially. Based on my research, my personal knowledge, and a personal reassessment of myself, I say they do NOT.”
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“If Hubbard hadn’t created Scientology, no one would even remember him.”
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Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker
Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Trial began October 11 in Los Angeles.
— ‘Lafayette Ronald Hubbard’ (a/k/a Justin Craig), aggravated assault, plus drug charges: Grand jury indictments include charges from an assault while in custody. Arraigned on August 29.
— Jay and Jeff Spina, Medicare fraud: Jay sentenced to 9 years in prison. Jeff scheduled to be sentenced on Oct 28.
— Rizza Islam, Medi-Cal fraud: Trial scheduled for March 1 in Los Angeles
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud: Next pretrial conference set for September 19.
— Yanti Mike Greene, Scientology private eye accused of contempt of court: Found guilty of criminal and civil contempt.
Civil litigation:
— Baxter, Baxter, and Paris v. Scientology, alleging labor trafficking: Complaint filed April 28 in Tampa federal court, Scientology moving to compel arbitration. Plaintiffs filed amended complaint on August 2. Hearing scheduled November 17 to argue the arbitration motions.
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ Selection of arbitrators underway. Next court hearing: February 2, 2023.
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: Appellate court removes requirement of arbitration on January 19, case remanded back to Superior Court. Stay in place at least through December 13.
— Brian Statler Sr v. City of Inglewood: Case settled ahead of scheduled Dec 6 trial.
— Author Steve Cannane defamation trial: New trial ordered after appeals court overturned prior ruling.
— Chiropractors Steve Peyroux and Brent Detelich, stem cell fraud: Lawsuit filed by the FTC and state of Georgia in August, now in discovery phase.
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After the success of their double-Emmy-winning, three-season A&E series ‘Scientology and the Aftermath,’ Leah Remini and Mike Rinder continue the conversation on their podcast, ‘Scientology: Fair Game.’ We’ve created a landing page where you can hear all of the episodes so far.
LEAH REMINI: SCIENTOLOGY AND THE AFTERMATH
An episode-by-episode guide to Leah Remini’s three-season, double-Emmy winning series that changed everything for Scientology watching. Originally aired from 2016 to 2019 on the A&E network, and now on Netflix.
SCIENTOLOGY’S CELEBRITIES, from A to Z
Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!
Other links: SCIENTOLOGY BLACK OPS: Tom Cruise and dirty tricks. Scientology’s Ideal Orgs, from one end of the planet to the other. Scientology’s sneaky front groups, spreading the good news about L. Ron Hubbard while pretending to benefit society. Scientology Lit: Books reviewed or excerpted in a weekly series. How many have you read?
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THE WHOLE TRACK
[ONE year ago] The fulfilling life of a Scientologist in a chaotic world
[TWO years ago] Checking in with Scientology social media to see how the world takeover is going
[THREE years ago] Kansas City going Ideal! Scientology’s grand opening is tomorrow — will Dave be there?
[FOUR years ago] Scientology’s new survey is a hoot — we’re itching for your answers!
[FIVE years ago] The first Scientologist with ‘Super Power’ gets super spanked by bankruptcy judge
[SIX years ago] Hillary Clinton has considered David Miscavige’s appeals lawyer for the US Supreme Court
[SEVEN years ago] Jonny Jacobsen: Reflecting on the first week of Scientology’s criminal trial in Belgium
[EIGHT years ago] Jon Atack: Are cult members — like those in Scientology — unduly influenced?
[NINE years ago] Scientology Surprise: An Interview With OTVIIIisGrrr8!
[TEN years ago] Ken Dandar files federal suit, says Scientology using courts to cause ‘Utter financial ruin’
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Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 2,835 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 3,340 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 2,890 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 1,880 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 1,771 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 5,076 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 2,946 days.
Doug Kramer has not seen his parents Linda and Norm in 2,051 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 4,524 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 3,840 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 12,406 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 8,325 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 4,493 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 4,073 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 4,335 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 3,371 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 3,086 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 2,651 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 966 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 2,141 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 6,692 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 3,823 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 4,161 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 9,016 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 4,135 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 2,491 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 6,794 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 2,900 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 3,298 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 3,174 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 2,757 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 3,252 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 3,506 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 14,615 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on November 1, 2022 at 09:00
E-mail tips to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We also post updates at our Facebook author page. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.
Our new book with Paulette Cooper, Battlefield Scientology: Exposing L. Ron Hubbard’s dangerous ‘religion’ is now on sale at Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats. Our book about Paulette, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How the Church of Scientology tried to destroy Paulette Cooper, is on sale at Amazon in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook versions. We’ve posted photographs of Paulette and scenes from her life at a separate location. Reader Sookie put together a complete index. More information can also be found at the book’s dedicated page.
The Best of the Underground Bunker, 1995-2021 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2021), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)
Other links: BLOGGING DIANETICS: Reading Scientology’s founding text cover to cover | UP THE BRIDGE: Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists | GETTING OUR ETHICS IN: Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice | SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING: Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts | Shelly Miscavige, 15 years gone | The Lisa McPherson story told in real time | The Cathriona White stories | The Leah Remini ‘Knowledge Reports’ | Hear audio of a Scientology excommunication | Scientology’s little day care of horrors | Whatever happened to Steve Fishman? | Felony charges for Scientology’s drug rehab scam | Why Scientology digs bomb-proof vaults in the desert | PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ
Watch our short videos that explain Scientology’s controversies in three minutes or less…
Check your whale level at our dedicated page for status updates, or join us at the Underground Bunker’s Facebook discussion group for more frivolity.
Our non-Scientology stories: Robert Burnham Jr., the man who inscribed the universe | Notorious alt-right inspiration Kevin MacDonald and his theories about Jewish DNA | The selling of the “Phoenix Lights” | Astronomer Harlow Shapley‘s FBI file | Sex, spies, and local TV news | Battling Babe-Hounds: Ross Jeffries v. R. Don Steele
Tony Ortega at The Daily Beast
