Activists have tracked down a woman French police tried for years to question about the 2006 suicide of a Scientologist — and she’s still working for the movement.

For years, senior Scientologists said they could not help French police investigating the suicide of Gloria Lopez, a member of the movement in France. They said they [...]]]>

Activists have tracked down a woman French police tried for years to question about the 2006 suicide of a Scientologist — and she’s still working for the movement.

For years, senior Scientologists said they could not help French police investigating the suicide of Gloria Lopez, a member of the movement in France. They said they had no idea where three of their members wanted for questioning over the affair might be. But French activists have revealed that at least one of the women is still working at the heart of Scientology.

Investigators believed that Juliette Wagner-Quercia may have played a key role in the events leading up to the suicide of Lopez. And she now works at one of Scientology’s biggest centers.

Chanology France, a group that monitors the movement’s activities, used leaked documents and open-source research techniques to track her down. They established that as of November 2019 she was handling recruitment by correspondence from the movement’s center in Copenhagen, Denmark. Researcher and activist “benjaltf4” published their findings on Wednesday.

Investigators closed the investigation into the 2006 suicide of Gloria Lopez in 2016 — and normally under French law, a case inactive for more than three years cannot be reopened. But some observers believe this new information could be reason enough to do so. One of them is Arnaud Palisson, a former intelligence specialist with the French police who wrote his doctoral thesis on Scientology.

Chanology France had provided significant new information, he told the Bunker. “In such a case, if new elements later emerge in relation to these facts, then the investigation file may be reopened on ‘new charges’.”

The fact that a key witness has turned up working for the very organization that had told investigators they could not find her could itself be grounds for fresh charges, he argued. “We are now able to get our hands on someone who should have been placed under investigation.”

 
Scientology ‘lied’

Longtime Bunker readers may recall some details of the case from our March 2015 report. In December 2006 Lopez stepped in front of a train one morning at Colombes station just north of Paris and was killed outright. She was only 47 years old. Her two children believe it was her involvement in Scientology that destroyed her.

Over the course of several years, she spent more than 250,000 on Scientology courses and materials, including money from the sale of an apartment she inherited in Spain. The family’s lawyer Maître Rodolphe Bosselut still thinks Lopez’s suicide was down to a crisis during a visit to Scientology’s European base in Copenhagen earlier that year — and the subsequent pressure on her to return.

“We were looking for Mme Wagner to question her for non-assistance of a person in danger over Gloria’s time in Copenhagen at the Sea Org,” he told the Bunker.

The family already knew from witnesses and her private papers that Lopez had returned from the visit extremely upset, he said. They had a letter from Mme Wagner to Lopez in which she insisted that she return to Copenhagen. “But we didn’t manage to question her. I would like to know what she had to say about what happened in Copenhagen,” he added.

At the time the investigation was active, they had asked a senior Scientologist in Paris where Wagner-Quercia was. He had replied that no one really knew her there. But they already had a 2006 letter from Wagner to Gloria, which included addresses at Copenhagen and Scientology’s rue Jules César offices in the heart of Paris.

“So when he said he didn’t know who she was, he lied,” said M^e Bosselut.

And now, she turns up working for Scientology back in Copenhagen — where Gloria Lopez made her fateful trip nearly 15 years earlier. Did that mean the case could be reopened? In theory, yes, said M^e Bosselut — but he was not convinced this would actually happen.

The original complaint he filed on behalf of the family was for organized fraud, abuse of a state of weakness (abus de faiblesse) and harassment. The legal authorities would ask if she was central to the main case, he said — and their answer might be no. And even if they did, he pointed out, they would still have to get the cooperation of the Danish authorities.

“I’m a bit depressed about the state of play in France regarding cults,” he confessed.

He did not get the impression that either the authorities or the judiciary were committed to tackling the issues, he said. “It is not a subject that excites them.”

This is something the French daily Libération was warning about back in 2015, as we reported at the time.

 
Persons of interest

At the time the case was still active, French police wanted to question three Scientologists who had known Gloria Lopez during her time inside the movement. Senior Scientologists they spoke to could not give them a solid lead on any of them. They wanted to speak to:

— Wagner-Quercia, who introduced Lopez to Scientology and who, according to family and friends was a strong influence on her during her early years inside the movement. Back in 2006, as she appears to be now, she was working at Scientology’s Copenhagen base and was Lopez’s point of contact there.

— Elisabeth Haley, Lopez’s auditor at Copenhagen. Haley wrote twice to Lopez in the months following her visit there, trying to get her to return for further auditing. The contents of those letters make it clear she knew that Lopez was in difficulty.

— Danielle Ambert, a high-level Scientologist (OT VIII and a former mission holder in France). She acted as Lopez’s financial adviser at a time when she came into a substantial sum of money — most of which she subsequently spent on Scientology.

Inquiries back in 2015 established that Danielle Ambert had links to the movement at least until 2013. Kristi Wachter’s invaluable database based on Scientology publications suggests she was taking Scientology courses at least up until 2009.

Public records – and one or two other sources – suggest that she was probably based in Clearwater, Florida between 2007 and 2011.

Then between 2010 and 2013 she gave as her forwarding address the relay office for Freewinds, Scientology’s cruise ship for high rollers, that operates in the Caribbean.

Last night, we reached out to Wagner-Quercia — and to Eric Roux, a senior Scientologist with knowledge of the case — and await their response. We also hope to hear back to from Gwenn Le Berre, the son of Gloria Lopez, who played a leading role in publicizing the case.

In the meantime, if anyone else has can offer any more information on any of the three people above, we would like to hear from you.

— Jonny Jacobsen (jonnymcj@hotmail.com and DMs open on Twitter: @jonnymcj)

Source Code

“A little bulletin here: Aussies, hang your head in shame! All through the Commonwealth with the greatest of ease, I was able to slow down this government raid on the church in Washington, but not in Australia. You see, the lines go straight from Australia to the United States and back and forth. And the whole rigged government release in Washington landed scram-bang into the press in Australia. So Australia is a seething mess of ‘God ‘elp us’ now, and somebody from the Australian syndicate is coming down to see me tomorrow, and they want to know all about it. I’m not going to tell them very much beyond a fascist government raided a church. I’ll tell them, Be very, very careful, though, because apparently there’s a million dollars in the offing to fight this in the United States. They actually got all kinds of leads and money pouring in like mad from all directions, and the situation looks very dark for the United States.” — L. Ron Hubbard, January 10, 1963

 
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Overheard in the FreeZone

“It all just makes it real to me of what LRH says on OT2 about the effect of implants and also just how well the CIA has hijacked the tech for both the church and FZ. What I have been witnessing is one huge confusion. It will require one seriously strong being to find the stable datum around which all else will unconfuse. And then we will still have fucknuts insisting that their version is the only correct one. Much like the circus called Christianity.”

 
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Random Howdy

“Miscavige isn’t that old and he’s got plenty of money, real estate, and willing slaves to play with. I saw an interview with Pol Pot shortly before he died and it boiled down to him saying he wished he could do some things over but he did what he thought was best for the people of Cambodia. Miscavige is either a non-believer who thinks ‘suckers get what they deserve and if it wasn’t me somebody else would be fleecing these idiots’ or he’s a believer and thinks ‘Yes, I’ve been a strongman, but that’s what was necessary to insure the survival of this organization.’ Caesar or charlatan?”

 
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Start making your plans…

 
Head over to the convention website and meet us in St. Louis!

 
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Scientology’s celebrities, ‘Ideal Orgs,’ and more!

We’ve been building landing pages about David Miscavige’s favorite playthings, including celebrities and ‘Ideal Orgs,’ and we’re hoping you’ll join in and help us gather as much information as we can about them. Head on over and help us with links and photos and comments.

Scientology’s celebrities, from A to Z! Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!

Scientology’s ‘Ideal Orgs,’ from one end of the planet to the other! Help us build up pages about each these worldwide locations!

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 our weekly series. How many have you read?

 
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THE WHOLE TRACK

[ONE year ago] Uh-oh. Someone trusted a whole bunch of money to a wealthy Scientologist.
[TWO years ago] Xenu or Xemu? Here’s our take on one of Scientology’s galactic-wide mysteries
[THREE years ago] Tonight on ‘Leah Remini’: Once again, Scientology’s a horror show for the mentally ill
[FOUR years ago] A business executive looks at Scientology as a (poorly run) business
[FIVE years ago] COMING IN MAY: A book about Scientology’s most infamous campaign of terror
[SIX years ago] Black hearts and burning crosses: Scientology litigation is getting weird in Texas
[SEVEN years ago] ‘The Master’ Gets Three Oscar Nominations
[EIGHT years ago] Scientology and Oiliness: More Renderings from the Super Power Building

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on January 10, 2020 at 07:00

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, 1995-2018 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2018), 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, 14 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

 While we were researching material for our book on Paulette Cooper a few years ago, we happened upon a 1969 New York Times article that quoted James Meisler, the PR man and “minister” for the New York org in those days. In 1972 Meisler become a key player in the plot to frame Paulette for [...]]]>

 
While we were researching material for our book on Paulette Cooper a few years ago, we happened upon a 1969 New York Times article that quoted James Meisler, the PR man and “minister” for the New York org in those days. In 1972 Meisler become a key player in the plot to frame Paulette for a crime she didn’t commit, which had her facing 15 years in prison.

But that was in the future. In 1969, he was interviewed by the Times, and what really caught our attention was that he was asked how large Scientology was around the world.

15 million members, he said.

In 1969.

The only larger public estimate that we can remember was uttered by Kirstie Alley in one of her Twitter rants, claiming 20 million members. (To give you some idea of how large that number is, there are somewhere around 15 million Jewish people in the world.)

Over the years, Scientology’s claims about membership have ranged wildly, but in general, they’ve been in the 6 to 10 million range over many years that we can remember. But once we started questioning those numbers, as well as others did, we couldn’t help noticing that Scientology got a lot more shy about those estimates. If you look around in the last several years, you’ll see that spokespeople like Tommy Davis or Karin Pouw refer simply to “millions.”

We’ll talk about the real numbers in a minute, but first, we wanted to make you aware of a new project being put together by our man in Paris — strike that, he’s back home in England now — journalist Jonny Jacobsen. He’s decided to take on, as a research project, documenting the Church of Scientology’s public statements about how many members it has. Here, we’ll let him describe it to you…

 
Bunker regulars may have noticed I’ve been fairly quiet of late, after all the fun of the Belgian trial of Scientology. (That one ended, you may recall, with
the judge throwing the case out.)

Since then I have quit Paris, at least for now, and started an MA in Data Journalism at Birmingham City University, England. For my first project, I’m sticking with a subject I know fairly well: Scientology — which is where you come in.

As you know, Scientology often describes itself as the world’s “fastest growing religion” (though try running that phrase through a search engine and see what you get). The official line is that their members number in the millions — which is why they need all those Ideal Orgs, right?

So what I want to do is gather in those official figures, from way back in the 1950s right up to the present day. I want to collect as much official data from Scientology as possible, put it in a spreadsheet and produce a data visualisation, a timeline, tracking how those official figures have evolved over the years.

The format for your submissions should be something like this:

1. Date claim was made 2. Membership # claimed 3. Who made the claim 4. Source of statement

Just to be clear on that last category: “Source of statement” is where anyone can find it if they want to check, which magazine, book or broadcast. (Oh, and if you would like to be acknowledged in the credits for this project, be sure and add your name.)

I expect my primary source material will be the figures produced in their literature — the various editions of What Is Scientology? for example. But I am also interested in numbers given by any Scientology official representatives in media interviews, public events or court affidavits.

Radio or television interviews are relatively straightforward to source and verify. Press interviews are more problematic as Scientology can always say they were misquoted, but let’s not exclude them out of hand.

In the end though, I may stick to figures that can be undeniably attributed to Scientology officials or Scientology literature. It is vital that the data is verifiable by anyone who wants to take the time; and the easier that is, the more convincing the finished product will be. With that in mind, then, for printed material, ideally I would need a scan of the relevant passage and for broadcast material, a link to — or copy of — the interview.

I can take responsibility for screenshots, downloads and any copyright issues (but I think Fair Use should cover most cases). And if you come across something you’re not sure about — whether it’s the source, the date, anything — send it over anyway. Once we unleash the hive mind of the Internet, we should be able to crack most cases.

I am also interested in vaguer statements where general claims for millions of members are made — and in any country-specific data. It’s all good for the mix.

And just so you know: the clock is ticking. Although this is an open-ended project, which can develop indefinitely as more data comes in, I need to have at least a first version up by early January — or my MA supervisor locks me in a room and forces me to learn code on a typewriter.

I’ll be launching this appeal on Twitter and on Facebook using the hashtag #FGRProject (geddit?). You can send me your material by email at jonnymcj@gmail.com; or on Facebook or Twitter — but please, use the hashtag to make it easier to find. (I’ll launch a Twitter thread and pin it to the top of my account so you can find it easily and post your contributions.)

That’s Stage One then. I’ll tell you about Stage Two another time.

Thanking you in advance,

Jonny Jacobsen

 
Thank you, Jonny. Now, let’s get back to Scientology’s actual size.

The real numbers are nothing close to the millions that the church claims. Mike Rinder, Marc Headley, Jefferson Hawkins, and many others have demonstrated that Scientology’s actual membership isn’t in the magnitude of millions. Our estimate, after polling former executives who had access to enrollment documents, was that Scientology had reached a maximum extent of about 100,000 active members around the year 1990. But by 2011, we explained that the best estimate was closer to 40,000 using several different lines of evidence.

Then, more recently, Paul Burkhart, a new defector who had worked at the Hollywood Guaranty Building and had access to sensitive church documents, told us that as of August 2013 when he left, worldwide active membership was “under 20,000.”

Another new defector, Peter Nyiri, who escaped from the Flag Land Base only months ago and who also had access to enrollment numbers, told us that he agrees with Burkhart’s assessment.

It’s a small and shrinking organization that gets a disproportionate amount of press thanks to its small number of high-profile celebrities. Anyway, please help out Jonny if you can, and send him your citations.

 
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Bonus items from our tipsters

They’re back at the Shrine this year!

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on November 6, 2017 at 07:00

E-mail tips and story ideas to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We post behind-the-scenes 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 book, 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, 1995-2016 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Undergound Bunker (2012-2016), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)

Learn about Scientology with our numerous series with experts…

BLOGGING DIANETICS: We read Scientology’s founding text cover to cover with the help of L.A. attorney and former church member Vance Woodward
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

Other links: Shelly Miscavige, ten 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 | Scientology’s Private Dancer | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | Scientology boasts about assistance from Google | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ

Our Guide to Alex Gibney’s film ‘Going Clear,’ and our pages about its principal figures…
Jason Beghe | Tom DeVocht | Sara Goldberg | Paul Haggis | Mark “Marty” Rathbun | Mike Rinder | Spanky Taylor | Hana Whitfield

Our man in Paris, British journalist Jonny Jacobsen, has a report out of South America for us today…

The shockwaves from Alex Gibney’s 2015 documentary Going Clear are causing a few ripples in Argentina.

A senior Scientologist there has lodged a complaint with the anti-discrimination body INADI against actress and comedian Malena Pichot after [...]]]>

Our man in Paris, British journalist Jonny Jacobsen, has a report out of South America for us today…

The shockwaves from Alex Gibney’s 2015 documentary Going Clear are causing a few ripples in Argentina.

A senior Scientologist there has lodged a complaint with the anti-discrimination body INADI against actress and comedian Malena Pichot after she described Scientology as a “cult.”

The story broke Wednesday at Teleshow, part of Infobae, an Argentinian news website. Pichot told them she wasn’t sure when she was supposed to have done this.

“It may be many years ago. I write so many things on Twitter …” she told them. “It could have been anything.”

But a search of Pichot’s Twitter account offers a few clues. It shows that she watched Going Clear, Alex Gibney’s documentary on Scientology, soon after its release. And she was horrified by what it revealed.

In a first tweet in December 2015, in conversation with someone about another topic entirely, she signs off, saying: “Apologies, I was watching the Scientology documentary and I’m too scared to sleep now.”

Later the same day, she returns to the subject with a separate tweet.

“Don’t miss ‘Going Clear’ the HBO documentary on Scientology! It’s on Netflix! It’s a terrible cult and has a base in Argentina!”

Finally, last November she posted a screen grab of a senior Scientologist in a TV studio. “The worldwide cult in Argentina!” she wrote. “Stop fucking about, we have enough problems here!”

This is the tweet that seems to have triggered the legal action. The Scientologist in the picture is Gustavo Libardi, president of Scientology’s operations in Argentina. He is the one who filed the complaint with INADI, Teleshow reported.

Judging from the logo in the background of her tweet, this was a broadcast on Telemax Argentina, the channel where Scientology has a weekly half-hour show.

Pichot told Teleshow that she was trying to get more information from INADI (the National Institute Against Discrimination, Xenophobia and Racism). So are we — and we’ve reached out to Pichot too.

But if this is all there is to it, it’s hard to see what all the fuss is about. Perhaps it is just a principled objection to the use of the term, “cult.” Or, as Hubbard wrote back in 1955:

The purpose of the suit is to harass and discourage rather than to win. The law can be used very easily to harass, and enough harassment on somebody who is simply on the thin edge anyway, well knowing that he is not authorized, will generally be sufficient to cause his professional decease. If possible, of course, ruin him utterly. — A Manual on the Dissemination of Material

So far, of course, all Libardi’s complaint has done is draw more attention to Pichot’s remarks. Not sure what that will do their stats this week.

Bunker regulars will need no introduction to Gibney’s Going Clear (based on Lawrence Wright’s book of the same name), but newcomers might want to check out Bunker proprietor Tony Ortega’s
extensive coverage elsewhere at the site.

 
— Jonny Jacobsen

 
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Tom Cruise, Scientology, and the state of New Jersey

We noticed a funny mistake in a story this week about Tom Cruise and Scientology at E!Online.

We don’t usually read E!Online, but this story seemed somewhat ambitious and we thought we’d give it a try. The headline read, “Inside the inscrutably private life of Tom Cruise: How the movie star achieved exactly what he set out to do with sheer presence.”

What followed was a lengthy clip job, putting together a lot of different things that have been written about Cruise and Scientology over the years. You know the litany. Katie bolts. Tom hasn’t seen Suri. Tom sells his properties and looks like he’s moving to a penthouse in Clearwater (No link to the Bunker on that little scoop, unfortunately).

Anyway, the piece mentioned Tom’s recent sad news…

Sadly, on a very personal note, Cruise lost his beloved mother, Mary Lee South, last month when she died in her sleep at the age of 80 after being in ill health for some time. ‘People’ reported that Cruise and his three sisters attended a memorial in her honor at her local church of Scientology in New Jersey.

Hey, wait a minute. Tom Cruise and his sisters, attending a memorial, in a “local church” of Scientology — in New Jersey?

The passage linked to a previous E!online story that asserted the same thing — Tom and his sisters heading down to the local Scientology church in New Jersey to have some kind of funeral for their mother there. And that story in turn linked to its original source, a piece at People magazine that first broke the news of Mary Lee South’s death.

Here’s what that People magazine story said:

South, 80, died peacefully in her sleep last week. South, who coped with health issues in recent years, was given a memorial service at her local Church of Scientology this weekend. The 54-year-old star and his sisters Lee Ann DeVette, 57, Cass Mapother, 55, and Marian Henry, 52, all attended the memorial along with other family and friends.

Nothing about New Jersey. Only that the memorial had taken place in Mary’s “local” Scientology church.

The only thing we could see that might lead E!Online to insert that odd geographical detail is that the People story did mention New Jersey as the place where Tom’s mother was living when Tom went to New York to wait tables and try to break into the movie business. But that was decades ago.

In her last few years, Mary Lee South had actually been living in Sarasota, Florida, not New Jersey. In fact, we believe that one reason Cruise had been selling property and moving to Clearwater was that it wasn’t too far (just across Tampa Bay) from where his ailing mom was living. A construction worker told bar owner Clay Irwin, when he recently toured Tom’s unfinished Clearwater penthouse and before either of them had heard the news of Mary’s passing, that one of its bedrooms had been set aside for her.

If Tom and his sisters had a service for their mother in her “local church,” it could have been in any number of orgs and missions in the Tampa/Clearwater area. But one would think she would merit a special memorial at the Fort Harrison Hotel, Scientology’s holiest location, in Clearwater.

Anyway, that odd mistake by E!Online had us wondering. Just what would your “local Scientology church” look like in New Jersey?

New Jersey is a state of some 9 million people, and yet according to Scientology’s own official website, its only “church” is the local mission in Elizabeth, which is an important town in Scientology history. It was in Elizabeth where the first Dianetics Foundation was established back in April 1950 in anticipation of the publication the next month of L. Ron Hubbard’s book Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health.

According to Scientology’s official website, Elizabeth’s mission today is located at 523 Westfield Ave. And here’s what the place looks like:

 
What were you expecting, a giant tabernacle? In fact, 523 Westfield Ave. houses both a small Dianetics center as well as the offices of a dentist named Carlos Barragan. Here’s how he describes his practice:

Elizabeth Dental Care follows L. Ron Hubbard’s Administrative Technology to organize, improve and ensure the efficiency, quality of service and high level of ethics in his practice. This technology is used to help our communities to find clear solutions for daily living. Dr. Barragan is a member of “The Way to Happiness Foundation” and the “Citizen Commission on Human Rights.” These organizations help people to make the right choices and live a happy life with the resources that they have.

 
What a mighty thetan! But despite Barragan’s enthusiasm, it’s kind of hard to see Tom Cruise heading down to this dental office-slash-Dianetics storefront for a funeral.

Or anyone else for that matter. And yet this is the only Scientology org or mission in the entire state.

There is another Scientology property that was recently restored in Bay Head, New Jersey. It’s a house that Hubbard and his second wife, Sara Northrup, rented as he was writing Dianetics. It’s been turned into a museum for Scientologists. Could it be used for a memorial service? Sure, why not.

 
So what conclusion can we draw from the fact that the Church of Scientology’s only “church” in all of the state of New Jersey is a dental office working out of what looks like it was once a residential house?

Well, keep in mind that the church claims to have millions of members — we’ve heard everything from eight million to 20 million, and a few years ago, the church said in a television commercial that it was attracting 4.4 million new people each year.

We often point out that those numbers are pure fantasy, and that through several lines of evidence our best estimate is that Scientology reached its greatest extent with about 100,000 active members around the year 1990, and that they’re down to only about 20,000 people today.

And that might explain why, in a state of 9 million people, the only Dianetics center you’ll find is being run by a Peruvian dentist.

Something else to think about: Another group that Scientology is sometimes compared to, Jehovah’s Witnesses, also is supposed to (legitimately) have about 8 million members. And just a cursory look at the map shows that in New Jersey alone, there are more than 50 Jehovah’s Witness Kingdom Halls around the state.

So keep that in mind the next time Scientology claims to have millions of followers: If that were the case, where are all the orgs and missions?

 
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Bonus items from our tipsters

Jim Meskimen posted this photo of him with Will Smith back in the day — ah, it’s the ones that get away you never get over.

 
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Countdown to Denver!

 
HowdyCon 2017: Denver, June 23-25. Go here to start making your plans.

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on March 31, 2017 at 07:00

E-mail tips and story ideas to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We post behind-the-scenes 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 book, 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 about the book, and our 2015 book tour, can also be found at the book’s dedicated page.

The Best of the Underground Bunker, 1995-2016 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Undergound Bunker (2012-2016), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)

Learn about Scientology with our numerous series with experts…

BLOGGING DIANETICS: We read Scientology’s founding text cover to cover with the help of L.A. attorney and former church member Vance Woodward
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

Other links: Shelly Miscavige, ten 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 | Scientology’s Private Dancer | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | Scientology boasts about assistance from Google | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ

Our Guide to Alex Gibney’s film ‘Going Clear,’ and our pages about its principal figures…
Jason Beghe | Tom DeVocht | Sara Goldberg | Paul Haggis | Mark “Marty” Rathbun | Mike Rinder | Spanky Taylor | Hana Whitfield

Here’s the latest report from our man in Paris, British journalist Jonny Jacobsen…

In 2013, France’s highest court upheld a ruling that Scientology, in that country at least, is a fraud. And key to that court decision, as well as the one it upheld, was an [...]]]>

Here’s the latest report from our man in Paris, British journalist Jonny Jacobsen…

In 2013, France’s highest court upheld a ruling that Scientology, in that country at least, is a fraud. And key to that court decision, as well as the one it upheld, was an anti-cult organization named UNADFI that had acted as a plaintiff in both trials and had made sure judges heard damaging information about the American organization.

Now, Scientology has managed to get a bit of revenge. Although its status as a fraud is unchanged, Scientology learned that fines levied against UNADFI will be upheld as the same high court has ruled that the anti-cult group never should have been a part of those trials.

The Cour de Cassation rejected a bid by UNADFI to overturn an appeal court ruling that it had taken part in the trial when it knew it had no standing as plaintiff.

Throughout the trial, Scientology’s lawyers had protested that UNADFI had no right to a voice in court as their statutes did not qualify them for plaintiff status. But at both the original trial and the trial on appeal, the court reserved its decision on the question until the end of proceedings before accepting Scientology’s arguments. That meant that UNADFI’s lawyer, Olivier Morice, was able to put his knowledge of Scientology to good use during the trial, before those rulings were delivered.

Morice played a key role in both the original 2009 trial and the 2013 appeal that led to the conviction of the church for organized fraud here. He used his knowledge of Scientology texts to cross-examine defense witnesses to great effect, frequently clashing with the defense lawyers protesting his presence.

The January 12 ruling by the Cour de Cassation vindicates Scientology’s protests and confirms the fines imposed by the lower court in November 2015. The appeal court convicted the association of having abused the justice system and ordered it to pay the three plaintiffs 3,000 euros each. All three of the plaintiffs — two individuals and one Scientology association — were among those convicted of organized fraud in the earlier trials.

Eric Roux, Scientology’s president in France, welcomed the judgment in a statement posted on his website. “This is an important decision, not just for the Church of Scientology — which thus sees the supreme court confirm the fact that UNADFI has been the source of an influence which was as undue as it was illegal in the trial in question — but for justice in general, as from now on one will have to think twice before illegitimately and in bad faith making oneself a plaintiff in a trial,” he wrote.

“UNADFI must now draw the lessons from this resounding defeat,” he added — “and the government bodies who funded UNADFI should realize that they too had been complicit in the group’s illegal actions.”

One commentator has already raised the question as to whether this ruling meant that Scientology could try to use this ruling to overturn its fraud convictions. Under French law it is possible to ask the Cour de Cassation to ask for a revision of a conviction, but this only happens in exceptional circumstances.

Eric Roux, contacted by this website, could not say if Scientology would attempt any such action. But Maître Olivier Morice was quick to dismiss the possibility.

“There is no risk that this decision will lead the Church of Scientology to review its trial to the extent that it is completely independent,” he told the Bunker.

The convictions of two Scientology organizations for organized fraud was itself confirmed by the Cour de Cassation in October 2014. Five Scientologists were also convicted on a range of charges, but it was significant for being the first time the movement itself had been convicted in France. A second such conviction could open the way to the movement being dissolved.

In 2014, the European Court of Human Rights dismissed Scientology’s bid to challenge the French fraud convictions there. The same court has on several occasions ruled in favor of Scientology, notably in cases it has brought against Russia.

UNADFI has now changed its statutes to meet the requirements of plaintiff status, so there is every chance of seeing it represented at future trials involving Scientology.

 
— Jonny Jacobsen

 
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Miscavige did his thing for the Kiwis

 
Photos and reports are still trickling in, but in general this appears to be another rather underwhelming turnout for David Miscavige as he anointed a new Ideal Org in Auckland earlier today. Our correspondent on the scene, a Kiwi, told us he heard nothing but Australian accents, suggesting that much of the crowd was flown over for the occasion. (And here’s a report from local reporter Kim Vinnell which is quite good.)

Well, New Zealand, you have your own Ideal Org now. We’ll check back with you in a few months to see if it becomes an empty shell like the others, populated only by these freaky dolls.

 
Another creepy doll…

 
New blood!

 
Official Scientology video from Auckland…

 
Heeeeeere’s Dave!

 
Oh my, they’re really claiming “thousands”….

 
But here’s the overhead shot, let’s get an accurate count…

 
More Dave!

 
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June will be here before you know it

 
HowdyCon 2017: Denver, June 23-25. Go here to start making your plans.

[Thank you, Observer.]

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on January 21, 2017 at 07:00

E-mail tips and story ideas to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We post behind-the-scenes 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 book, 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 about the book, and our 2015 book tour, can also be found at the book’s dedicated page.

The Best of the Underground Bunker, 1995-2016 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Undergound Bunker (2012-2016), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)

Learn about Scientology with our numerous series with experts…

BLOGGING DIANETICS: We read Scientology’s founding text cover to cover with the help of L.A. attorney and former church member Vance Woodward
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

Other links: Shelly Miscavige, ten 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 | Scientology’s Private Dancer | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | Scientology boasts about assistance from Google | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ

Our Guide to Alex Gibney’s film ‘Going Clear,’ and our pages about its principal figures…
Jason Beghe | Tom DeVocht | Sara Goldberg | Paul Haggis | Mark “Marty” Rathbun | Mike Rinder | Spanky Taylor | Hana Whitfield

 Our man in Europe, Jonny Jacobsen, finally found some time in his busy schedule covering the Scientology prosecution in Belgium to give us his thoughts about the other big story this week — the Moscow court’s decision to ban the church. Like us, Jonny has his concerns about the way Russia goes about its opposition [...]]]>

 
Our man in Europe, Jonny Jacobsen, finally found some time in his busy schedule covering the Scientology prosecution in Belgium to give us his thoughts about the other big story this week — the Moscow court’s decision to ban the church. Like us, Jonny has his concerns about the way Russia goes about its opposition to Hubbardism.

I reported briefly last week on the decision by a Moscow court to order the shutdown of Scientology’s Church there. When Tony tipped me off to the story, I was on the way back to Brussels to continue my coverage of the Belgian trial, so I did not have the time to offer any analysis. Here then are a few thoughts now on why I think the Moscow ruling is no cause for celebration.

It is certainly true that Scientology’s Religious Technology Center (RTC), whose chairman of the board is David Miscavige, jealously protects its copyrighted and trademarked materials. That was Scientology’s weapon of choice when it fired the opening shots of the Internet Wars in the mid-1990s in a bid to silence its critics online. We know how that worked out. A lot of people found it grotesque that a church should go after its critics on the grounds of copyright and trademark violations.

In fact, that appears to have been one of the main factors that drew legions of libertarian-minded Netizens to the cause: a classic Scientology Foot-Bullet then. (If you need a little more background, see “Scientology v. the Internet” over at Infinite Complacency.) It is easy to understand then, why some Scientology critics have expressed a certain sense of schaudenfreude at recent developments in Moscow. But here is why I think this latest attack on the movement is built on shaky foundations.

Russia is not the first country to have refused to recognise Scientology’s religious status, arguing that it is in fact a commercial enterprise. That has been Germany’s position for a long time. But Scientology is still operating there, even if for a long time it was closely monitored by the authorities. At the moment, it looks as if all the justice ministry has to go on is the commercial nature of Scientology’s operation. There is the reference to “gross and repeated violations” of federal law, but it is not clear if they are referring to previous judgments or just making the call themselves (I’ve asked the ministry for a copy of the judgment).

We know there have been police raids on Scientology premises in Russia (as reported here at the Bunker). Presumably then, some kind of criminal investigation is underway. For the moment however, these are no more than allegations. They have not yet been tested in court: there have been no trials, no convictions.

Surely the time to start discussing shutting down Scientology in Russia would be after the organisation has been tried and convicted of criminal activities. But that is not how they do things in Russia.

As things stand then, the judgment shutting them down seems grossly disproportionate. Nor do I imagine Russian Scientologists take much comfort from the fact that they can appeal to the country’s Supreme Court – and who can blame them?

For once, Scientology’s accusations of a state conspiracy – of the executive conspiring with the judiciary against them – may not be wide of the mark. Certainly, that’s one possible reading of the three separate rulings at the European Court of Human Rights condemning Russia for its repeated refusal to let Scientology register as a church.

 
Due process

I wrote about the last of those rulings here at the Bunker last year. Then took a closer look at all three of the ECHR rulings at Infinite Complacency. (I know, I know: I really should get out more.)

I wrote it up under the title “Russia had it coming” – because they did. What the Strasbourg court rulings made clear was that the Russian authorities had not even respected their own laws when they went after Scientology. You can read the detailed exposé at the link above, but here is what I concluded:

A key problem any country faces in its dealings with Scientology is how to stop it abusing its members – and for that matter its critics – without infringing on its basic rights. It is not an easy balance to strike – though it is no surprise, really, that Russia keeps failing this test. The cases just examined after all, simply illustrate what happens when one authoritarian organisation comes up against another. In Russia, Scientology faced an arbitrary system steeped in bad faith, changing the rules whenever expedient: savor the irony. So when, for once, Scientology gets a taste of its own medicine, it is tempting to sit back and enjoy the spectacle. Resist the temptation. Focus instead on where Russia went wrong – and on which countries are addressing the problem most effectively.

And that brings us to one of those other countries I had in mind: Belgium.

Last week in Brussels, Christophe Caliman, the prosecutor in the trial of Scientology called for the death sentence against the Church there: dissolution. Next week and the week after, some of the top country’s lawyers will stand up and explain to the court why that is completely unacceptable. The chief judge, Yves Régimont, is completely on top of this case. We can expect his ruling some time early next year and whichever way it goes, it will be closely argued and repay careful reading.

All this to say that after two criminal investigations over 18 years, only now are we getting to the stage where the future of the Church of Scientology Belgium is truly in question. Now that’s what I call due process. And if the Church is convicted, even if the court goes for a lesser penalty, you can be sure it won’t end there.

It is a racing certainty that Scientology will take its case to the appeal court, to Belgian’s supreme court and, if necessary, to the European Court of Human Rights. And that is just as it should be. That is how the system should work.

For whatever conclusions you or I may have reached about Scientology, the case against the Church needs to be tested, rigorously, every step of the way. That Russia should be cutting corners is really no surprise given its human rights record and the muscular nationalism of the current regime. But the Church of Scientology, just as much as individual members, should benefit from the principle that you are innocent until proven guilty.

In Brussels at least, they are getting a proper hearing.

— Jonny Jacobsen

 
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Professor Alexander Dvorkin responds to the Bunker

 
On Tuesday, we reported some of the odd things that happened at the Moscow court hearing which called for the banning of Scientology in that city. Among the interesting things included in a TV report from the courtroom were some words from Professor Alexander Dvorkin, whom we ran into in Toronto in June. Professor Dvorkin, we pointed out, has said that Ukraine prime minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk is controlled by the American CIA through the Church of Scientology. Professor Dvorkin was good enough to send us a response, and so we’re publishing it here in full.

Tony Ortega has written an article about the decision of the Moscow City Court of Nov. 23, which banned the Moscow Church of Scientology. Somehow, he does not like the decision, but fails to explain convincingly why. All that could be understood is that Mr. Ortega does not like Russia, and what comes from Russia or happens in Russia. Perhaps that cannot be helped.

I would have left it at that, but he mentions and even misquotes me in his article, so I want to correct it. One of the issues is the question of whether Mr. Yatsenyuk, the current Prime Minister of the Ukraine, is a Scientologist, as it has been reported by some Russian media, probably erroneously. Mr. Ortega accuses me of repeating this. At the June Toronto Conference, in the presence of Mr. Ortega and many other witnesses, I very clearly stated what I numerous times have said to Russian media, that I do not believe that Mr. Yatsenyuk is currently a member of the Scientology cult. I also have stated that although I have no knowledge of his sister in California, the reports of her having a high-ranking position in the Scientology “hierarchy” look highly improbable. Some of such statements and interviews of mine have been published, and a number can easily be found on my site www.iriney.ru.

However, I also have said that according to some Ukrainian publications and reports of my trustworthy colleagues from the Ukraine (all appeared years before the current Ukrainian crisis) Mr. Yatsenyuk went through some Scientology courses when he was in the banking business in his native Tchernovtsy, before the beginning of his political career. Yes, I do believe that presently he is not a member of Scientology, at least openly. But if he had been one and had gone through auditing even at least once, they do know a lot about him and could control him. Of course, as I have said, we cannot claim this for sure; yet we cannot discard the possibility of that, especially seeing that in spite of numerous accusations, Mr. Yatsenyuk has NEVER publically said anything even mildly critical about Scientology. I repeat that all of this I have stated publicly in Mr. Ortega’s presence and he heard it.

What I said at the Toronto conference is in the session videos that participants received and have been made available to the public. I understand that Mr. Ortega spoke to the Californian niece of Mr. Yatsenyuk and she denied his involvement in Scientology. With all due respect, I permit myself to doubt this evidence. Firstly, because the young woman might not be aware of what had happened to her overseas uncle many years ago; and secondly, because if there was involvement, it is in the interests of the family to hide it. Mr. Ortega ironizes over the direct question of a Russian journalist, which was posed to a Scientology functionary, whether Scientology cooperates with the CIA. Well, it seems to me that his direct question to Mr. Yatsenyuk’s niece deserves the same irony.

Yes, I do very strongly suspect that Scientology (being in essence an intelligence organization) after its agreement with the IRS in 1993, started to cooperate (or at least to share some information) with the US intelligence community. At that time, in some kind of exchange for this service, the US State Department started lobbying in Scientology’s interests throughout the world. It is my founded opinion, which I always expressed as such. That is exactly what I’ve said in the Vesti TV interview, Mr. Ortega refers to in his article. My exact quote:”The cult [Scientology] is very influential because as of 1996 [a slip of a tongue, should be 1993] the [US] State Department lobbies the interests of Scientology throughout the world and we may suspect that Scientology shares part of the collected data with CIA”. That quote does not quite agree with Mr. Ortega’s description: “…anti-cult professor Alexander Dvorkin … quite calmly asserted that Scientology was a CIA front”.

Having said that, I believe, I have a right to suspect also that if Mr. Yatsenyuk went through auditing, Scientology could have shared some of its findings with the CIA or other appropriate Federal agency. I have stated this many times as my founded opinion. As far as I know many informed people in different countries (including US and Canada) share this view. In 1984, the Los Angeles Superior Court stated about former Scientologists:

“Each has broken with the movement for a variety of reasons, but at the same time, each is, still bound by the knowledge that the Church has in its possession his or her most inner thoughts and confessions, all recorded in ‘pre-clear (P.C.) folders’ or other security files of the organization, and that the Church or its minions is fully capable of intimidation or other physical or psychological abuse if it suits their ends. The record is replete with evidence of such abuse.”

The public record also shows that the practices of recording people’s confessions and controlling and psychologically abusing them have continued ever since. Mr. Ortega criticizes the Russian court decision and contrasts it with the Netherlands which “took a similar step recently and found that the exorbitant prices Scientology charges demonstrate that it’s a business, not a religion. But rather than ban Scientology, the country stripped the church of its tax-exempt status. That should accelerate what’s already happening there as well as most places around the world — Scientology’s rapid decline”. Actually Mr. Ortega missed that the Russian court did just that: it banned the religious organization “Moscow Scientology Church.” Now the cult (with its numerous outlets) would have to re-register as a for-profit organization, pay taxes, and be subject to consumer protection laws.

Thanks for that response, professor. We’ll just point out a couple of things. First, we made it plain in Toronto that we’re open to any evidence that Yatsenyuk is, was, or has been a Scientologist. You have offered none, except to say that he has never said anything negative about Scientology. Well, neither has Barack Obama, and yet that doesn’t lead us to believe he’s a secret member of the church. As for our original description, that you have said Yatsenyuk is controlled by the CIA through Scientology, we’ll let our readers view your own words, in English, as they were spoken on Kremlin-controlled Voice of Russia radio, which anyone can listen to for themselves…

What we know is that Yatsenyuk, before his political career he did take several Scientology courses and paid for it. It is when he was in the banking career. What it means? The basic Scientological procedure or act is the so-called auditing. Each Scientologist has to go through auditing many-many times. It is of course quite expensive and each auditing session lasts for between 2 and 4 hours. And people go over and over, and over.

The session is conducted with the help of a device which Scientologists call electro-psychometer, which is sort of a primitive form of a lie detector. And people have to tell everything that they’ve done during their lives, everything that they are ashamed of, all their sexual history, all their most hidden thoughts and desires, whatever violations of the law that they could have done and everything that happened also to their relatives, to their friends, to their acquaintances and everything.

And all this is being recorded in audio and video. Every person gets its own file in a Scientology archive and it is kept, and the information is added to each person’s file. So, if, and which is very likely, Yatsenyuk went through auditing, then definitely Scientology has something to control him…

It is no secret that Scientology as of 1994 has been cooperating very closely with the CIA of the United States of America. The State Department of the USA lobbies the interests of Scientology in all the countries of the world. And Scientology, apparently, shares some of the information it gathers with the Central Intelligence Agency. So, it means that, at least in Yatsenyuk’s case, he could be controlled by the CIA.

Thanks again for the response, professor.

 
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Karen de la Carriere on an infiltration of Scientology

Karen discusses the weird case of Yulia Keaton, a/k/a Lia Kea, whom we interviewed a couple of years ago.

 
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Ken Dandar

We’ve told you the troubling saga of Ken Dandar, a Tampa attorney who paid the price for representing clients against the Church of Scientology. Through a bizarre twist of events, Dandar was punished for merely representing a woman in a lawsuit against Scientology, and ended up with a million-dollar judgment against him. Still, he continues to pursue legal appeals, and has told us he believes he’ll be able, at some point, to convince a court that his civil rights were infringed by Scientology and its use of Florida’s judges.

In the meantime, he says he needs money to pursue his battle, and, like many others in a tough spot, he’s created a GoFundMe page. But we were stunned when we saw the amount he’s set as a goal. We double-checked with him, and he has set the goal at $5 million.

We’re not sure what the largest amount ever raised on GoFundMe is, but the website itself features heartwarming stories of some of the victims of the Boston Marathon bombing raising amounts in the $1 to $2 million range. But that was in a nationally famous tragedy that elicited a massive emotional response.

Well, he may be aiming a bit high, but we still wholeheartedly wish Dandar luck.

 
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Babywatch, day eleven: Lisa McPherson in Room 174

On Wednesday, November 29, 1995, caretakers Valerie Demange and Rita Boykin gave Lisa McPherson two capsules of valerian root at a little after noon, with some herb tea. The herb was intended to make Lisa drowsy.

About an hour later, Lisa had some of a banana shake and more valerian root capsules. She slept for about an hour in the afternoon, but Rita reported to Janis Johnson that Lisa was just not getting the sleep she needed.

In the evening, Lisa had more of the banana shake and seven more valerian capsules. Then she slept for about three hours.

Around this time, caretaker Alice Van Grondelle approached Judy Goldsberry-Weber in the medical liaison office and asked her about the symptoms of dehydration. Judy told police later about what she told Alice.

“She didn’t say in extreme dehydration or anything. It was, ‘Do they normally run a temperature?’ I said, They can. You know, you look it up. ‘Do they become disoriented?’ I said, Any time you become dehydrated, that’s a, disorientation is one of the things, I said. I suggest they get to a doctor…I mean, if you know, if you’re really concerned, if somebody’s concerned about it, I would recommend that they see a doctor before it gets worse.”

 
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BOOK NOTES

We didn’t get a chance to include photos in our book, so we’ve posted them at a dedicated page. Reader Sookie put together a complete index and we’re hosting it here on the website. Copies of the paperback version of ‘The Unbreakable Miss Lovely’ are on sale at Amazon. The Kindle edition is also available, and shipping instantly.

Our book tour is concluded for now. (But you can re-experience it through this nifty interactive map!) We’ll let you know about future appearances. Previous events: Santa Barbara (5/16), Hollywood (5/17), Orange County (5/17), San Diego (5/20), San Francisco (5/22), New York (6/11), Chicago (6/20), Toronto (6/22), Clearwater (6/28), Washington DC (7/12), Hartford (7/14), Denver (7/17), Dallas (7/20), Houston (7/22), San Antonio (7/24), Austin (7/25), Paris (7/29), London (8/4), Boston (8/24), Phoenix (9/15), Cleveland (9/23), Minneapolis (9/24), Portland (9/27), Seattle (9/28), Vancouver BC (9/29), Sydney (10/23), Melbourne (10/25), Adelaide (10/28), Perth (10/30)

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on November 29, 2015 at 07:00

E-mail your tips and story ideas to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We post behind-the-scenes updates at our Facebook author page. Here at the Bunker we try to have a post up every morning at 7 AM Eastern (Noon GMT), and on some days we post an afternoon story at around 2 PM. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.

Learn about Scientology with our numerous series with experts…

BLOGGING DIANETICS: We read Scientology’s founding text cover to cover with the help of LA attorney and former church member Vance Woodward

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

PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | Scientology’s Private Dancer
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

Our Guide to Alex Gibney’s film ‘Going Clear,’ and our pages about its principal figures…
Jason Beghe | Tom DeVocht | Sara Goldberg | Paul Haggis | Mark “Marty” Rathbun | Mike Rinder | Spanky Taylor | Hana Whitfield

Jonny Jacobsen

 A Dutch tax court on Wednesday denied Scientology the tax-exempt status of a public benefit organisation, [...]]]>

Jonny Jacobsen

 
A Dutch tax court on Wednesday denied Scientology the tax-exempt status of a public benefit organisation, ruling that it was clearly a commercial enterprise.

This decision comes after last December’s Supreme Court ruling overturning an appeal court decision that had gone in Scientology’s favour, as we reported here at the time.

A Scientology spokesman denounced the ruling as religious discrimination, the Dutch newspaper Trouw reported Wednesday. It was not yet clear if the movement would appeal, added reporter Robin de Wever. But the ruling means that Scientologists there will not be able to claim tax breaks for payments to the organisation.

After the tax laws were tightened, the Scientology church (‘kerk’ in Dutch) in Amsterdam, SKA, fought a series of court cases to retain the tax breaks accorded a public benefit organisation, or charity. When this particular court battle started, in 2007, 50 percent of an organisation’s activities needed to have a public benefit.

The Supreme Court ruled last December that even if the Church of Scientology in Amsterdam, was a genuine church, it did not necessarily meet this criterion, and sent the case back to the lower courts for further consideration.

Wednesday’s latest judgment noted that tax officials were not disputing what Scientology said about the religious nature of its auditing and training. What they were arguing was that Scientology served private interests rather than being in the public interest.

It was for Scientology to take up the challenge issued by tax officials, said the court; it had to show that the services it sold for individuals’ spiritual development served the public interest. The court took the view that Scientology had not met that challenge.

Scientology had argued that its work fighting drug addiction and illiteracy across the world, its campaigns for prison reform and the rights of patients, spoke to the public interest aspect of its work.

But the judgment listed some of the prices charged in 2011 for members’ courses: from 90 euros for a Dianetics seminar to 2,950 for one intensive auditing.

For the court, the fact that Scientology offered its auditing and training at “substantial and fixed rates” was crucial. Tax officials had calculated that the average hourly rate for auditing and training came to 520 euros; 235 euros for the intensives.

That was “significantly higher” than hourly rates applied by commercial education institutes which – if they had set such rates – would be offering the equivalent of the best education by the best teachers in the best locations, said the court.

Given these commercial rates, it could not just be assumed that the public interest was being served as much as private interests, even if it was for a religious purpose, said the court. The auditing and training offered by Scientology in Amsterdam made up more than 50 percent of its activities, which meant its activities were mainly commercial.

Scientology had been unable to demonstrate “that the public interest is at least equally served as private interest”, the court concluded.

Corresponding with Robin de Wever to check details of the story, he gave me some useful background on this affair. “Dutch tax law switched in 2008 from a system in which any organization could sign itself up for these tax breaks (and the Dutch IRS would randomly check a number of organizations) to a system where every organization had to file a request to get such a status.”

He also pointed me to an interesting part of the judgment that I’d missed. In paragraph 8.12 of the ruling, he explained, “the judge notes that course and auditing prices are ’not only meant to cover costs.’ The SKA ‘knowingly strives for surpluses, that are to be used for its own conservation and has reached exploitation surpluses, which has lead to a significant wealth.’

“Plain English: the SKA charges so much that it clearly makes a profit and it has used that profit to amass a ’significant wealth’,” de Wever explained.

If you have time, use Google Translate to take a look at his in-depth investigation of Scientology over at Trouw. This one is an interview with a former member declared suppressive, who believes in the efficacy of some Scientology techniques; and this one looks at Scientology’s relentless pursuit of money.

De Wever is a religious affairs specialist and you can find some of his others articles at his own website.

— Jonny Jacobsen

 
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Sydney comes through

 
Wow, what a first couple of days we had in Sydney. After we arrived following the 14-hour flight from Los Angeles, Bryan Seymour picked us up at the airport and took us directly to the Channel 7 studios, where we were put right onto The Morning Show for a lengthy segment that really got a lot of attention. Soon we were hearing that the mid-day show The Daily Edition wanted us, Bryan did his own piece, and we were also called in by the Sunrise program the next morning. Meanwhile, Steve Cannane was arranging for us to appear on numerous radio shows and TV over at the ABC network. We were basically running from one show to another all the way up to Friday night’s event at the Giant Dwarf Theatre in Redfern.

It was especially a treat for us that Ramana Dienes-Browning came early so we could finally meet her for the first time, backstage. And so many others made the scene, including many Bunkerites. The theater had 180 seats out and only a few weren’t filled. And what a great show put on by Steve Cannane and Bryan Seymour. We’re glad we were along for the ride!

Cannane will be with us in Melbourne for Sunday afternoon’s event at the Wheeler Center. (It’s “sold out,” but it’s also free, so come on by anyway even if you don’t have a ticket to see if there’s space). And then Bryan Seymour will be with us in Adelaide, where we’ll join Nick Xenophon, and Bryan is also coming with us to Perth!

 
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BOOK NOTES

We didn’t get a chance to include photos in our book, so we’ve posted them at a dedicated page. Reader Sookie put together a complete index and we’re hosting it here on the website. Copies of the paperback version of ‘The Unbreakable Miss Lovely’ are on sale at Amazon. The Kindle edition is also available, and shipping instantly.

Tony Ortega’s upcoming appearances (and check out the interactive map to our ongoing tour)…

 
Oct 25: Melbourne, The Wheeler Centre, 3 pm, free but reservations recommended (with Steve Cannane)

Oct 28: Adelaide, Wheatsheaf Hotel, (with Sen. Nick Xenophon and Bryan Seymour)

Oct 30: Perth, Collins Street Centre, Collins St and Shaftesbury St, South Perth, 7 pm (with Bryan Seymour)

Past dates: Santa Barbara (5/16), Hollywood (5/17), Orange County (5/17), San Diego (5/20), San Francisco (5/22), New York (6/11), Chicago (6/20), Toronto (6/22), Clearwater (6/28), Washington DC (7/12), Hartford (7/14), Denver (7/17), Dallas (7/20), Houston (7/22), San Antonio (7/24), Austin (7/25), Paris (7/29), London (8/4), Boston (8/24), Phoenix (9/15), Cleveland (9/23), Minneapolis (9/24), Portland (9/27), Seattle (9/28), Vancouver BC (9/29), Sydney (10/23), Melbourne (10/25)

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on October 24, 2015 at 07:00

E-mail your tips and story ideas to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We post behind-the-scenes updates at our Facebook author page. Here at the Bunker we try to have a post up every morning at 7 AM Eastern (Noon GMT), and on some days we post an afternoon story at around 2 PM. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.

Learn about Scientology with our numerous series with experts…

BLOGGING DIANETICS: We read Scientology’s founding text cover to cover with the help of LA attorney and former church member Vance Woodward

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

PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | Scientology’s Private Dancer
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

Our Guide to Alex Gibney’s film ‘Going Clear,’ and our pages about its principal figures…
Jason Beghe | Tom DeVocht | Sara Goldberg | Paul Haggis | Mark “Marty” Rathbun | Mike Rinder | Spanky Taylor | Hana Whitfield

Our man in Paris, journalist Jonny Jacobsen, has a fascinating piece for us today. We’ll let him explain…

A judge investigating the 2006 suicide of a Scientologist in France may finally close the case because police have not been able to track down key witnesses. Officers have been looking into the death of 47-year-old Gloria Lopez [...]]]>

Our man in Paris, journalist Jonny Jacobsen, has a fascinating piece for us today. We’ll let him explain…

A judge investigating the 2006 suicide of a Scientologist in France may finally close the case because police have not been able to track down key witnesses. Officers have been looking into the death of 47-year-old Gloria Lopez (pictured), who in December 2006 stepped in front of a speeding train at Colombes station just outside Paris.

But they have been unable to find three Scientologists the judge considers key to the affair, all of whom had dealings with Lopez in the months leading up to her death. Scientology executives in France have insisted they have no idea where they are.

Gloria Lopez had been involved with Scientology since the mid-1990s. During that time her family estimates she spent around 250,000 euros on the movement. Her two children say she was depressed in the months leading up to her death and they blame that on her involvement in Scientology. The family’s lawyer, Maître Rodolphe Bosselut, dates her final crisis to a visit to Scientology’s Copenhagen centre that she made in July 2006.

“Strangely, she did not return on the appointed day,” he said. “When she did return, several days later, she said that Scientology had asked her to stay and she had not felt she could leave.”

Her work colleagues said they noticed a dramatic change in her mood after she came back from Copenhagen. “She was much more withdrawn,” said one co-worker, who asked not to be named. “She hardly spoke at all…She seemed sad, withdrawn, preoccupied.”

Documents her family found at her apartment after her death included a billion-year contract for the Sea Organization, Scientology’s corps for its most dedicated, full-time members. She had signed the document during her July visit to Copenhagen. Other papers show she was expected to return to Copenhagen for further training and then travel on to Clearwater, in Florida. Yet she never told her family about her Sea Org membership or her plans to travel to the United States.

Gloria Lopez committed suicide on December 21, 2006: she had been due to start in the Sea Org in January 2007.

Lopez’s family has filed a complaint against persons unknown alleging abuse of weakness, organized fraud, and failure to help a person in danger. Scientology officials have repeatedly insisted that her death had nothing to do with them, and a Paris spokesman refused any further comment for this article.

In 2011, prosecutors abandoned the case after several years of investigation, arguing that there was not enough evidence to build a case. After the family filed a second formal complaint, an investigating judge was appointed to take another look. Like the prosecutor, he has the power to take the matter to court if he thinks there is a case to answer.

But now Maître Bosselut has sounded the alarm. He fears the judge is about to close his investigation, at least in part because police cannot locate the key persons of interest to interview them. The judge’s decision is expected in the next few weeks.

 
Persons of interest

These are the three Scientologists investigators want to interview:

— Juliette Wagner-Quercia, who introduced Lopez to Scientology and who, according to family and friends, was a strong influence on her during her first years inside the movement. She was working at Scientology’s Copenhagen base in 2006 and was Lopez’s point of contact there;

— Elisabeth Haley, Lopez’s auditor at Copenhagen. Haley wrote twice to Lopez in the months that followed, trying to get her to return for further auditing. The contents of her letters make it clear she knew that Lopez was in difficulty;

— Danielle Ambert: a high-level Scientologist (OT VIII and a former mission holder in France), she acted as Lopez’s financial adviser at a time when she came into a substantial sum of money – most of which she subsequently spent on Scientology.

After Scientology officials in France said they did not know where the three women were, police wrote to Scientology centers in both Copenhagen and the United States in a fruitless bid to trace them.

Gloria Lopez’s behavior changed drastically on her return from Copenhagen in July, said Maître Bosselut. “She stopped taking courses and she became more withdrawn at work,” he explained. During the same period, letters were arriving from Copenhagen urging her to return. But as Gloria Lopez sank into depression, the Scientologists around her failed to give her the help she needed, he added.

Lopez’s son, Gwenn Le Berre said that when police searched Scientology premises in 2009 looking for documents relating to the case, all they found was an empty dossier with Gloria Lopez’s name on it. And when officers interviewed Scientologists about his mother, none of them seemed to know her well, even though she had been a regular at the Celebrity Center for years.

“Nobody knew her, even those who wrote her letters with ‘kisses, lots of love’,” he said. “Even those people continue to say that they didn’t know her. It’s completely bizarre.”

Among the papers that Lopez’s children found at her home after her death were writings in her own hand from the final months of her life. In them, she expressed her distress at the financial difficulties she was experiencing, as well as a sense of failure — the antithesis of what Scientology promises its followers.

 
The financial advisor

These writings also revealed the role that Danielle Ambert played in advising Lopez on her financial affairs, said Maître Bosselut. Lopez had inherited a property in Spain, which she had told her family she would sell so as to buy an apartment just outside Paris. The handwritten documents found at her apartment make it clear however that instead of buying the French apartment she spent the money on Scientology courses.

“Ambert advised Mme Lopez that no bank would lend to her for Scientology courses but that she would be able to get a loan to buy an apartment,” Me Bosselut explained.

So despite having received a large sum of money from the sale of the property in Spain — more than 200,000 euros — she ended up having to borrow to buy an apartment near Paris. Ambert’s business card, which Lopez’s family found at her apartment after her death, describes her as a “counsellor in independent investment.”

Lopez’s handwritten notes show that she had paid in advance for most of Scientology’s advanced Operating Thetan (OT) levels. “A first part of the money allowed me to get to Clear,” she wrote. The state of Clear is the position halfway up Scientology’s scale of courses. Attaining it opens up the route to the more advanced — and far more expensive — Operating Thetan (OT) levels. Paying for levels I to VII effectively meant she was paying for courses years in advance.

Ten days later she attended a seminar on a push to get 10,000 OT VIIs. “The next day I paid the levels up to OT VII,” she wrote.

In the original 2009 Paris court judgment convicting two Scientology organizations of organized fraud, the court noted that Scientology’s practice of hard sell meant that members were pressured into paying for training years in advance and thus driven into debt. The 2013 Cour de Cassation ruling that rendered those convictions definitive also specifically mentioned Scientology’s hard-sell policies and referred to how Scientology’s victims were:

…quickly led to commit to several years of courses, auditing sessions, purification cures forming part of the Scientology doctrine, for the financing of which they spent all their savings, got themselves into debt and in the end found themselves in a particularly difficult situation, both materially and morally…

One former Scientologist has already explained to investigators how relentless the movement’s salesmen can be in getting people to buy more courses, said Maître Bosselut. And despite the vast sums Lopez had spent on courses, the papers found at her apartment also show that Scientology was telling her she owed them money.

 
“Oppressive and aggressive”

Lopez’s growing desperation is evident from the writings she left behind, said the lawyer. She wrote:

For the moment I am losing money instead of earning for the Bridge [her courses] (I have to get the money together to pay the expenses for when I will be in Denmark and the United States for the OT levels.) … Despite everything I have understood, I am not getting better, at work I am making mistakes.

The police unit that investigated Gloria Lopez’s death was the Office for the Repression Violence against Persons (ORCVP). Their report, submitted to the prosecutor’s office concluded:

…[I]n 2000 Gloria Lopez broke with her family and friends, lost custody of her children, sold her house and left her job with the sole aim of moving closer to the Paris Celebrity Center. She invested all her money, which was in fact a substantial amount, in Scientology and got into debt to pay for her expenses and an apartment… .

The report also described Scientology’s operating method as “commercial, very organized, oppressive and aggressive,” designed to ensure maximum profits for its directors. Despite this report, the prosecutors office at Nanterre, just outside Paris, decided in June 2011 to drop the case, arguing there was not enough evidence to show that Gloria Lopez had been subjected to undue influence.

For Maître Bosselut, that decision betrays a complete lack of understanding of how Scientology operates; and it ignores crucial evidence in the documents written by Mme Lopez herself in the final months of her life. Now however, it looks as if the investigating magistrate, Jean-Michel Bergès, might follow suit. Maître Bosselut argues that the failure of Scientology officials in France and abroad to provide any leads that would help investigators to find these three women is evidence of their bad faith.

“For an organization as centralized as Scientology — as obsessed with documenting everything about its members — it is simply not credible that it can offer no useful information in this affair,” he said. Scientology officials had failed to turn over Mme Lopez’s files or even to say who her auditors had been, he added.

Gloria Lopez’s son, Gwenn le Berre, says he is determined to keep fighting to find out more about what drove his mother to kill herself.

“I would certainly like to have at least some answers from a few people named in the file, and if we could go after Scientology as an organization then that would be really great.” Because as important as the three missing witnesses are, this is not just about individuals, he insists. “Clearly, it’s the organization, because in this organization there are people who are just bad to the core, who do bad things, who ought to be convicted; and there are others who are the victims and who are in a way used by these people…

“[T]here are people who know. There are people who are paid to organize this fraud. And there are those who profit, clearly.”

— Jonny Jacobsen

 
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Bodhi Elfman strikes back!

Bodhi Elfman, an actor in Scientology married to fellow celebrity Scientologist Jenna Elfman, reacted to Alex Gibney’s HBO documentary Going Clear with a couple of tweets lashing out at the film.

Bodhi’s father, Scientologist Richard Elfman, founded the Mystic Knights of the Oingo Boingo, which at first was used as a recruiting troupe for Scientology, Spanky Taylor told us recently. (Later, Rick handed over the band to his younger brother, Danny Elfman, who was not a Scientologist.)

Bodhi and Jenna are known for defending Scientology in rather strident terms.

 
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Scientologist on Freewinds cruise dies in Bonaire after swimming

Local media in the Caribbean island of Bonaire are reporting that on Sunday, Scientologist William Robert Purvis, 67, who was a passenger on the church’s private cruise ship, the Freewinds, became ill after swimming, and died.

According to online records, Purvis was a longtime and experienced Scientologist, but we don’t know much about him. If you know something about Bill, please let us know.

Scientologists are constantly pressured to buy cruise packages on the Freewinds for seminars and courses. While the ship is the only place where a Scientologist can receive the highest level of spiritual training, Operating Thetan Level 8, the lack of OT 8 business has resulted in the ship holding many other seminars and conferences to keep it filled.

The ship often travels between Bonaire, Aruba, and Curacao, but also makes stops in Venezuala.

 
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David Miscavige and Tom Cruise get the Funny or Die treatment

Ok, this is pretty damn good…

 
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Bonus photos from our tipsters

Marisol Nichols posted a couple of items. Wonder what she’s referring to?

 
Actual caption, and we’re not judging in any way: “Starlight cabin. #Freewinds Plus size model show”

 
Looks like Going Clear’s demos skewed young…

 
Scientologists are using social media more than ever. Drop us a line if you spot them posting images to Instagram or Facebook!

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on March 31, 2015 at 07:00

E-mail your tips and story ideas to tonyo94@gmail.com or follow us on Twitter. We post behind-the-scenes updates at our Facebook author page. Here at the Bunker we try to have a post up every morning at 7 AM Eastern (Noon GMT), and on some days we post an afternoon story at around 2 PM. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.

Learn about Scientology with our numerous series with experts…

BLOGGING DIANETICS: We read Scientology’s founding text cover to cover with the help of LA attorney and former church member Vance Woodward

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

PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | Scientology’s Private Dancer
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

Our Guide to Alex Gibney’s film ‘Going Clear,’ and our pages about its principal figures…
Jason Beghe | Tom DeVocht | Sara Goldberg | Paul Haggis | Mark “Marty” Rathbun | Mike Rinder | Spanky Taylor | Hana Whitfield

Jonny Jacobsen

Underground Bunker regulars will recall that Hungarian ex-Scientology member Peter Bonyai (pictured, right) helped us out with a story in April [...]]]>

Our man in Paris, British journalist Jonny Jacobsen, is back with another great piece — this time, a lengthy review of the newest book recounting the journey into and out of the Church of Scientology.

Underground Bunker regulars will recall that Hungarian ex-Scientology member Peter Bonyai (pictured, right) helped us out with a story in April on the supposedly transparent and independent Central-European Religious Freedom Institute (CERFI). (Jura Nanuk, who heads up the lobbying organisation, had somehow forgotten to mention his allegiance to Scientology at the group’s website. Nor, so far as I can see, has the situation changed.)

Now Bonyai’s memoir of his 10 years as a Scientologist in Hungary is available in English, Money, Power, Servitude: Adventures in the Wonderland of Scientology. He translated the original edition himself and former Scientology spokesman Mike Rinder stepped in to edit the English version.

Bonyai spent most of his 10 years inside Scientology in its “Sea Organization,” having been recruited to it at the age of 17 in 1995. “I was technically a minor, but it did not seem to be an issue,” he notes.

Bonyai’s description of himself at that age matches that of many adolescents: Intelligent, a little full of himself perhaps, but with a sense of unease, of dissatisfaction at the prospect of a conventional life pursuing material wealth. It was more than enough for a Scientology recruiter to work on.

Despite the fact that he had already read and dismissed Dianetics (recommended by one of his teachers) Bonyai was pulled in after taking the personality test in his home town of Pécs, Hungary.

The devastating test results, delivered with absolute conviction by a staffer who introduced herself as a Scientology “priestess,” shattered his adolescent bravado.

I was told that I was an irresponsible, nervous, unstable, and pathetic individual in urgent need of attention. She made sure that each statement hit home, and repeated them over and over when I expressed my doubts. She was adamant about the evaluation and gave me an unquestioning gaze each time I wanted to contradict her and explain myself. And she mentioned several times that Dianetics can help me to improve that condition. I was completely overwhelmed at the end of it and I felt totally devastated… Thinking it cannot get any worse and I could definitely use some help to address my deep-lying unhappiness, I decided to give Dianetics a chance.

Like many other new recruits, his initial experience of auditing – Scientology’s version of therapy – was also positive. The sense of relief he experiences after going over a minor point of emotional conflict, helped pull him deeper down into the rabbit hole.

But the very next past incident he tries to audit shows the dangers inherent in the Scientology’s system of therapy: “…[T]hat one went awry. I got a bit lost in the maze of my mind and started to see strange things. The mission auditor had to intervene so I could be freed from its effect.”

And there were other red flags, he writes, recalling the discomfort he felt at the take-no-prisoners tone of L. Ron Hubbard’s notorious text, Keep Scientology Working (“We’d rather have you dead than incapable”).

Nevertheless, he recalls: “I was still interested in becoming a real-life Jedi knight, so I chose to ignore that part of Scientology, which sounded like the teachings of a fanatical fundamentalist sect.”

For Bonyai then, the Scientology recruitment machine worked to perfection:

— a recruiter “found his ruin” — his weak points — via the personality test, and convinced him that Scientology had the solution;

— he was sold on the prospect of tapping into previously undreamt-of powers via Scientology;

— and the initial auditing high did not just whet his appetite for more but persuaded him to put aside any doubts he already had.

 
Softened up

It is in this state that he takes the “Success though Communications” course, a simplified version of the training routines. The course seems reasonable enough at first.

According to Hubbard, the first phase was being there in a spiritual sense. The basic idea was to establish the elements of communication: being there, speaking to someone, ability to receive an answer, then answer that, repeat the unanswered question if needed, or steer the conversation back to its original topic (if needed), and to conclude the conversation.

Before long though, participants have moved on to more invasive exercises. In bullbaiting, he has to sit, unflinching, while his training partner subjected him to all kinds of verbal abuse. The object of the exercise is to not react, whatever the provocation.

Peter in the Sea Org

 
Critics of Scientology – including many former members – have long argued that these exercises soften up new recruits, undermining their capacity for critical thinking to make them more receptive to the new belief Scientology is installing in them. Reflecting on the results of the bullbaiting exercise, Bonyai reaches much the same conclusion.

In retrospect, this ability was a blessing and a curse. It was undoubtedly useful to have greater tolerance to provocation, but it also blocked proper emotional reactions. It also had a hidden side effect (at least on me): I had a better tolerance of the crazy things going on in the Church. I was not disturbed too much by them, and I was able to put up with much more than I should have. This contributed to my prolonged stay in the Church by making me more susceptible to its indoctrination.

Later, when he takes the more hard-core version of the training routines, he experiences an even stronger sense of dissociation.

The experience I had … regarding these communication drills became even more intense: On [the] one hand, I became more forthcoming and brave during communication, but life also became a bit surreal. External stimuli had even less effect on me, which dulled my emotions and made me experience a strange feeling: I often felt like an outsider, detached from reality, having “stepped out” of real life.

(For more on these training routines, see Tony’s interview with Sea Org veteran Claire Headley.)

Bonyai is particularly good at explaining the appeal and the power of these early steps in his Scientology induction. He has taken the time to reflect on the nature of the machine that consumed him and his insights into this process make up some of the best parts of the book.

Very quickly, he writes, he was attributing anything good that happened to him to Scientology — anything bad of course, was down to his own lack of dedication to the movement.

The net result of this (you can observe this with the majority of the Scientologists) is a partial loss of the sense of reality, or a specific kind of financial irresponsibility where you can spend any amount of money on your own spiritual progress, as by doing so you believe you will achieve a better spiritual state, and money will thereafter find you mysteriously as a result.

This mindset of course makes it much easier for staff members to get money out of public members of Scientology, he points out. The upper echelons of the movement meanwhile adopt a more hard-headed approach to the world, including a barely concealed contempt for “public” Scientologists.

During training in Munich, Germany, Bonyai gets an early taste of the tremendous pressure on staffers to get results, no matter what — and to meet the Thursday 2:00 pm deadline.

Statistics were calculated and monitored on a daily basis. Staff members were mercilessly hounded if their statistics were not in the proper range to achieve a higher value by Thursday. Two major methods were used to increase productivity: There was some minor internal PR (pep talks, emphasizing the greatness of the purpose of Scientology, small rewards etc), but threats, yelling and enforced overtime were the favored methods.

When he runs into difficulty on a course and gets sent to ethics, the officer there decides the hostility of some family members to Scientology means he has to return to either handle their objections or disconnect — cut off all contact — from them.

Back in Pécs, he keeps up the training, learning how to evaluate the personality test — the same one that had pulled him into the movement.

This course had a special significance in my life. This is where my transformation started. I was originally a shy, idealistic and good-natured teenager, and I started to change into a charming, silver-tongued and unscrupulous clone of L. Ron Hubbard, who embodies the phrase “the end justifies the means… [The recruiter has] to find the vulnerabilities of the person and throw a lot of salt on these wounds and make it clear that this/these is/are a serious personality defect, which MUST be addressed, and of course, Scientology can do that. From time to time, the evaluation had to state that these are all scientific facts, not just personal opinions, as they are based on a scientific test.

(This bogus claim for the scientific basis of the personality test was a key factor in the 2009 French convictions of Scientology for organised fraud.)

Back in Munich, having reached an uneasy compromise with his family, Peter continues his training but is soon back in trouble with the org’s ethics officers — essentially for asking too many questions. So he decides to apply to join the Sea Org, to bypass what he suspects are the “suppressive” elements in Munich.

Having filled in the highly intrusive Life History Form (“46. Have you ever been involved in homosexual activities or sexual perversions?”) he signs his billion-year contract and joins Scientology’s most elite — and most exploited — cadre.

Sea Org life of course, is a completely different experience to being a paying, public Scientologist, or even a staffer on a five-year contract.

Peter gets used to seeing Sea Org executives bawling out their underlings.

László [Peter’s boss] assured me that this is pretty common in the Sea Org, and there is even a policy letter from Hubbard stating that you would need to shout at the dumb ones if that was required to get your job done.

But never in front of the public, paying Scientologists, …so his boss usually brought him to a basement office for the 10-minute yelling sessions.

Later, he describes another Sea Org executive in Copenhagen, an Austrian by the name of Walter Kotric.

He had zero tolerance for slackness, poor job performance and to put it mildly, he was not particularly fond of excuses… He also had a special ability: he was able to yell with incredible volume, intensity and intention, a skill he used frequently if he was not satisfied with someone or wanted to get instant compliance to an order. He had no reservations about getting physical if he thought the situation warranted it. He usually grabbed his victim, smashed or pushed him against the nearest wall and screamed at him.

Compare that passage with this account from former Scientology executive Don Larson, one of David Miscavige’s enforcers during his rise to power: “David Miscavige comes up, grabs him by the tie and starts bashing him into the filing cabinet,” Larson told Britain’s Panorama team for a 1987 documentary. “And he’s thrown out in the street; his tie is ripped off.”

 
A ‘heartless bastard’

By the time Bonyai is a fully fledged member of the Sea Org, he is well on the way to becoming, as he himself puts it, another heartless bastard — and this is another strength of the book. Bonyai does not shrink from describing just how objectionable he himself became during his time inside the Sea Org.

I was slowly turning into a cold, calculating, merciless and rather manipulative person, with the occasional streak of cruelty. Hubbard actually recommended or hinted at ignoring traditional values in his voluminous policy letters and bulletins about the Sea Org, citing the paramount importance of the mission of the Scientology movement, which overrode any other aspect of the situations in question.

Appointed to a post in middle management, Bonyai comes under instant pressure to get results — and he learns the rules fast.

One of my fellow “monks” summarized the most basic survival trick: If bricks start to fall, you better jump aside so they hit the guy directly under you. The classic “lick upwards, kick downwards” policy applied.

In order to survive as a member of middle management, I had to name a person responsible if the stats did not go up or downright crashed or there was a problem…and I had to present a handling (an ethics order, a punishment, ordering overtime etc.) which satisfied my seniors.

The favored method of getting compliance was “you do not go to sleep until it is done” and I learned to use it fast. Otherwise I would have to take the fall and suffer the consequences (overtime, reduced rations, no day-offs etc.).

A little later, he reflects, “ I … realized that finding a target to blame was a way to survive in the Sea Org, where impossible deadlines were an everyday occurrence.”

This is as good a summary of the Sea Org’s dog-eat-dog atmosphere as you could hope to find.

Very quickly then, Bonyai is turning into just the kind of rottweiler Scientology requires him to be. Two months into his Sea Org career and back home for Christmas, he is bragging to his horrified parents about how he handles his subordinates.

On Christmas Day, he phones one minion to pile the pressure on and ensure he has completed his work in time for the Thursday deadline. “My parents were a bit freaked out about my creepy new personality…,” he confesses.

But then this was the kind of executive Hubbard wanted, as Bonyai points out: “The fire-breathing product officer will be followed and supported when the wishywashy old pal guy will be stepped all over in the rush to follow a real leader.” (Hubbard Policy Letter, January 17, 1982 “What is an Executive?”)

“Now I knew the basics,” writes Bonyai. “I was ready to assist the expansion of Scientology with brutal efficiency and blast all barriers away.”

Promoted to a key recruitment post, he applies the same take-no-prisoners tactics, targeting the 16-to-21 age group “because it was rather easy to convince and manipulate them,” playing on their utopian idealism to overcome any doubts they might have.

With hindsight he can see the irony: not so long before, he too had been just that kind of idealist.

 
NOW NOW NOW!

Other details might shock anyone new to the way the Sea Org works, but will sound strangely familiar to Bunker regulars: A 15-year-old boy appointed director of personnel; translators falling asleep over their typewriters as the latest impossible deadline draws nearer. Orders from on high to get the product delivered NOW NOW NOW!

And there are the late-night visits to the whales, the rich public Scientologists, to get the cheque — however long it takes. Bonyai quotes Hubbard’s justification for this kind of foot-in-the-door regging.

“Hard sell means insistence that people buy. It means caring about the person and not being reasonable about stops or barriers but caring enough to get him reasonable about stops or barriers but caring enough to get him through the stops or barriers to get the service that’s going to rehabilitate him.” (“Copyrighting”, Hubbard Policy Letter, September 26, 1979.)

Bonyai’s own summary is better: “The ideal registrar was like an attack dog which locked his jaws onto the victim’s leg and could only be removed by hacking off that limb.”

Particularly disturbing is his account of how his cold-blooded Sea Org values lead him to sabotage his first marriage. Having persuaded his partner that they should marry, he quickly decides that she is holding him back.

The extremely Social Darwinist attitude fostered in the organization brought out the worst in me –- the woman did not meet my expectations, the woman had to be dropped… I decided to deal with the situation with the speed and resolve expected of a Sea Org member. I told my wife that I was going to divorce her and I would submit the papers to the court in week. She was devastated, tried to convince me to give her another chance, but I was adamant about my decision…The whole procedure was over in 15 minutes the following day and we were officially divorced. I was proud of myself. In my view I had effectively handled the situation and remained at cause, not letting my emotions and feelings influence my judgment.

Credit to Bonyai for having the courage to tell this tale.

Bonyai also sets out in some detail how he suffered from the perverse and arbitrary nature of Scientology’s justice system.

Part of the problem, he acknowledges, is that he had made a fair number of enemies during his scramble up the greasy management pole; and just as he had learned to find underlings to blame when things went wrong, so his bosses made him the scapegoat when it suited them.

More than once he is sent up to the European headquarters in Copenhagen for various disciplinary measures — committees of evidence and security checks.

On one occasion he is suspected of being a spy for Hungary’s National Security Office.

A specialist was flown in from Germany — a man trained by Miscavige’s direct underlings to conduct such special interrogations. The questions were not limited to suspected espionage activities — I had to confess every harmful act or transgression that sprang to mind during the sessions, even if these had nothing to do with the main line of questioning. Priest-penitent privilege did not [apply], so they could use anything I said against me. Finally, the sessions were videotaped.

A security guard sleeps in his room on a mattress in front of the locked door, the key tucked under the mattress. One of his fellow inmates on the punishment programme, a Norwegian woman, is being disciplined for having considered suicide.

 
‘Tom Fucking Cruise’

Peter survives several brushes with Scientology’s thought police, its heavy ethics. And each time, he returns to Hungary disgruntled but still persuaded that the problem is not Scientology but the way it is being applied.

Eventually, however, the back-stabbing, cut-throat atmosphere of Sea Org life becomes too much. “I started to slowly collapse spiritually,” he writes. But he still blames himself for failing to meet the impossible targets set by his superiors.

Then in 2004, Tom Cruise gets his Freedom Medal of Valor for services to Scientology.

Even as a dedicated Sea Org member, I felt his whole story was a gigantic insult to all hard-working Sea Org members. I had been working day and night for the Church for the last seven years, enduring all the extreme production demands, yelling, humiliation in the name of greater good etc. And then Tom Fucking Cruise gets a medal, despite the fact that he was only disseminating over the previous 1 or 2 years. By the way, I never really liked Tom Cruise — he was a kind of a symbol of what was wrong with mainstream US culture. He was not even a Sea Org member, just a public Scientologist, whom we considered loser dilettantes for not taking real responsibility for clearing the planet.

And yet, despite everything, he stays.

He even fights to stay in the Sea Org when, during yet another heavy ethics assault, he is told he could risk being declared a Suppressive Person and cast out of the movement.

I really wanted to believe that the new civilization envisioned by Hubbard was attainable. I did not want to desert my hard-working comrades and I did not want to be singled out as someone who had not helped if Scientology indeed succeeded in clearing the planet. I did not want to lose my wife either (I thought that she would leave me if I left the Sea Org for any reason), and finally, I was so deeply involved with the movement that I could not even imagine any realistic alternative to that life…

The other side of the coin of course was that he had no money, no qualifications and virtually no relationships outside the movement. “I was not on the best terms with my family either, so I felt I didn’t have any other viable options.”

During that final disciplinary cycle he is kicked out of the Sea Org and told to consider himself lucky that he has not been declared Suppressive (“by then I had started to believe I was a Suppressive Person”).

His second wife, Andrea, is isolated from him and comes under relentless pressure to to divorce him.

The worst month of my life ensued. I felt utterly destroyed. My big dream of spearheading the creation of a new civilization was crushed. I spent 10 years working for the Church, giving up on all my ambitions and career options. I spent all the money I ever had on Scientology. And the end result was practically nothing….All I could show in the real world was a high school education, a good command of the English language and a mysterious 10-year gap in my life where I was apparently off to save the world. I knew almost nobody who was not a Scientologist. I had been virtually living a bubble and knew little about the so-called wog world.

Despite the pressure on Andrea, she refuses to divorce him. They even meet in secret every night during the crackdown, and finally she defies orders and rejoins him (the book is dedicated to her).

But now Bonyai is a virtual outcast from the movement, with $9,000 in bills to pay for the all that free training he received while inside the Sea Org — and 1,500 hours of unpaid work to do as amends.

 
The journey out

Peter tries to rebuild his life as a public Scientologist, setting up his own business. But now he is on the receiving end of the hard sell he and his colleagues meted out to public members back in the day. His disillusionment is growing.

It was very hard to face the fact that I had been such a sucker and had fallen for a sleazy con game like the Church of Scientology. I was under such extreme control in the Sea Org, but now I had ample opportunity to look at Scientology from the outside. It was embarrassingly apparent that nothing of real importance or magnitude happened or got done in the Church…

His doubts grow as he takes advantage of the unrestricted access to the Internet he has outside the Sea Org. But the breaking point for Bonyai turns out to be one hard-sell assault too many:

This was the last straw. I had enough of the insatiable greed of Scientology. My only regret at this point was that it took so long — 10 years of hard work as a virtual slave and throwing $50,000 out the window. All the bitterness that had accumulated over these long years came out in a big burst of anger — screamed at the guy for using Mafia tactics and I told him I would not pay a fucking cent. My conscience was clear, I added, I did everything they asked and if they did not like the type of amends I did, they should get back to me in writing. I then hung up on him. When I put down receiver, I knew it was over and there was no way back. I was no longer a member of the Church. I could not care less about their weird rules, their lust for money and planetary clearing for that matter.

Learning more about the devastating effects of Scientology’s disconnection policy helps him shed any final illusions he had about Hubbard’s contribution to humanity and his journey out is complete.

As hard as Bonyai tries to explain Scientology terms along the way, this is probably a book best read by those already familiar with this particular brand of sci-fi totalitarianism.

Bonyai’s experience in the Sea Org may not have been as brutal as some other survivors.

But his analysis of how he was drawn and transformed by the Scientology machine, his honesty in owning up to what he did while under its spell, makes this book a welcome addition to the growing list of ex-member memoirs.

— Jonny Jacobsen

 
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Camilla Andersson: Remembering Ann Tidman

Another great interview by Karen de la Carriere…

 
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Your proprietor talks Mary Sue Hubbard

KABC Channel 7 does a fun job with the Mary Sue Hubbard house, with appearances by Karen de la Carriere and your proprietor…

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on September 2, 2014 at 07:20

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UP THE BRIDGE (Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48

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