Scientology Finances &#8211; The Underground Bunker

We first broke the news of the LAPD’s investigation of Scientology celebrity Danny Masterson on rape allegations in 2017, and we’ve been covering the story every step of the way since then. At this page we’ve collected our most important links as Danny faces a potential sentence of 45 years to life in prison. NOW WITH TRIAL INDEX.

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THE PODCAST: How many have you heard?

[1] Marc Headley [2] Claire Headley [3] Jeffrey Augustine [4] Bruce Hines [5] Sunny Pereira [6] Pete Griffiths [7] Geoff Levin [8] Patty Moher [9] Marc Headley [10] Jefferson Hawkins [11] Michelle ‘Emma’ Ryan [12] Paulette Cooper [13] Jesse Prince [14] Mark Bunker [15] Jon Atack [16] Mirriam Francis [17] Bruce Hines on MSH

— SPECIAL: The best TV show on Scientology you never got to see

[1] Phil Jones [2] Derek Bloch [3] Carol Nyburg [4] Katrina Reyes [5] Jamie DeWolf

— The first Danny Masterson trial and beyond

[18] Trial special with Chris Shelton [19] Trial week one [20] Marc Headley on the spy in the hallway [21] Trial week two [22] Trial week three [23] Trial week four [24] Leah Remini on LAPD Corruption [25] Mike Rinder 2022 Thanksgiving Special [26] Jane Doe 4 (Tricia Vessey), Part One [27] Jane Doe 4 (Tricia Vessey), Part Two [28] Claire Headley on the trial [29] Tory Christman [30] Bruce Hines on spying [31] Karen de la Carriere [32] Ron Miscavige on Shelly Miscavige [33] Karen de la Carriere on the L’s [34] Mark Bunker on Miscavige hiding [35] Mark Plummer [36] Mark Ebner [37] Karen Pressley [38] Steve Cannane [39] Fredrick Brennan [40] Clarissa Adams [41] Louise Shekter [42] John Sweeney

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“The whole US civil defense system is based on the idea that there is a thing called the government which is composed of people (which already is silly) and they’re going to take over the country at the moment of an attack, see? They aren’t there now. They’re not part of the people, and they’re not human, you see? And they’re parked up someplace in Canada along the DEW line or down in Mexico or out on some island, and they don’t exist there now. And at the moment of an attack, nobody is supposed to do anything but be taken over by the government. That’s what you’re supposed to do in an attack. Consider it absolutely fascinating! It’s just as bad as Eisenhower’s design for the Normandy landing. I mean, there was nothing worse than that. I didn’t know this until the other day. I’m going to write a book on it. I’m going to call it The Great Myth. You see, I was a Pacific amphibious warfare officer before these Normandy landings occurred. And there’s certain ways you’re supposed to make landings. Well, they didn’t make them that way at Normandy. They killed men instead.” — L. Ron Hubbard, April 3, 1962

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“Our trouble has been isolated to the British Government. It uses British Consuls, Lloyds and reporters as part of its intelligence service. It has been revealed that reporters in the UK, particularly those operating outside it, are members of their intelligence service while still being reporters. The US health societies, groups, foundations and agencies are all members of SMERSH which is an English takeover of the work of Clifford Beers to bring protection to mental patients. By blackmail, corruption and pretense of being ‘the very best people’ this group had the British government in its palm. It appointed the health ministers of both parties in England and throughout the Commonwealth and even Switzerland. SMERSH is a world takeover type group, full of preposterous plans. It is now actively destroying western nations whose governments look to them to dispose of malcontents without realizing SMERSH’s degraded technology is violently opposed by Western peoples. If we are careful, keep good security and continue to attack, SMERSH will collapse as they are trying to be a police state without either the police or army on their side. We must be alert to the Intelligence factors of SMERSH and safeguard against their penetration of our security. On our shoulders alone rests the possibility of freeing Mankind from the horror of one of these police states which could destroy Mankind. The rest, like sheep, have been taken in wholly.” — The Commodore, April 3, 1969

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“Parsons was dodgy, and he was murdered because he was dodgy. But more specifically he was a commie. Israel is a commie state, so it makes sense he would pass data onto them. Hubbard was anti-commie. I reckon he was sent in on a mission to disturb Parsons. Years later another agent was sent in to kill Parsons probably because he was getting too out of hands. They didn’t want to just kill Parsons straight up back in ’46, it’s better to know who is your enemy and mess with them for years wasting their time, hence Hubbard’s mission. Parson was making jet-assist take-off for the Navy, so him being dodgy annoyed the Navy, and they would get their naval intelligence to handle him, thus we see Hubbard come into his life. Now this doesn’t mean Hubbard wasn’t into black magick. You can be sent on a mission and enjoy what that mission involves. In fact he could have liked Parsons but knew he was a sicko deep down being a lefty and that he needed to be dealt with.”

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2002: Impact Magazine published news from the annual convention of the International Association of Scientologists. “This year’s annual IAS Convention of Delegates chaired by President IAS Administrations Ms. Janet McLaughlin and attended by 28 delegates, was held for the first time at the Flag Land Base. Ms. Debbie Fraser, Finance Director IAS Administrations, presented a financial report, and Mr. Carl Light, Public Affairs Executive IAS Administrations, summarized the grants funded by the IAS and the US IAS Members’ Trust and their results in the past year. The delegates at this year’s IAS Annual Delegates Convention pledge themselves to the attainment of the following goals: We intend to promote the Volunteer Minister program internationally, thus bringing the direct application of LRH tech to millions. We intend to continue the exposure of the criminal nature of the psychiatric industry and to bring criminal
psychiatrists to justice in greater numbers than ever before, while dramatically increasing public awareness of their abuses. We intend to further strike at the scourge of drug abuse by making LRH’s life saving drug rehabilitation technology know and used by ever-increasing numbers. We intend to greatly advance the use of LRH criminal rehabilitation technology, resulting in reformed criminals leading productive and ethical lives. We intend to forward the use of The Way to Happiness, which is desperately needed in this troubled world.”

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“We Farsecians are not evil. We are the Knights Templar of the Universe. We are the Keepers of the ARC of the Covenant.”

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Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker

Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Mistrial declared November 30. Retrial scheduled, jury selection begins March 29. Next pretrial hearing: Feb 16.
— ‘Lafayette Ronald Hubbard’ (a/k/a Justin Craig), aggravated assault, plus drug charges: Grand jury indictments include charges from an assault while in custody. Next pretrial hearing Feb 13.
— Rizza Islam, Medi-Cal fraud: Trial scheduled for March 1 in Los Angeles
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud: Next status conference Feb 13.

Civil litigation:
— Baxter, Baxter, and Paris v. Scientology, alleging labor trafficking: Complaint filed April 28 in Tampa federal court, Scientology moving to compel arbitration. Plaintiffs filed amended complaint on August 2. Hearing November 17 to argue the arbitration motions, awaiting ruling.
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ Selection of arbitrators underway. Next court hearing: March 15, 2023.
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: Appellate court removes requirement of arbitration on January 19, case remanded back to Superior Court. Stay in place at least through February 7.
— Author Steve Cannane defamation trial: New trial ordered after appeals court overturned prior ruling.
— Chiropractors Steve Peyroux and Brent Detelich, stem cell fraud: Lawsuit filed by the FTC and state of Georgia in August, now in discovery phase.

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After the success of their double-Emmy-winning, three-season A&E series ‘Scientology and the Aftermath,’ Leah Remini and Mike Rinder continue the conversation on their podcast, ‘Scientology: Fair Game.’ We’ve created a landing page where you can hear all of the episodes so far.

An episode-by-episode guide to Leah Remini’s three-season, double-Emmy winning series that changed everything for Scientology watching. Originally aired from 2016 to 2019 on the A&E network, and now on Netflix.

Tony Ortega at The Daily Beast

Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!

Other links: SCIENTOLOGY BLACK OPS: Tom Cruise and dirty tricks. Scientology’s Ideal Orgs, from one end of the planet to the other. Scientology’s sneaky front groups, spreading the good news about L. Ron Hubbard while pretending to benefit society. Scientology Lit: Books reviewed or excerpted in a weekly series. How many have you read?

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THE WHOLE TRACK

[ONE year ago] Another reason to watch the CA supremes: Danny Masterson is petitioning his rape case
[TWO years ago] The Top 25 People Enabling Scientology, No. 3: The judges
[THREE years ago] Scientology’s new attempt to force ‘religious arbitration’ on Danny Masterson’s accusers
[FOUR years ago] A stunning Scientology call to arms for our politically divided times on this dirt ball
[FIVE years ago] Newly released documents: Scientology leader L. Ron Hubbard tried to ‘buy’ an African nation
[SIX years ago] Scientology leader David Miscavige launches new personal attacks at Leah Remini
[SEVEN years ago] David Miscavige and a bussed-in crowd cut the ribbon on Atlanta’s new Scientology ‘Ideal Org’
[EIGHT years ago] How Scientologists are dealing with the popularity of Alex Gibney’s film ‘Going Clear’
[NINE years ago] We asked David Miscavige’s tailor for his exact height — and here’s what he told us!
[TEN years ago] LEAK: Scientology’s Rehab Went from $5,000 to $2.5 Million in Insurance Revenue in One Year

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Scientology disconnection, a reminder

Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 2,988 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 3,493 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 3,043 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 2,033 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 1,924 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 5,228 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 3,099 days.
Doug Kramer has not seen his parents Linda and Norm in 2,204 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 4,681 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 3,993 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 12,559 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 8,478 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 4,646 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 4,227 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 4,488 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 3,524 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 3,240 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 2,804 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 1,119 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 2,294 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 6,845 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 3,976 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 4,314 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 9,169 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 4,288 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 2,644 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 6,947 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 3,053 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 3,451 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 3,327 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 2,910 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 3,405 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 3,659 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 14,768 days.

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Posted by Tony Ortega on April 3, 2023 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, 1995-2022 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2022), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)

Other links: BLOGGING DIANETICS: Reading Scientology’s founding text cover to cover | UP THE BRIDGE: Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists | GETTING OUR ETHICS IN: Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice | SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING: Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts | Shelly Miscavige, 15 years gone | The Lisa McPherson story told in real time | The Cathriona White stories | The Leah Remini ‘Knowledge Reports’ | Hear audio of a Scientology excommunication | Scientology’s little day care of horrors | Whatever happened to Steve Fishman? | Felony charges for Scientology’s drug rehab scam | Why Scientology digs bomb-proof vaults in the desert | PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ

Watch our short videos that explain Scientology’s controversies in three minutes or less…

Check your whale level at our dedicated page for status updates, or join us at the Underground Bunker’s Facebook discussion group for more frivolity.

Our non-Scientology stories: Robert Burnham Jr., the man who inscribed the universe | Notorious alt-right inspiration Kevin MacDonald and his theories about Jewish DNA | The selling of the “Phoenix Lights” | Astronomer Harlow Shapley‘s FBI file | Sex, spies, and local TV news | Battling Babe-Hounds: Ross Jeffries v. R. Don Steele

Tony Ortega at Rolling Stone

Tampa Bay Times identifies developer acting as Scientology’s front in Clearwater

Tony Ortega — Sun, 02 Apr 2023 11:00:34 +0000

[Rodney Riley]

We’ve told you how Scientology leader David Miscavige really wanted to get his hands on a small parcel of land in downtown Clearwater, Florida that is surrounded by other Scientology properties, but in 2017 the city stopped him from getting it.

As a result, we learned through some blockbuster reporting by Tampa Bay Times staffer Tracey McManus, wealthy Scientologists went on a buying spree, snapping up properties all around Clearwater’s downtown and North Marina areas, and for eye-popping prices, sometimes for much more than the properties were worth.

The implication seemed clear: Angry that he’d been spurned by the city, Miscavige was directing rich Scientologists to snap up even more control of it.

Scientology denied that it had anything to do with those land purchases, which have generally just sat unused since then.

Now, McManus is back with another blockbuster: She’s obtained an email which appears to confirm not only that the properties were bought in a coordinated effort directed by the church, but that an out-of-town developer with no ties to Scientology has been brought in as a ringer to front efforts to develop the parcels in the North Marina area.

Everyone is denying that implication, of course, including the developer, Rodney Riley, who arrived in Clearwater last year after establishing a record of working with the Mormon church to develop properties in Arizona.

And we want to make it clear: No one is saying that Riley’s $350 million development proposal in the North Marina area would be a bad thing for the city. But it would require permission from the city for variances to existing codes, and as new city manager Jennifer Poirrier explained, it’s not a good sign that the developer is not being more forthcoming about who he’s representing.

“Deception — that’s not going to be appreciated by the community and by the city, especially when there’s no reason for it,” she told McManus.

The email that McManus obtained spells out that Riley will be acting as the public face for OT 8 Scientologist investor Stephen Epstein, who is based in Nashville. And another player who is actually behind the North Marina development is Osman Ozsan, a Scientologist and money manager for Trish Duggan, the wealthy ex-wife of Bob Duggan, Scientology’s single biggest donor, who has given more than $360 million in donations to the church.

Trish Duggan, Ozsan, and Epstein were apparently concerned about the public finding out they were actually behind the new North Marina development, and so Epstein, in the email McManus obtained, asked Riley to come to town as a “white knight” and act as the project’s front to make it appear “legit.” It also suggested that Riley would be meeting with the Church of Scientology’s Clearwater spokesman, Ben Shaw.

Riley arrived in Clearwater in January 2022, and has been promoting the $350 million development, which involves numerous properties owned by Scientologists, while going out of his way to say that he is not a Scientologist himself.

He denied to the Tampa Bay Times that he received the email from Epstein, and he and his attorney denied that he was acting as a front for Scientology. From Tracey’s story…

[The email] says Epstein would “facilitate meetings” between himself, Riley “and Ben Shaw, with the Church, for the purpose of hopefully acquiring as much property as possible and figuring out where to place museum, etc.”
In his statement to the Times, Riley said he has never met with Shaw.
“The Church of Scientology is not an investor, tenant or end buyer of any project I’m developing in the North Marina area,” Riley stated. “Just because I’m buying land from Scientologists or would welcome investors of all religions does not mean I’m doing projects for the Church of Scientology.”

Sure, sure.

Meanwhile, we can now see why Shaw went into such a freakout and sent an unhinged letter to the city’s mayor about McManus, which we showed you on March 17.

Also, we raised an eyebrow when we noticed that Poirrier said she was assured by Riley’s land-use attorney, Brian Aungst Jr., that Riley was operating independently.

That turns out to be something of a fib, and coming from the son of the man, Brian Aungst Sr., who the city council just selected to be mayor for the next eleven months.

And look, we will again say this project in the North Marina area may end up being a good thing for the folks of Clearwater. But it’s sweet vindication for Tracey McManus that confirms what we all suspected: The property buying spree was a concerted effort by Scientology to gain even more control of the town.

That hasn’t stopped city leaders like Mark Bunker, who are going ahead with plans to revitalize the downtown without Scientology’s involvement.

Please read Tracey’s story for even more detail about the email and the denials she got from Riley, Shaw, and everyone else involved.

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Technology Cocktail

“If you were sailing along seventy-five feet back of your head some day, and you see some preclear come along, just shift your range of vision enough to find that preclear’s wing anchor points; if you were to get hold of one of these wing anchor points and just bend it off line—the person will walk in a circle. As long as you hold the anchor point out of line the person will walk out of line.” — L. Ron Hubbard, 1957

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THE PODCAST: How many have you heard?

— SPECIAL: The best TV show on Scientology you never got to see

[1] Phil Jones [2] Derek Bloch [3] Carol Nyburg [4] Katrina Reyes [5] Jamie DeWolf

— The first Danny Masterson trial and beyond

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“Now, if you were to duplicate teeth on a preclear, you just say, ‘All right. Now, let’s duplicate teeth.’ And he starts duplicating teeth, teeth, teeth, teeth, teeth, till he gets lots of teeth, lots of teeth, lots of teeth. First thing you know out of this big pile of teeth which he’s gotten out there, he’ll start to get the emotion ‘Whee! Let’s all be teeth. Let’s fill the whole universe up full of teeth. Everything’s got to be teeth.’ Well, of course this is the central motive as far as teeth are concerned. Everything must duplicate teeth. Any object has this as an obsession. It must be duplicated. If it goes downhill it gets down to a point, finally, where, of course, it must not be duplicated, which is it must hide, withdraw, get very small, be hard, compact.” — L. Ron Hubbard, April 2, 1954

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“I hope no desperate casualties resulted from the APRIL FOOL OOD. All Fools Day originated when they changed the Gregorian Calendar in 1564. The first day of the year was April 1st before then. When New Years Day became January 1st, those who persisted in celebrating it as April 1st became targets. It originated in France where they are called APRIL FISH and went to Scotland where they are called APRIL GAWKS. Through the English speaking world it is APRIL FOOLS. All from a PR stunt to teach the new Calendar! So when Al Bornstein, FAO PR wrote up an April Fool OODs with Geoff Barnes and Gorman the Management carried out a reversal even on them. In the Immortal Words of Product Officer FAO Amos Jessup, ‘Anyone who was taken in by that OOD had better review his Data Series!’ So would the FEBCs do a Data Analysis on that April Fools OOD as an exercise. Self preservation demands they be able to recognize real OUT POINTS when they get back to their orgs. People were in stitches over the results of the joke, so I hope no bruised feelings remain.” — The Commodore, April 2, 1971

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“I want to do a Purif but I’ve had soo many drugs pumped into me as a sick child, I’m so scared. I mostly want to do a Purif because of how many psych meds I’ve been on. I actually just got out of a 72-hour psychiatric hold and I still feel weird from all the drugs they pumped into me.”

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2001: La Prensa reported that Scientology’s ship, the Freewinds, may be inspected for dangerous asbestos levels. “People of the Shipping Inspection expect problems in seriously dealing with the ‘Freewinds’. All buildings and ships built before 1970 were built with asbestos. All plates/panels on roofs are made of dangerous asbestos. According to a functionary of the Shipping Inspection, this is a material which provides good protection from fire. ‘Why should we begin refusing ‘Freewinds,’ when we know that all ships built before 1970 were fitted with that material? Then we would have to refuse the majority of ships,’ according to the statement. Richardson emphasizes that blue asbestos is not dangerous, as long as one does not come into contact with it. ‘We understand that the asbestos on board is in hard, and not powder, form. We will soon inspect the ‘Freewinds.’ We will do this together with Shipping Inspection and the Port Safety Inspection, since these are the the nautical authorities in this case,’ according to Richardson’s statement.”

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“Why would Scientologists feel love for each other? According to Hubbard they are just random thetans occupying random meat bodies. Your children aren’t really ‘your’ children. That’s one of the reasons it seems so easy for some Scientologists to disconnect. Your relatives are merely other pod people.”

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Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker

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Tony Ortega at The Daily Beast

Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!

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THE WHOLE TRACK

[ONE year ago] Academic forum caves to scary Scientology attorneys, spikes our presentation
[TWO years ago] SNL produced the best parody of Scientology ever — and then hired a Scientologist
[THREE years ago] Scientology is dying to keep you well from the pandemic it doesn’t believe in
[FOUR years ago] Thetans in the Jungle: Scientology in Papua New Guinea’s Highlands
[FIVE years ago] Mike Rinder: Scientology is ‘disappearing at a consistent unchanging unwavering rate’
[SIX years ago] Scientology for your plants? In the grand tradition of L. Ron Hubbard, yes!
[SEVEN years ago] Scientology’s demonology: Where L. Ron Hubbard got the idea for your space cooties
[EIGHT years ago] Robert Vaughn Young on L. Ron Hubbard’s final days — another ‘Secret Lives’ video outtake
[NINE years ago] Florida attorney Ken Dandar hit with $1 million penalty for taking on Scientology
[TEN years ago] Why Isn’t Scientology More Open About Its Space Opera Beliefs? It’s the Best Part!

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Scientology disconnection, a reminder

Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 2,987 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 3,492 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 3,042 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 2,032 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 1,923 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 5,227 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 3,098 days.
Doug Kramer has not seen his parents Linda and Norm in 2,203 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 4,680 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 3,992 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 12,558 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 8,477 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 4,645 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 4,226 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 4,487 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 3,523 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 3,239 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 2,803 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 1,118 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 2,293 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 6,844 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 3,975 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 4,313 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 9,168 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 4,287 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 2,643 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 6,946 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 3,052 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 3,450 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 3,326 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 2,909 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 3,404 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 3,658 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 14,767 days.

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Posted by Tony Ortega on April 2, 2023 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.

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.

Tony Ortega at Rolling Stone

Here’s proof that David Miscavige’s real estate approach to Scientology leadership pays

Tony Ortega — Wed, 05 Jan 2022 12:00:53 +0000

Back in 2014 we provided a jolt to Scientology watchers when we got a look at some actual figures representing the amount of money that Scientology is worth, and all tax-free.

What happened was, thanks to the probing of our friend Jeffrey Augustine, we had learned about a change in the law that was requiring organizations that normally paid no taxes on their revenue, such as churches, to file returns for something called “unrelated business income.” So a church that rented out its hall for a concert or something might have to report it on something called a “990-T” form.

Requiring Scientology’s various entities to follow these new rules, which came into effect around 2007, had a really interesting consequence. It’s not that the “unrelated business income” they were reporting amounted to much, but it was a small box on the first page of the report that stunned us. It was labeled “book value,” and it required these otherwise secretive organizations to provide an estimate of their entire worth, which was largely, of course, in the form of their real estate and buildings.

The amounts were shocking. Just two of the principle Scientology entities, the Church of Scientology International and the Church of Spiritual Technology, submitted book values in 2011 totaling $1.2 billion.

It was the first look at hard figures involving Scientology’s finances since it gained tax exempt status in 1993, and it corroborated what former FSO Captain Debbie Cook had claimed when she defected in 2012: David Miscavige was sitting on a mountain of money. In 2015, Alex Gibney, using those documents and other sources, estimated in his film ‘Going Clear’ that Scientology had three or four billion in cash.

We were able to keep an eye on those 990-T forms for a few more years, but then they dried up. We figured that Scientology leader David Miscavige had figured out how to avoid taking in “unrelated business income” so they would stop having to admit how much money they had on the forms.

But Monday night, Jeffrey Augustine posted at his blog two new 990-T forms that were submitted by the Flag Service Organization, the Scientology entity that runs the Flag Land Base, Scientology’s spiritual mecca in Clearwater, Florida. While not on the level of the numbers we saw years ago with CSI and CST, they did contain a surprise: Between 2018 and 2019, Flag’s value skyrocketed.

In 2018, FSO’s secretary Glen Stilo estimated the organization’s “book value” at $191,474,208. A year later, for the 2019 form, he submitted a much higher number: $298,856,945.

For years, we’ve repeated what top former Scientology executives have told us, that “Flag” is the economic engine for the church, taking in more revenue than the rest of Scientology’s “orgs” around the world, combined. But going from $200 million to $300 million in value in a single year? Wow.

Our new Insider points out that 2018-2019 was right about at the height of the “Chase Wave,” when Scientology’s salespeople (known as “registrars”) were using a deceptive practice to burden Scientologists with huge debts. And also, he notes, Flag has been especially busy raising money for a new “LRH Hall.” Augustine wonders if the increase in value is related to the buying up of Clearwater properties reported on by Tampa Bay Times reporter Tracey McManus. But those properties were bought by individual Scientologists, not the Flag Land Base.

What could be going on? Mike Rinder suggests that the answer is really very simple: Florida real estate is going gangbusters.

“I suspect that in order to keep the ‘stats up’ — meaning the total Sea Org Reserves — Miscavige had new property valuations done,” says the former Scientology spokesman. “Part of Sea Org Reserves is the property holdings. In the past, it was a way to keep the SOR stat going up — get a new assessment of property value. Prices of property in Florida have been skyrocketing. They don’t pay for these property valuations every year, often properties sit with an assigned value from many years previously, and when needed to boost the stats, he’ll say ‘Get a new appraisal done’.”

A “Chase Wave” happening at the orgs around the country wouldn’t have meant a direct increase at Flag, he points out, but an increase in the value of the properties of the Flag campus would explain the huge increase.

And even with a pandemic, those values aren’t likely to go down. In fact, checking the latest figures, the housing price index in Florida has only sped up since the pandemic began. So even if, as our Insider has been saying, things are dire at the orgs because of the lockdowns, Flag’s value may still be going through the roof, and Miscavige has more money than ever to control.

“It may not be what everyone wants to hear, but I think it’s the most likely scenario,” Rinder says.

Hip, hip, hooray?

——————–

Sign up for a daily email when we post a new story on Scientology.

Did you know you can get an email every morning when we post our daily Scientology story? We know some of the folks who come to the Underground Bunker aren’t here to talk about the politics of the day, and that’s why we created a daily politics feature over at our other blog, The Lowdown, and we ask readers to take their political discussions over there. And if you drop us a line at tonyo94 AT gmail, we’ll put you on the list so you get a morning reminder that a new Scientology story has been posted — and only for our Scientology stories.

——————–

“You can, by the way — it’s quite curious — if you were sailing down the street exteriorized and you take a look at somebody, you look over his anchor points, you’ll find those big wing anchor points. They’re way out there, great big gold balls way out in front. You can take one of these, one of this guy’s anchor points, you know, in front and pull it sideways and he’ll start to walk in a circle without knowing why he’s walking in a circle. And you push it out of position and he’ll start to lean. Oh, it’s a very obvious sort of structure.” — L. Ron Hubbard, January 5, 1955

——————–

“VISITORS: Only 250 Greek visitors came to the ship today. I am sure they were well handled. But it shows, (a) a lapse of advertising in Div VI and (b) insufficiently interesting ship tour. We should do better next time.” — The Commodore, January 5, 1969

——————–

“There is really no more satanism in Scientology than there is actually in the Catholic church. Only the protestant Christians tried to get away from symbol and ritual and authoritarianism — all elements of satanism — but even they did not do nearly well enough….The slavemasters of the planet (Vatican & British nobility — ‘Priests & Kings shall rule’ — the double-headed eagle) have pushed only extremes in order to divide & conquer.”

——————–

1997: A letter from Downbeat Magazine was posted this week, from Jim Beebe, a reader familiar with Scientology. “Chick Corea should be publicly caned for his shameful hustling of the Scientologist cult (‘On The Beat’ Oct. ’96). For years, every interview with Corea was a plug for Scientology and L. Ron Hubbard. Many of Corea’s recordings had tributes to Hubbard and an address to write for more information. I, and who knows how many other musicians and fans took the bait. Thanks, Chick, for those wasted, brainwashed years and all of the money blown on quack courses and counseling. For some of us, too many years have gone by–but the public should be informed that those of us who have been lured into this destructive cult by Corea, can sue him and this cult and win legal redress.”

——————–

“Well, Hubbard did say that the thetans created the MEST universe so that they would have a place to play, but that eventually they forgot they had done so. The idea that Hubbard saw this whole thing as a game has always seemed pretty obvious to me.”

——————–

Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker

Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Next hearing set for February 8. Trial scheduled for August 29, 2022.
— ‘Lafayette Ronald Hubbard’ (a/k/a Justin Craig), false imprisonment, aggravated assault, plus drug charges: Next hearing scheduled for January 18.

— Jay and Jeff Spina, Medicare fraud: Jay sentenced to 9 years in prison. Jeff’s sentencing to be scheduled.
— Hanan and Rizza Islam and other family members, Medi-Cal fraud: Pretrial conference January 22 in Los Angeles
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud: Next pretrial conference set for February 11.
— Joseph ‘Ben’ Barton, Medicare fraud: Pleaded guilty, awaiting sentencing.

Civil litigation:
— Luis and Rocio Garcia v. Scientology: Eleventh Circuit affirmed ruling granting Scientology’s motion for arbitration. Garcias considering next move.
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ US Supreme Court denied Valerie’s petition Oct 4.
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: California Supreme Court granted review on May 26 and asked the Second Appellate Division to direct Judge Steven Kleifield to show cause why he granted Scientology’s motion for arbitration. Oral arguments held November 2, awaiting a ruling.
— Brian Statler Sr v. City of Inglewood: Third amended complaint filed, trial set for June 28, 2022.
— Author Steve Cannane defamation trial: Trial concluded, Cannane victorious, awarded court costs. Case appealed on Dec 23. Appeal hearing held Aug 23-27. Awaiting a ruling.
— Chiropractors Steve Peyroux and Brent Detelich, stem cell fraud: Lawsuit filed by the FTC and state of Georgia in August, now in discovery phase.

——————–

We first broke the news of the LAPD’s investigation of Scientology celebrity Danny Masterson on rape allegations in 2017, and we’ve been covering the story every step of the way since then. At this page we’ve collected our most important links, including our four days in Los Angeles covering the preliminary hearing and its ruling, which has Danny facing trial and the potential sentence of 45 years to life in prison.

Tony Ortega at The Daily Beast

Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!

——————–
THE WHOLE TRACK

[ONE year ago] The wealthy people getting Scientology through the lockdown with their donations
[TWO years ago] Does Mexico really need a Scientology ‘Advanced Org’? We’ll soon find out.
[THREE years ago] A Scientologist murdered: Our experts try to make sense of Australia’s ‘Advanced Org’
[FOUR years ago] Court magician? Scientology attorney can now affect matter with thought, levitate, read minds
[FIVE years ago] Scientology cash-in! Top church attorney puts her beach bungalow on market for $2.4 million
[SIX years ago] Scientology posts the new ad that will likely be its Super Bowl entry this year
[SEVEN years ago] Former spokesman Mike Rinder describes Scientology’s dismal options in 2015
[EIGHT years ago] Sunday Funnies: Scientology charges into the new year!
[NINE years ago] Scientology Drug Rehab Program’s Newest Victim: A New York 15-Year-Old
[TEN years ago] All Scientologists Look Alike, Right? — And More in our Weekly Stats Roundup!

——————–

Scientology disconnection, a reminder

Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 2,536 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 3,041 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 2,561 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 1,581 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 1,472 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 4,779 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 2,647 days.
Carol Nyburg has not seen her daughter Nancy in 3,421 days.
Doug Kramer has not seen his parents Linda and Norm in 1,752 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 4,225 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 3,541 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 12,107 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 8,026 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 4,194 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 3,775 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 4,036 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 3,072 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 2,787 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 2,312 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 667 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 1,842 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 6,393 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 3,542 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 3,862 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 8,717 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 3,836 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 2,192 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 6,495 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 2,601 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 2,999 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 2,875 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 2,458 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 2,953 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 3,207 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 14,316 days.

——————–

Posted by Tony Ortega on January 5, 2022 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.

The Best of the Underground Bunker, 1995-2020 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2020), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)

Watch our short videos that explain Scientology’s controversies in three minutes or less…

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Leaked price list: What it costs to stay at Scientology’s ‘spiritual mecca’ in Florida

Tony Ortega — Mon, 28 Jun 2021 11:00:10 +0000

[The Fort Harrison Hotel]

Our former OT 8 Scientologist has sent us another trove of pristine materials documenting their trek up the Bridge to Total Freedom. Previously, we’ve shown you some things from the mid 1980s that were in amazing shape. Now, we’ve been given some things from a more contemporary timeframe.

And the most useful is probably a stunning price list from the Flag Land Base. A price list not for courses, but for accommodations.

We’ll never forget Jason Beghe, many years ago, telling us that what makes the Flag Land Base experience so expensive is not simply the prices that are charged for courses or auditing, but for what you’ll spend to stay there for week after week. And now, here’s some evidence of that in black and white.

Jason described a situation. Say you’ve come for one of the L Rundowns. Or an OT level. You might have to make arrangements to shut down your business back at home, or to take care of your home. And then you arrive and you’re told that before you can start your L Rundown or whatever it is you’ve come to do, first you have to go through a False Purpose Rundown or some other kind of interrogation to make sure that you don’t have evil intent or some other unresolved issues. And it will be a customized interrogation that can go on and on. He wanted us to understand that you could spend weeks and weeks at Flag and never get to the thing you came for, and the entire time you would be repeatedly hit up for more donations from an array of people for different initiatives.

During that ordeal you’d be paying for staying in fancy hotel rooms and for meals and other services. And how much does that cost? Thanks to our new OT 8 source, we get a really good idea about that.

This document is dated 2007, and we can’t imagine that these prices have gone down. But the first thing they want you to do is estimate how long you’ll be staying. Here’s the first page, with some typical packages…

Prepare yourself then, if you want to go for the full Flag package from Solo I to OT 7, you’re going to be there up to a year.

And if you want to go through the Wall of Fire and learn about Xenu on OT 3? Plan on one to two months, just for the auditing. Holy Space Opera!

And at what rates? Well, they vary quite a bit, depending on what a big shot you are. Are you going the economical route and bunking with a roomie? Or do you want the VIP suite? Let’s check out those 2007 rates.

You can see why the Yachtsman’s rates are so reasonable. This is for you outer org losers…

The Sandcastle and the Osceola are up the street from the Fort Harrison, not far from Tom Cruise’s penthouse condo at the Skyview.

We are grateful to our source for giving us this glimpse at what marks are forking over for their trips to Scientology’s spiritual mecca. Once again, as always, Scientology is all about hierarchy and status, with the wealthiest Scientologists getting rooked for the maximum amount so they can feel like superior beings while they are being taken to the cleaners.

No wonder the Flag Land Base takes in more revenue on a weekly basis than the rest of Scientology’s facilities combined. It’s a spiritual gold rush!

——————–

“In Dianetics, if you don’t think you could produce ‘therapies’ which would produce convulsions, break people out in rashes, make them walk on the ceiling and have their ears rot off, you are foolish. You definitely could. You are working here with the basic tools; you are working with what is wrong. And when you are working with what is really wrong with the human psyche, you can of course just specialize in making it more wrong. For instance, you can take a preclear down the time track and turn on a fever that won’t turn off for two or three days. That is spectacular! You can actually send him down the time track and get him into a fever engram and take his temperature or see that his skin is very hot to the touch, and he will have a fever.” — L. Ron Hubbard, June 28, 1951

——————–

“THE ENEMY: Nelson Rockefeller finances and pushes forward the Totalitarian idea of Population Control by Psychiatry and his foundations try to shove us around. In the news he and his family interests are under heavy attack in South America. Rhodesia’s anti-Ron government just gets in deeper and deeper. I wrote Smith a Constitution permitting black representation while maintaining white interests that Britain and the Rhodesian white both would have bought. The govt answer was refusal to extend my visa. That the people of Rhodesia remained on our side is attested by three orgs there now. That Smith is on the side of psychiatry is attested by a new big psychiatric clinic next door to the jail. The enemy is having a very hard time. He is going counter to a world where comm is pushing freedom into being. We are going with the flood tide of world opinion. The enemy is floundering against it. We only have to expand and endure to win.” — The Commodore, June 28, 1969

——————–

“We have evil people (SPs) and they can be created by a cancer growing in their head or something and it made them evil, or at work they got stabbed in the head with metal, and then after that turned evil, so their whole track hasn’t changed, it’s the same person. And when they got stabbed in the head at work there was no person around talking commands. So in these situations engrams were not really involved, it’s simply more a physical reason for them being evil, not some whole track engram theory. I think our bodies are like cars, and when they are not functioning right whether it by being evil or gay, it’s due to simple physical reasons like them living in a house with a mold problem for years and this infects their body and attacks it and they end up being retarded from it or something. It’s nothing to do with memories of the past. I’ve just looked into this topic heaps and I’m telling you there’s all these physical reasons for people’s aberrations, and Hubbard’s engram or body thetan theories most of the time don’t prove to be correct. But I do agree that sometimes they are right. I think he’s done a massive exaggeration with his theory, he exaggerates a lot. I think for some people’s problems they really are caused by memories and it ain’t a physical thing, there’s evidence for this.”

——————–

2001: Thomas Gandow reported that the head of Narconon in Russia has denounced Scientology and left the organization. “Vladimir Ivanov – the leader of Russian ‘Narkonon,’ the president of Scientological ‘Foundation of Salvation of Children and Adolescents from Drugs’ and the foundation ‘Drug-Free Russia,’ while speaking live on popular radio Ekho Moskvy, unexpectedly announced that he had broken with the Scientology organization. Mr. Ivanov spoke about Scientology as a criminal cult which has nothing to do with religion and which capitalizes cynically upon the sufferings and pain of other people. Ivanov said that he is no longer ‘Satanist’ and had asked forgiveness from those numerous people whom he recruited into Scientology. He had announced that from now on none of the organizations he heads, has anything to do either to Scientology, or to ‘Narconon.’ At the same time, Mr. Ivanov had expressed an idea that technology used in Narconon can be used effectively outside of Scientology and Narconon itself.” From an open letter by Vladimir Ivanov: “Having thoroughly studied the theory and practice of Scientologists in Russia and abroad for the past ten years, I have come to realize that the certain practicality of the so-called technology is in full and complete contradiction with the purely commercial aspirations, hidden from the outsider’s view, and has nothing in common (except for declarations) with the spiritual-religious goals. The so-called Church of Scientology flouts human rights and the rights of religious people in general by imposing a ban on a profession, by denying a person the right to defend his interests in the court of law, and by enslaving him with work for the benefit of its mercantile interests.”

——————–

“Two eggs over easy, hash browns, and either two Italian sausage or four bangers and dark rye toast. Thanks. Oh, and a double tequila sunrise in a pint glass.”

——————–

Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker

Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Next hearing set for August 9. Trial tentatively scheduled for early November.
— Jay and Jeff Spina, Medicare fraud: Jay sentenced to 9 years in prison. Jeff’s sentencing to be scheduled.
— Hanan and Rizza Islam and other family members, Medi-Cal fraud: Pretrial conference August 21 in Los Angeles
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud: June 18 pretrial conference delayed until July 9.

Civil litigation:
— Luis and Rocio Garcia v. Scientology: Oral arguments were heard on July 30 at the Eleventh Circuit
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ Petition to US Supreme Court submitted on May 26. Scientology has until June 25 to respond.
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: California Supreme Court grants review on May 26, asks Second Appellate Division to direct Judge Steven Kleifield to show cause why he granted Scientology’s motion for arbitration.
— Matt and Kathy Feschbach tax debt: Eleventh Circuit ruled on Sept 9 that Feshbachs can’t discharge IRS debt in bankruptcy. Dec 17: Feshbachs sign court judgment obliging them to pay entire $3.674 million tax debt, plus interest from Nov 19.
— Brian Statler Sr v. City of Inglewood: Second amended complaint filed, trial set for Nov 9, 2021.
— Author Steve Cannane defamation trial: Trial concluded, Cannane victorious, awarded court costs. Case appealed on Dec 24.

Concluded litigation:
— Dennis Nobbe, Medicare fraud, PPP loan fraud: Charged July 29. Bond revoked Sep 14. Nobbe dead, Sep 14.
— Jane Doe v. Scientology (in Miami): Jane Doe dismissed the lawsuit on May 15 after the Clearwater Police dropped their criminal investigation of her allegations.

——————–

We first broke the news of the LAPD’s investigation of Scientology celebrity Danny Masterson on rape allegations in 2017, and we’ve been covering the story every step of the way since then. At this page we’ve collected our most important links, including our four days in Los Angeles covering the preliminary hearing and its ruling, which has Danny facing trial and the potential sentence of 45 years to life in prison.

Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!

——————–

THE WHOLE TRACK

[ONE year ago] Scientology will see you now! Orgs are reopening in safe and not so safe places
[TWO years ago] Your brain on Scientology: ‘I am the hurricane’
[THREE years ago] Scientology rock ‘n’ roller goes back to his days with L. Ron Hubbard at sea
[FOUR years ago] Federal judge tells Scientology to cool its jets, says arbitration is ‘imminent’
[FIVE years ago] How Google is getting gamed in the fight both for and against the Church of Scientology
[SIX years ago] Project Normandy, 2015: Paulette Cooper has landed in Clearwater — Scientology’s ‘Mecca’
[SEVEN years ago] Scientology’s secret plan to take over the world — here it is!
[EIGHT years ago] Blogging Scientology’s Bible: Vance, We’ve Reached the Finish Line!
[TEN years ago] Grant Cardone Takes to the Huffington Post to Head Off “Haters”

——————–

Scientology disconnection, a reminder

Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 2,345 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 2,850 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 2,370 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 1,390 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 1,281 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 4,588 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 2,456 days.
Carol Nyburg has not seen her daughter Nancy in 3,230 days.
Doug Kramer has not seen his parents Linda and Norm in 1,560 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 4,034 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 3,350 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 11,916 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 7,835 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 4,003 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 3,584 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 3,845 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 2,883 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 2,596 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 2,121 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 476 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 1,651 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 6,202 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 3,351 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 3,671 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 8,526 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 3,645 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 2,001 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 6,304 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 2,410 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 2,812 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 2,684 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 2,267 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 2,762 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 3,016 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 14,125 days.

——————–

Posted by Tony Ortega on June 28, 2021 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.

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.

LEAKED: Watch Scientology ‘OTs’ pressured to donate tens of thousands in wild video

Tony Ortega — Sun, 13 Jun 2021 11:00:40 +0000

With the Austin ‘Ideal Org’ preparing to open, this leak is especially timely.

It comes from Kat, a comedian who took classes at the Austin org to spoof it, and who you may remember from an interview she did with Chris Shelton in September.

What Kat has given us is pretty spectacular footage, shot on a good camera and at an event in 2015 that not only wasn’t intended for the general public, it was of a gathering that only included “OT” Scientologists who were being pressured to fork over huge amounts of money for the planned renovation.

During that hour-long event, you’ll see Austin’s Ideal Org Fundraising I/C (“in charge”) Stacy Sass leading the charge as the people stuck in the room are encouraged to donate enough money to reach “Texas Ranger” ($50,000), “Humanitarian” ($100,000), “Humanitarian with Honors” ($150,000) and higher “status levels.”

Kat also gave us a few other videos, and we’ve taken out the best parts and put them into one video. Here’s how it breaks down:

1. A few minutes from a 2012 promotional video introducing the OT committee and Stacy Sass and the slogan of “Texas Hot.”

2. A short portion of a 2014 music video that we had posted seven years ago, with Stacy singing the official song of the Austin Org.

3. The hourlong OT fundraising rally, with Texas Scientologists being urged to raise enough in the room to bring total giving for the Ideal Org to $4 million.

This is really remarkable stuff and please keep in mind this was repeated in similar fundraising efforts at orgs around the world over the last 18 years in David Miscavige’s scheme to turn every city “ideal.”

After the video, we have some comments on it from Kat.

“The fundraiser wasn’t open to all Austin Scientology public, but was meant just for OTs and high level donors from the Austin area,” Kat says. “The reason that the video isn’t just from a cell phone is that they had Golden Era Productions there filming the fundraiser. The hope being that they would reach their goal and be able to show footage of the fundraiser at the upcoming Maiden Voyage event for the rest of the orgs to see. Of course, they didn’t finish their fundraising until 2018 at a fundraiser at the rather upscale Hotel Van Zandt in downtown Austin.”

As for how she came into possession of the video, Kat explains that it was freely given to her on a disc at the church. “At some point when I was in the org, I was shown the basement and was told I could grab one of the IAS videos from down there. After I watched it, I came back the next day and asked if I could take any more CDs from down there and was given the OK because they thought it was just more promo junk and that I was a dedicated Scientologist. I say this only to head off any accusations they might have that I stole the footage.”

Kat says that the business at the Austin org had been “quite bad,” and so making a big showing of raising money for the new org was a big deal.

“When the org was established, it was purchased outright I believe by Mary Sue Hubbard and they thought they’d have an easy time getting UT students. As you’ll hear in many of the speeches, they’re confused as to why that hasn’t happened,” she says.

“As you’ll see in the video, they all give speeches that simultaneously sound like they’re trying to convince themselves that it’s OK to give all that money, and pressure others to start donating as well. When there is a lull, I’m sure the fundraiser I/Cs have trained on the patter to use.”

To explain what she means, Kat gave us these images of ‘patter’ that Scientologists are encouraged to use while making the hard sell.

“I saw this at every fundraiser: the creepy laughter and forced ‘having a good time’ vibe. They’re essentially all trapped in that room being squeezed to donate tens of thousands of dollars, but it’s supposed to feel like a ‘party’,” Kat says.

“At 17:50 in the first fundraiser video, Cathy Norman gets up and donates around $6,000, which gets a muted response (because it’s a ‘mere $6,000). Cathy is the longtime Director of Special Affairs in Austin. She is one of the people sued by Gerry Armstrong in 1997 for defamation over a letter she wrote.”

This is great stuff. Thank you for giving this glimpse of the fundraising madness, Kat.

——————–

“Frankly it’s pure idiocy to cure somebody of an illness. This is idiocy. They just go and get sick again. You talk about a thankless task! It’s actually thankless, endless, does nothing for the society, gains nothing for the individual or anything else to amount to anything. This guy’s got an earache. So you work like mad to get this guy to recover from this earache, see. And so you cure him from his earache. Well, great day in the morning, he has now not got an earache. Great. How to raise society heroically onward and forward! Now, if you cure his earache, if you’re foolish enough to cure his earache, and work in just-in no direction but to cure his earache, you’re working exactly against his hidden standard. And, you aren’t really trying to remove the causes of having a hidden standard. So what’s he going to do? Well, next day he’s got ulcers. See?” — L. Ron Hubbard, June 13, 1963

——————–

“SHORE STORY: Crew are reminded of our shore story — to know it and use it. QMs are reminded of our handouts — to use them (French ones). All crew are reminded that PR actions must also take security into mind. Some things you as Crew know about and should — that doesn’t mean “everyone” should know about them. Our operations in any country should be known by all crew and officers but only crew and officers. You are all now very aware of PR. Thank you — it’s really great and we can even improve it more — but lets become more aware now that security goes along with it.” — Lt. Barry Watson, PO, June 13, 1970

——————–

“An individual can create a space of his own and it has no existence in this physical universe except by the postulate of its creator. Others can be invited to view and even enter this universe. It can grow and take on a life of its own. It can even become as large and ‘real’ as this universe, still having no existence in this universe. And so it has been. Another confusion that has been intentionally introduced, is that separate universes have their own timeline. So, to say that two or more universes can exist simultaneously is a bit hard to grasp and sort out. But with a good look, it can be understood.”

——————–

2000: A transcript of John McLaughlin’s One on One TV show was posted to a.r.s this week, on the subject of religious discrimination and mentioning Scientology. “MR. MCLAUGHLIN: At the dawn of the 21st century, one of mankind’s age-old curses still afflicts us. It is religious intolerance. In China, Christians and so-called ‘cults’ are the targets of brutal government crack-downs. In the Sudan, antichristian riots have killed hundreds. In Russia, antisemitism is rearing its despicable head…And let’s move on to Scientology. It’s called a cult, which is kind of a dismissive word, which almost invites a certain amount of oppression, doesn’t it? To those who practice Scientology, a true faith. SEN. BROWNBACK: It is. And where I get concerned is, like the First Amendment, when you start cutting somebody’s speech out somewhere, I get concerned anywhere about it. What people choose to do with their own souls is their right, and it should be protected.”

——————–

“Hubbard was already in the process of killing the golden goose before he croaked.”

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Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker

——————–

We first broke the news of the LAPD’s investigation of Scientology celebrity Danny Masterson on rape allegations in 2017, and we’ve been covering the story every step of the way since then. At this page we’ve collected our most important links, including our four days in Los Angeles covering the preliminary hearing and its ruling, which has Danny facing trial and the potential sentence of 45 years to life in prison.

Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!

——————–

THE WHOLE TRACK

[ONE year ago] A strange and unsettling update to one of Scientology’s most awful recent scandals
[TWO years ago] Jon Atack: Seduction, recruitment, and Scientology’s hard sell
[THREE years ago] Why are New York politicians such easy marks for Scientology?
[FOUR years ago] Photos shot by L. Ron Hubbard in 1975 capture how the founder wanted Scientology marketed
[FIVE years ago] Karla Zamudio on Scientology, and capturing Marc and Claire Headley in the short film ‘Escape’
[SIX years ago] Google helps Scientology billionaire Bob Duggan hide a dark family secret
[SEVEN years ago] Why Giovanni Ribisi told Marc Maron there are no aliens in Scientology: A theory
[EIGHT years ago] This is Your Dianetics on Drugs: The Nitrous Engram
[NINE years ago] How a Scientologist Loses Faith in His Church: A Case Study
[TEN years ago] ‘Inside Scientology’ Promises a Lot, And Delivers: David Miscavige Has Much to Worry About

——————–

Scientology disconnection, a reminder

Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 2,330 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 2,835 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 2,355 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 1,375 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 1,266 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 4,573 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 2,441 days.
Carol Nyburg has not seen her daughter Nancy in 3,215 days.
Doug Kramer has not seen his parents Linda and Norm in 1,545 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 4,019 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 3,335 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 11,901 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 7,820 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 3,988 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 3,569 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 3,830 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 2,868 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 2,581 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 2,106 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 461 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 1,636 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 6,187 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 3,336 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 3,656 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 8,511 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 3,630 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 1,986 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 6,289 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 2,395 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 2,797 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 2,669 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 2,252 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 2,747 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 3,001 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 14,110 days.

——————–

Posted by Tony Ortega on June 13, 2021 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.

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.

Why is Scientology desperate for a tiny plot in Clearwater? Let us draw you a picture.

Tony Ortega — Fri, 14 May 2021 11:00:46 +0000

[Dave has a hole burning in his pocket.]

This week five secret proposals for Clearwater downtown development were made public by the city, and Tracey McManus gave a summary of them at the Tampa Bay Times.

The city called for developers to pitch them on what to do with three plots of land that are each between 1.2 and 2.6 acres in size and make up key parts of the Imagine Clearwater redevelopment plan to revive downtown. Five developers submitted plans that involved one or all three parcels.

Two of the projects were selected as finalists, McManus reported, but all five will be presented to the city council.

We were most curious, of course, to see the Church of Scientology’s proposal, which once again is to offer way more money than the appraised value for one of the parcels, the smallest one at 1.23 acres along Pierce Street, which Scientology is offering $7.5 million for, even though it’s only assessed at $5.5 million.

If you remember, Scientology leader David Miscavige at one point offered to pay $15 million for that small plot of land to the previous owner, the Clearwater Aquarium, and we explained why the Aquarium was in no mood to sell to Scientology, even at that price. (Scientology had wrecked the Aquarium’s plans to develop the parcel, and then picked a fight with a dolphin.) Instead, the Aquarium spurned Miscavige and took the city’s offer of $4.25 million.

Why is David Miscavige still so desperate to obtain that small piece of land that he’s still offering a couple of million more than its assessed value, and about three million more than his competitors?

We thought we’d show you the answer to that question in graphic form.

First, here’s the rendering of their plan for the Pierce Street parcel from finalist City Center Development…

And here’s the proposal from the other finalist, SROA Capital.

The city council will also consider this pitch from Elevate Clearwater…

And also this proposal from Office America Group…

Beginning to see the picture?

David Miscavige is making no proposal for the other two parcels, he just wants the Pierce Street location. Why? Because it’s right next to the Oak Cove hotel, which the church owns, and more importantly, across Osceola Avenue from the bungalows of the Fort Harrison Hotel.

The Fort Harrison is the holiest place in the Scientology universe, the center of its “mecca” of technical perfection. And the bungalows out back? In one of those, room 174, is where Lisa McPherson was held for the final 17 days of her life while undergoing quack mental health care spelled out by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.

As Mike Rinder has explained repeatedly, the last thing David Miscavige wants is a lot of non-Scientologists spending time and enjoying themselves just feet away from Scientology’s spiritual mecca, where wealthy church members from around the world fly in to be fleeced at the Fort Harrison Hotel, the Flag Building, the Sandcastle, and other Flag Land Base landmarks.

The less the outside world actually sees what’s going on at Flag, the better, and the thought of a hotel or brewpub or, hey, just look at that big walking plaza being proposed by SROA Capital, right across from the Fort Harrison bungalows, what a nightmare!

We’re glad to see that SROA project chosen as one of the finalists, and we look forward to the day that tourists can enjoy that spot, and from their hotel rooms or a restaurant patio look across the street, gawk at Scientology, and maybe even raise a glass to the memory of Lisa McPherson.

McManus reported that the city council members will be interviewing the two finalists, City Center Development and SROA Capital, on Monday.

——————–

“You ever been on the Pacific Ocean? You look an awful long distance on the Pacific Ocean and you’ll find space, you know. The speculative horizon is like that. It’s way out, man. Boy, I mean we’ve collided with data which is highly debatable as to whether it will be popular or unpopular. And I’m afraid I have to go along with the first foundation decision I made, back in 1950 when they had that board meeting and told me I wasn’t to research on any more past lives. I don’t think they ever did get that end of the building back together again. The bricks are still cracked. And I said, well, psychology and other activities in the field of the mind have always had a large eye on popularity. And they would actually throw away materials which didn’t agree with things. They’d throw away the things which didn’t agree. And that’s why they’ve not come up with any answers. They consult this thing of the popularity of a datum, the acceptability of a datum and have therefore compromised truth. So you either accept truth or popularity.” — L. Ron Hubbard, May 14, 1963

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“Smersh operates on false data and has not changed his Situation Analysis in a whole score of years and does not vary tactics to fit new situations. That is valuable information. A general who fought that way would be busy fighting the 151st Bavarian Light Infantry as they were deployed at Niems in 1870! Since then they’ve been disbanded, forgotten, and that trench has been empty for 80 years. Yet such a general would have his whole army concentrating on it! Viewing national governments through this developed logic tech applied to their data and their idea of the situation reveals them to be crazy. And gives one the reason for both war and failing societies. No wonder they end up shooting people.” — The Commodore, May 14, 1970

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“I’m not sure if LRH agrees with the CIA and IRS running Scientology after 1982. There was a takeover. That’s a turning point. That’s not real Scientology after 1982 and I no longer ‘felt’ LRH on lines after that. Of course I could grow my own food, but why be forced to grow food just because a fucking pack of R6 zombies don’t see the poison in their diet? And more, they follow R6 commands to lynch you if you happen to ‘open their eyes’ to see. Sorry, but it’s some three years now I can’t get my body clean of this fucking R6 zombie food. Nice you have your own RPF (mest work). You won’t be running to LA to climb the barbed wire at Hemet to pound on ‘The Hole’ to meet Heber to share some rice and beans.”

——————–

1998: Downtown Clearwater, Florida is preparing for the construction of the Super Power building. From the St. Petersburg Times: “If the Church of Scientology builds its 300,000 square-foot building and 3,500-seat auditorium, as it says it will, the church will have accomplished something city leaders have so far failed to do: formulate, refine and execute a complex development plan. For that, even Scientology’s harshest critics would have to give grudging credit to the church. Can both sides — Scientology and the city — work together for the benefit of all downtown on parking and other issues that are sure to come up? To be a trusted partner in downtown planning, the church should do two things: open the veil of secrecy it wraps around all of its activities and stop its irresponsible attacks on police Chief Sid Klein. Scientology bashers, on the other hand, should admit two facts: the Church of Scientology is here to stay, and it is in the city’s best interest not to abandon downtown but to put money and effort into its redevelopment. The church says the new buildings will bring 3,000 to 5,000 parishioners a week to downtown Clearwater and double the staff size to 2,000. Even if those numbers are exaggerated, it is almost certain that more Scientologists would be coming to downtown. It is the beginning of a promising plan, and Clearwater residents should eagerly await details. The Scientology office/counseling building will take two years to complete, church officials say.”

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SCIENTOLOGY BLACK OPS: Tom Cruise and dirty tricks

“The FDA could have busted Scientology a thousand times over for medical fraud if they simply sent in undercover agents wired for sound and vision to sign up for courses. Scientology registrars will promise any and all medical cures as long as you show them the money. The government is an ass.”

——————–

Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker

Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Preliminary hearing set for May 18.
— Jay and Jeff Spina, Medicare fraud: Jay sentenced to 9 years in prison. Jeff’s sentencing to be scheduled.
— Hanan and Rizza Islam and other family members, Medi-Cal fraud: Trial scheduled for May 20 in Los Angeles
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud: Next pretrial conference set for June 18.

Civil litigation:
— Luis and Rocio Garcia v. Scientology: Oral arguments were heard on July 30 at the Eleventh Circuit
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ Petition for writ of mandate denied Oct 22 by Cal 2nd Appellate District. Petition for review by state supreme court denied Dec 11.
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: Dec 30, Judge Kleifield granted Scientology’s motions to compel arbitration. June 7: Status conference.
— Matt and Kathy Feschbach tax debt: Eleventh Circuit ruled on Sept 9 that Feshbachs can’t discharge IRS debt in bankruptcy. Dec 17: Feshbachs sign court judgment obliging them to pay entire $3.674 million tax debt, plus interest from Nov 19.
— Brian Statler Sr v. City of Inglewood: Second amended complaint filed, trial set for Nov 9, 2021.
— Author Steve Cannane defamation trial: Trial concluded, Cannane victorious, awarded court costs. Case appealed on Dec 24.

——————–

The Australian Seven News network cancelled a 10-part investigation of Scientology and its history of dirty tricks. Read the transcripts of the episodes and judge for yourself why Tom Cruise and Tommy Davis might not have wanted viewers to see this hard-hitting series by journalist Bryan Seymour.

Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!

Other links: Scientology’s Ideal Orgs, from one end of the planet to the other. Scientology’s sneaky front groups, spreading the good news about L. Ron Hubbard while pretending to benefit society. Scientology Lit: Books reviewed or excerpted in a weekly series. How many have you read?

——————–

THE WHOLE TRACK

[ONE year ago] A look inside a Scientology org as it prepares to reopen for the public
[TWO years ago] Why the quarantine is such a fail: Scientology ship was set up as an interrogation factory
[THREE years ago] Scientology’s reclusive ‘president,’ 82-year-old Heber Jentzsch, tells a niece he’s doing fine
[FOUR years ago] With its Mexico City project halted, Scientology fans out across town to promote its pablum
[FIVE years ago] Ron Miscavige shakes off Scientology smears, rockets to #1 in ebooks
[SIX years ago] Guest post: Five extreme examples of hypocrisy in Scientology’s ‘Freedom’ magazine
[SEVEN years ago] Falling death of a Russian Scientologist in Clearwater: The police investigation
[EIGHT years ago] How to Confront and Shatter Suppression, Scientology Style!
[NINE years ago] Lisa Marie Presley Removes All Mention of Scientology From Her Official Website
[THIRTEEN years ago] Jason Beghe to Scientology Mouthpiece Tommy Davis: ‘You’re Losing Your Soul’

——————–

Scientology disconnection, a reminder

Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 2,301 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 2,805 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 2,325 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 1,345 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 1,236 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 4,543 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 2,411 days.
Carol Nyburg has not seen her daughter Nancy in 3,185 days.
Doug Kramer has not seen his parents Linda and Norm in 1,515 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 3,989 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 3,305 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 11,871 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 7,790 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 3,958 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 3,539 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 3,800 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 2,838 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 2,551 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 2,076 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 431 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 1,606 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 6,157 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 3,306 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 3,626 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 8,481 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 3,600 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 1,956 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 6,259 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 2,365 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 2,767 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 2,639 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 2,222 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 2,717 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 2,971 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 14,080 days.

——————–

Posted by Tony Ortega on May 14, 2021 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.

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.

The Scientologist and the superstar hacker: A stock market fable for our times

Jeffrey Augustine — Sun, 09 May 2021 11:00:00 +0000

[Sjouwerman and Mitnick]

Kevin Mitnick (b. 1963) was on the FBI’s most wanted list in 1992. As the most notorious and skilled hacker in the US, Mitnick had first crossed the line in the 1980s when he hacked into corporate networks and stole entire computer programs. Mitnick was arrested in 1988, served a year in prison, and was released on supervised probation.

After his release from jail, Mitnick found the temptation to hack too great to resist and reoffended. Mitnick went on a three year rampage. He hacked and destroyed computer networks, stole proprietary data, and generally did whatever he wanted to do online. A US Federal arrest warrant was issued for Mitnick in 1992.

The elusive Mitnick disappeared and kept hacking from the shadows. In one of his capers, Mitnick hacked a computer and stole over 20,000 credit card numbers belonging to powerful players in Silicon Valley. In another, Mitnick hacked a California phone network and was able to wiretap and listen in on the FBI agents in the task force that were pursuing him.

In another exploit, Mitnick hacked the computers of the computer security expert, white hat hacker, and Cal Tech computational physicist Tsutomu Shimomura. Outraged at Mitnick’s theft of materials from his computer, Shimomura was determined to settle the score by tracking down Mitnick. Using sophisticated traffic analysis methods and working with the FBI, Shimomura tracked Mitnick to an apartment in Raleigh, North Carolina.

The FBI moved in and arrested Kevin Mitnick at 1:30 am in February 1995. Mitnick was denied bail and spent the next four years in jail before agreeing to a plea deal in which he served another year in jail. When he was released after five years, Mitnick was a legendary figure in the computer world.

Mitnick created his own security company and became a white hat hacker. In this capacity, companies and government agencies pay Mitnick to try to hack their computers. Mitnick is very successful and almost always hacks systems. He then explains how he did it and helps his clients reinforce their networks.

One key element in Mitnick’s services is to train employees to not download unknown files or give away information to people on the phone. Mitnick has said the the human element is the weakest link in any computer element. In one of his cases, Mitnick posed as an employee of an alarm company. He showed up at a client’s facility and said he needed to make some adjustments to the alarm system. The employee allowed him in and gave him access to the company’s network.

Kevin Mitnick calls this “social engineering” which he defines as the ability of a hacker to manipulate people into giving the hacker what he or she wants. This can include passwords, access to systems, names of key people, and other data a hacker would find useful.

In 2010, Scientologist Stu Sjouwerman (pronounced “Shower-man”) created a company called KnowBe4. Sjouwerman’s company essentially followed Kevin Mitnick’s methodology of training the employees of client companies about social engineering. KnowBe4, based in the Scientology stronghold of Clearwater, Florida, teaches employees about phishing, indiscriminately downloading files in e-mails, and other tricks used by hackers.

After training employees, KnowBe4 staff conducts simulated cyber attacks on a client to see how well its employees have learned the lessons. Sjouwerman’s company wants employees to “KnowBe4” they do something on a computer: To be forewarned is to forearmed.

Sjouwerman’s company showed steady growth from 2010 until 2015, when it reached $7 million in revenue.

It was in 2015 that Stu Sjouwerman said he met super-hacker Kevin Mitnick through a mutual friend. According to a Cybercrime Magazine article, Sjouwerman had an ephiany:

“I can own 100 percent of a muffin or I can own 50 percent of a really large pie, so what am I going to do?” KnowBe4 founder and CEO Stu Sjouwerman asked himself in the formative days of the company.
Sjouwerman went for the pie. “I gave him — Kevin Mitnick, KnowBe4’s chief hacking officer — half the company for his 30 years of hacking experience. The rest is history.”

Sjouwerman’s bet appears to have paid off. According to KnowBe4 published figures, the company skyrocketed after Mitnick came aboard, to $175 million in revenue in 2019.

On April 22, Sjouwerman and Mitnick took KnowBe4 public, raising about $175 million.

Which is pretty amazing, when you think about how companies around the country are trusting their most intimate security issues to an OT Scientologist and his hacker partner. Ah, capitalism!

Underground Bunker readers will also remember Sjouwerman for his performance at the Clearwater City Council last year, asking it not to appoint Scientology critic and new city councilman Mark Bunker to a non-voting seat on the Downtown Development Board.

Stu is also a Diamond Meritorious donor, having given at least $5 million to the IAS, Scientology’s membership organization.

In other news regarding Scientologists and their money, Scientology donor Grant Cardone succeeded in getting a class action lawsuit filed by investor Luis Pino dismissed. A judge threw the case out on the grounds that Pino had failed to prove that Cardone was making misleading claims on social media about investing in his company, and also that Cardone had the right to suspend payments to investors in April and May 2020 as the pandemic hit.

Cardone told the Real Deal: “It is a shame that in our society, ambulance seeking, vampiric blood-drinking litigation attorneys attempt to threaten people like me who are trying to build businesses,” Cardone said. “The case was completely baseless. There was zero truth to the allegations.”

The Real Deal also noted that Grant and Elena Cardone have purchased Tommy Hilfiger’s $28 million Golden Beach mansion in South Florida.

— Jeffrey Augustine

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Bonus items from our tipsters

Chicago is rambling toward a grand opening.

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Happy Mother’s Day

Here in the US we’re celebrating Mother’s Day today, and we hope that you’re getting to have some reunions out there now that vaccinations are taking hold and the pandemic is gradually retreating.

But we reserve a special greeting to those moms out there who have a difficult time not only this year but every year because of Scientology’s toxic policy of disconnection. We’re with you, and we want you to know that we’re looking forward to the day when you can overcome this totalitarian organization’s forced separations.

— The Proprietor

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‘Sons of Sam’ on Netflix

Several people have reached out to us about the new ‘Sons of Sam’ documentary about David Berkowitz and journalist Maury Terry on Netflix, which has a brief mention of Scientology.

After viewing the series, we’ll say that we’re glad that some voices of reason like former NYPD Detective Joseph Borrelli play a prominent part in it.

Also, it was a real treat to see Wayne Darwen, someone we have encountered before, and whose participation says a lot about this series. His thirst for a story that sells, whether it’s true or not, certainly is reflected in our own experience with him. And to that end, we encourage you to read our unusual 2000 story for New Times Los Angeles (which we previously reprinted here at the Bunker), Sex, Spies and VideoTape.

——————–

Dianetics at 71

Thank you, Sunny, for reminding us that it’s Dianetics Day today. On this date in 1950, L. Ron Hubbard published the book that turned everything around for him and launched what would become the Scientology movement, ‘Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health.’

Please see our story on this date last year when we celebrated the 70th anniversary of this august occasion.

——————–

“The US in a Masterpiece has officially stated it has no responsibility for its money. They can say that twice. The scoop is that genius Nixon’s Federal Reserve Board lowered bank rates in the US, causing US investment money to flee to Europe. Nazi bankers caught the ball so deftly tossed to them by their US agents and began a smash attack on the dollar. Exchange is still 3.8 francs to a dollar in Switzerland. It should be 4.3. Costing us our shirts. We don’t dare deposit and lose. Somebody in the US Federal Reserve is working very hard for his Iron Cross First Class.” — L. Ron Hubbard, May 9, 1971

——————–

“ALL CREW: Please submit to me knowledge reports on any injustices that you may know about. Injustices must be righted. Thank you.” — Lt. Cmdr. Diana Hubbard, May 9, 1969

——————–

“LRH got to the point where he was able to perceive what is actually happening here and in the local (galactic) area and so I would not dismiss any concerns about SPs taking over here. I like to look at it from the viewpoint that sowing a seed on one planet would not be sufficient. What if it did not grow and was thwarted before it could turn into a tree? Not every acorn becomes a mighty oak. I would go out and do what every oak tree does. Sow thousands of acorns. And LRH is a lot smarter than I. And as for being welcome in other areas, Well, when you get to OT I think that is a different matter. You can go where you bloody well like. ESPECIALLY if you have training and experience in your repertoire. This planet may or may not be fucked (to coin a phrase) but the Galaxy isn’t.”

——————–

2000: From the Washington Post: “We hear that members of the Church of Scientology were being urged last weekend to see, over and over again, Scientologist John Travolta’s universally panned movie ‘Battlefield Earth,’ based on the novel by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. An e-mailed message exhorted: ‘Battlefield Earth MUST beat Gladiator on the first weekend B.E. comes out. Anything after that doesn’t count!’ Alas, the hugely expensive ‘Battlefield Earth’ did a disappointing $11.5 million in weekend business, compared with $24.6 million for ‘Gladiator.’ Church spokesman Mike Rinder yesterday insisted the Church had nothing to do with the e-mail. ‘It’s pretty sickening,’ he told us. ‘The last three weeks have been consumed with people telling people not to see the movie.’ We suppose he means film critics.”

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SCIENTOLOGY BLACK OPS: Tom Cruise and dirty tricks

“Hey, a free trip to America and free rice and beans probably sounds pretty good to a fairly large segment of the world’s population.”

——————–

Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker

Civil litigation:
— Luis and Rocio Garcia v. Scientology: Oral arguments were heard on July 30 at the Eleventh Circuit
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ Petition for writ of mandate denied Oct 22 by Cal 2nd Appellate District. Petition for review by state supreme court denied Dec 11.
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: Dec 30, Judge Kleifield granted Scientology’s motions to compel arbitration. June 7: Status conference.
— Matt and Kathy Feschbach tax debt: Eleventh Circuit ruled on Sept 9 that Feshbachs can’t discharge IRS debt in bankruptcy. Dec 17: Feshbachs sign court judgment obliging them to pay entire $3.674 million tax debt, plus interest from Nov 19.
— Brian Statler Sr v. City of Inglewood: Second amended complaint filed, trial set for Nov 9, 2021.
— Author Steve Cannane defamation trial: Trial concluded, Cannane victorious, awarded court costs. Case appealed on Dec 24.

——————–

Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!

——————–

THE WHOLE TRACK

[ONE year ago] Dianetics at 70: Scientology’s bible, endorsing child molestation since May 9, 1950
[TWO years ago] Death in the Timor Sea: The darkest war secret of Scientology’s founder, L. Ron Hubbard
[THREE years ago] Early witness Don Rogers on Hubbard and ‘prior lives’: ‘Nothing but a parlor hypnosis trick’
[FOUR years ago] Danny Masterson hires Michael Jackson criminal defense attorney Tom Mesereau in rape probe
[FIVE years ago] 66 years ago, L. Ron Hubbard transubstantiated from pulp writer to god among men
[SIX years ago] Scientology answers Garcia motion: We are definitely a bona fide worldwide religion!
[SEVEN years ago] Ryan Hamilton adds Colorado in new lawsuits against Scientology’s rehab network
[EIGHT years ago] Search Warrant Affidavit: Scientology’s Atlanta Drug Rehab Billed $3 Million in Insurance Fraud

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Scientology disconnection, a reminder

Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 2,296 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 2,800 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 2,320 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 1,340 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 1,231 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 4,538 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 2,406 days.
Carol Nyburg has not seen her daughter Nancy in 3,180 days.
Doug Kramer has not seen his parents Linda and Norm in 1,510 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 3,984 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 3,300 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 11,866 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 7,785 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 3,953 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 3,534 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 3,795 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 2,833 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 2,546 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 2,071 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 426 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 1,601 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 6,152 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 3,301 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 3,621 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 8,476 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 3,595 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 1,951 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 6,254 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 2,360 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 2,762 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 2,634 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 2,217 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 2,712 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 2,966 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 14,075 days.

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Posted by Tony Ortega on May 9, 2021 at 07:00

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Why the IRS will likely do nothing about Mormon and Scientology illegal slush funds

Jeffrey Augustine — Wed, 18 Dec 2019 12:00:10 +0000

Monday night, the Washington Post uncorked a stunning investigation based on a whistleblower’s confidential report to the IRS. The report, written by a former employee of a subsidiary of the Mormon church, claimed that the church has, in violation of its tax exempt status, amassed a fortune of $100 billion. And instead of making expenditures of that money for charitable purposes, it’s been using the money to bolster the church’s for-profit enterprises.

We wrote up a quick rundown of the story, and pointed out that the $100 billion represented about $6,667 for each of the 15 million members of the Mormon church. With about $3 billion in reserve, Scientology has a far higher per capita bloat, at about $150,000 per member, assuming a membership of only about 20,000. Will the IRS do anything about either of these organizations amassing such huge fortunes, violating their tax exempt status? For more thoughts on the Washington Post’s bombshell, Jeffrey Augustine penned this piece for us.

Situated on the outskirts of Salt Lake City, Ensign Peak is considered a sacred site by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. A few days after arriving in Salt Lake, Brigham Young and other early LDS leaders “raised an ensign to the nations” to signify that this land, its people, and their church would become a beacon unto the nations. A stone monument was erected atop Ensign Peak to signify this event in Mormon history.

LDS historian Leonard Arrington (1917-1999) titled his important 1958 study of 19th century Mormon economics Great Basin Kingdom. Arrington’s fascinating study details the many mistakes LDS leaders in Salt Lake City made in their efforts to become self-sustaining financially, agriculturally, and in every other way. Flush with cash from settlers passing through Salt Lake on their way to California’s gold rush country, the Mormons made some very costly and bad investments in hard rock mining, furniture manufacturing, and trying to grow cotton in the arid climate. The Mormon efforts at financial matters were so ineffectual that by the turn of the century the great majority of millionaires in Utah were non-Mormons. In 1900 most Mormons in Salt Lake City were farmers and small business owners. Very few Mormons had any real money. The Church itself was a few million dollars in debt. 1900 was also the year when Mormon President Lorenzo Snow made 10 percent tithing mandatory.

What a difference 119 years of mandatory tithing and systematic investing has made for the Mormons. If we accept the $100 billion number furnished by former Ensign Peak Advisor employee and whistleblower David A. Nielsen — and I certainly accept this number as credible — then the Mormons have averaged $840 million a year in income since 1900. Granted, the number is weighted from the 1980’s forward, but we use an average to make a point: In the Church of Scientology’s 69 years of existence, it has compiled what is believed to be about $3 billion dollars. This averages to $43 million a year; a mere fraction of the money amassed each year by the LDS. In purely economic terms, this makes an argument for a 10 percent tithe being much more lucrative for a Church over time (and much more manageable for its members) than the destructive and wanton wholesale plunder of its membership undertaken by the Church of Scientology. A 10 percent tithe allows for Church leaders and members to manage their finances on a predictable basis, this as opposed to the Scientology insanity which demands more money this week than last week when Thursday at 2:00 pm rolls around.

The recent Washington Post story that the LDS-owned Ensign Peak Advisers was holding a breathtaking $100 billion in cash certainly proved to be a beacon of unwanted attention for the Mormon leadership. In yesterday’s Deseret News, LDS leaders disputed the astronomical figure and argued that the Mormon Leaks of 2017 placed the number closer to $32 billion. A 2012 study by Reuters placed the number at $40 billion.

As reported by KUTV, the Mormon Leaks of 2017 provided documentation about 13 for-profit businesses with ties to the Mormon Church:

Ashmore Wealth Management LLT, valued at $1.9 billion
Argyll Research LLC, valued at $446 million
Clifton Park Capital Management, LLC, valued at $881 million
Cortland Advisers LLC, valued at $2.2 billion
Elkfork Partners LLC, valued at $3.7 billion
Flinton Capital Management LLC, valued at $2.9 billion
Glen Harbor Capital Management LLC, valued at $4.4 billion

Green Valley Investors LLC, valued at $2.1 billion
Meadow Creek Investment Management LLC, valued at $4.6 billion
Neuburgh Advisers LLC, valued at $2.8 billion
Riverhead Capital Management LLC, valued at $2.4 billion
Tiverton Asset Management LLC, valued at $1.6 billion
Tyers Asset Management, valued at $2.9 billion
The companies have a combined value of $32.8 billion

The new leak by David A. Nielsen has revealed Ensign Peak Advisors as the staggering non-profit treasure house of the Mormon faith. No one really knows how much money is in the Great Basin Kingdom. I think the figure far exceeds $100 billion from all sources.

Over at my blog, I wrote a story that referred to an image of a check that Tony had posted here. It was a refund check the Church of Scientology sent to Efrem Logreira. I researched the check and found that it was drawn on a Scientology bank account in a Mormon-controlled bank that is part of the larger Mormon-controlled Zions Bancorporation.

Zions Bancorporation is not without its scandals. In 2011, the bank was fined $8 million for violating US laws related to anti-money laundering and bank secrecy laws. FinCen cited 132 suspicious offshore wire transfers into Zions’ offshore entities totaling $12.3 billion. That the Church of Scientology banks with the Mormons is one of those things that makes Scientology-watching so interesting at times.

People have called me to ask if I think the IRS will do anything about this massive Mormon cash hoard. My answer: No. Given the political dynamics of impeachment and the upcoming 2020 election, the US Congress cannot afford to take on the LDS Church and thereby offend the large religious voting blocs — and this is particularly true in swing states.

All of the religious groups in America have a vested interest in protecting religious tax exemption. While the Evangelicals may damn the Mormons for not believing in the doctrine of the Trinity, both the Evangelicals and the Mormons agree that the IRS should not be allowed to even so much as look askance at their respective mountains of cash or how they spend their money.

This speaks to the larger issue of religion in America and its incredible power and privileges. From my perspective, the next victim of Religion Inc. in America will be the Johnson Amendment of 1947. If the Supreme Court topples this act — and Trump has certainly vowed to destroy it many times — then Religion Inc. will be allowed to spend its money on elections and candidates.

God help us if this happens.

— Jeffrey Augustine

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Leaked document of the day

From the Valley Ideal Org documents release comes this item.

Another liability program, with another Scientologist trying to convince the church to let her back in the good graces through all of the sacrifices she’s been making.

Ethics Section LA Org
[name redacted]
20 January 2016
Advertisement
Condition of Liability
1. My friends are Scientologists that are on the Bridge. People that are not reasonable about ethics and apply the principles from The Way to Happiness. My friends apply tech and Scientology and get and receive help when they falter. They are not reasonable.
2. I reported and got one of my friends in to ethics to handle out ethics regarding drinking and promiscuity on the second dynamic. This is someone that I am really close to and have been reasonable in the past, and I risked her being very upset with me. She ended up doing an Ethics program and got this handled.
I’ve been trying to recover someone that I have had on my lines for a very long time into the Org for services. He hadn’t stepped into an org for 6 years and refused to. This could have cost me the comm line. I scheduled a Chaplin cycle with him and got him routed onto a course. I ended up getting him onto the HAS course that I am twinning with him on, even though I couldn’t afford it and didn’t have the time. I arranged this to happen and get my kids watched by someone to be able to do this.
There is this girl I that I have had on my lines that is very promiscuous and drinks and parties a lot. She isn’t a Scientologist and ended up watching the Going Clear documentary. She has created a lot of enturbulation for my family. She’s done some Life Improvement courses, but I spoke with her and got her to schedule a time to meet with a Chaplain at an org. I have spoken with the Chaplin and even confronted her parents, which was very difficult so this gets handled immediately and she can get her ethics in. She has agreed to do this.
3. I helped a man who wants to join Inglewood staff but has a lot of debt with high interest and high minimum payments. I went through his options on how to handle this so it was no longer a PTP for him and he ended up joining staff at Inglewood.
I handled some backlog in Div 6, I did four hours of work in that area and addressed hundreds of envelops which normally is something that the S.O. members do, this freed up some of that time and the back log so they were able to focus on starts for the week.
I donated to three raw public so that they could start Div 6 courses, they were reaching and had no money to actually start a course.
I heped get two young NOI boys started on Life Improvement Courses, they were totally raw public, and excited to get the data.
I spent six hours setting up for the Finish the Ride event. I went to the park and got together all the tables, snacks, risers, bags, and everything else that was needed to set up this event.
I did three hours of call in to confirm public for an event that was being held by 6C as well as confirming the volunteers from the Finish the Ride Event.
I worked with the D/ED and focused and helped get starts for two weeks, I ended up doing anything needed to get 5 public routed and started onto services at LA Org.
I pushed through and got a public totally routed and paid for Power and Power Plus at ASHO, they had no intention or money to start, and I helped with the logistics and did everything necessary to make this happen.

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“Let’s take the ant kingdom. The ants have been granted beingness. The ants themselves are not a beingness — that is, an independent beingness, such as a thetan. And here we get an oddity; we get an oddity in behavior in terms of ants. You go around and trifle with an ant. As a thetan, you go around and you start pushing around an ant: put a beam through his head, short-circuit out some of the working parts, make him walk in small circles, and you immediately start getting this, the idea that there’s something someplace that is getting awfully mad at you. Funny, isn’t it?” — L. Ron Hubbard, December 18, 1953

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“Everyone’s postulates work. They are all working. Old postulates, present time postulates, and future postulates. Problem is, people don’t always know what their postulates are, they are busy convincing themselves that their latest show is the ‘true me’ to the point they don’t even realize they are lying about their own postulates. It isn’t about changing reality according to your will, that is just a side show for an OT showing off when done overtly. When done covertly, it is just painting a false picture around a person by feeding them false information. Future is determined by individual and individual+majority placing their agreed upon ideas of the future there. Individuals mostly not know what their postulates are, many exceptions to this of course, and also they not know that their first postulate is not know. You have to be able to not-know that you are not knowing in order to keep the game (with all its random factors) of life in motion.”

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