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Scientology litigation always has surprises: A new wrinkle from Narconon’s attorneys

We’ve been keeping an eye on Ryan Hamilton’s lawsuits against Scientology’s Narconon drug rehab facilities in part because they’re so thorough. The Las Vegas attorney has obviously done his homework, and in the complaints he’s filed, he lays out the history of Narconon and its many deceptions with detailed citations. With references to testimony in []

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Why is Scientology’s cruise ship caught up in a lawsuit about human slavery?

In 2005, two Cuban workers showed up in the town of Willemstad, on the island of Curaçao in the Caribbean, and said they had escaped hellish conditions at a nearby drydock facility, where they’d been held for years. A third worker had made his own escape from the drydock a few months earlier.

One of the []

Appeals court: Would deposing Scientology’s leader violate Texas law?

Nick Rogers called us from Austin with a report of what happened today in the Texas Third Court of Appeals as three justices wrestled with the question of whether Church of Scientology leader David Miscavige should be deposed in Monique Rathbun’s harassment lawsuit.

In December, Comal County judge Dib Waldrip ruled that Monique could depose Miscavige []

Monique Rathbun in court as appeals panel considers proposed David Miscavige deposition

Monique Rathbun’s harassment lawsuit against the Church of Scientology and its leader, David Miscavige, moves to a new venue today as oral arguments are heard at the Texas Third Court of Appeals in Austin.

We’ll have several observers on hand as the proceedings begin at 1:30 pm, local time. At issue today is Comal County Judge []

SHOCK DOX: Scientology’s 2011 book value for just two of its entities is $1.2 billion

The Underground Bunker has copies of some stunning documents that were just released by our old friend, Jeff “OTVIIIisgrrr8!” Augustine. They are 990-T returns for the 2011 tax year submitted by the Church of Scientology International and the Church of Spiritual Technology, and they show that CSI and CST — which are just two of []

Florida attorney Ken Dandar hit with $1 million penalty for taking on Scientology

Ken Dandar

On March 17, retired Pinellas County, Florida circuit judge Crockett Farnell ordered attorney Ken Dandar to pay $1,068,156.50 to the Church of Scientology Flag Service Organization, Inc.

FSO runs Scientology’s “spiritual mecca,” the Flag Land Base or “Flag” in Clearwater, Florida where, in 1995, a Scientologist from Dallas named Lisa McPherson died after []

Scientology answers the Garcias — And turns over a trove of internal documents

Yesterday, we told you that Luis and Rocio Garcia had taken an interesting new direction in their federal fraud lawsuit against Scientology. After spending a few months gathering evidence about several Scientology entities, they decided to drop three Scientology trusts as defendants, and then requested the right to amend their original complaint.

They filed that request []

Ted Babbitt’s gambit: Recasting the Garcia federal fraud lawsuit against Scientology

Luis and Rocio Garcia

After several months delay in the federal fraud lawsuit that Luis and Rocio Garcia brought against the Church of Scientology, the Garcias have filed a surprising new motion: They’re dropping three defendants from the suit and asking Judge James Whittemore for the right to amend their original complaint.

If you remember []

Belgium will try two Scientology organizations and 10 Scientologists for fraud

Breaking news from our man in Paris, Jonny Jacobsen, who tells us that Belgian prosecutors finally announced their decision in a criminal case that has been a long time coming. Here’s Jonny’s report…

A court in Belgium on Thursday has sent two Scientology organisations and at least 10 Scientologists for trial, the Belga news agency reports.

The []

Ryan Hamilton jumps on Narconon’s answer in Nevada drug rehab lawsuit

On Tuesday, we posted Narconon’s response to the first of four federal fraud lawsuits filed against the Scientology drug rehab facilities in recent weeks. Now, just days later, Las Vegas attorney Ryan Hamilton has come swinging back, asking the court to accept that Narconon has essentially admitted to the allegations his client made about the []