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 We have several correspondents on the scene today as the next dramatic showdown occurs in Luis and Rocio Garcia’s fraud lawsuit against the Church of Scientology.
The Garcias first filed their lawsuit in January 2013, alleging that over their long time in the church, they had been victimized by fraudulent schemes to convince them to donate large sums of money. (In one memorable example, they claimed that they were asked to donate tens of thousands of dollars to pay for a Scientology cross to go on the top of the Super Power Building in Clearwater, only to find out later that other church members had been asked to pay for the same cross.) Continue reading LIVE REPORTS FROM TAMPA: Scientology tests its religious freedom defense in fraud lawsuit
 Scientologist extraordinaire, voice of Bart Simpson, and San Fernando Valley resident Nancy Cartwright — known to the locals as ‘Her Royal Governess’ — has provided what may be the creepiest Scientology advertisement of all time.
Readers of the Underground Bunker know that Cartwright has been heavily pushing her fellow Valleyites to come to one themed event after another where they have the pleasure of being held in a locked room until they fork over large donations for the renovation of a dull-looking building at Lankershim and Burbank Boulevards in North Hollywood. Continue reading Nancy Cartwright puts out the creepiest Scientology advertisement of all time
 Martin Ottmann is a longtime critic of the Church of Scientology who is known for his dogged search for documents that describe every aspect of Scientology management and life. We asked him to bring some of his expertise to the Underground Bunker and help us dig into the dark corners of this secretive organization.
Last week, Martin sent us a document issued at Scientology’s PAC Base in Los Angeles in 1989. That document restricted the amount of time that Sea Org parents could spend with their children. Now, he’s sent us another PAC document from that time regarding Sea Org couples that dared to get pregnant. Continue reading Sea Org Document: Dare to have children, you get sent to Scientology’s version of Siberia
 Our man in Paris, British journalist Jonny Jacobsen, is back with another great piece — this time, a lengthy review of the newest book recounting the journey into and out of the Church of Scientology.
Underground Bunker regulars will recall that Hungarian ex-Scientology member Peter Bonyai (pictured, right) helped us out with a story in April on the supposedly transparent and independent Central-European Religious Freedom Institute (CERFI). (Jura Nanuk, who heads up the lobbying organisation, had somehow forgotten to mention his allegiance to Scientology at the group’s website. Nor, so far as I can see, has the situation changed.) Continue reading Jonny Jacobsen reviews the new Scientology memoir by Hungarian writer Peter Bonyai
 The last time we reported on the 19 lawsuits filed against Scientology’s drug rehab network Narconon by Las Vegas attorney Ryan Hamilton, we told you that Hamilton had won a decisive victory in the Geanacopulos lawsuit when Judge James C. Mahan denied the motion to dismiss filed by Narconon International and the Association for Better Living and Education (ABLE).
We called it an across-the-board victory as Judge Mahan knocked down each of the arguments made by International and ABLE, and we may have been more right than we realized. Continue reading Signs of chaos emerge for Scientology’s drug rehab legal defense
We hope you’re having a great holiday weekend and we’re happy that you could drop in at the Underground Bunker for some Sunday Funnies. It’s our weekly feature that allows us to show off the best Scientology mailers and fliers that have been forwarded to us by our great tipsters. And we’re going to start off with a slick new ad for the Sea Org that contains an interesting admission. Continue reading Sunday Funnies: Oops, Scientology reveals a key fact about the size of its membership
 Martin Ottmann is a longtime critic of the Church of Scientology who is known for his dogged search for documents that describe every aspect of Scientology management and life. We asked him to bring some of his expertise to the Underground Bunker and help us dig into the dark corners of this secretive organization.
Martin sent us a 1974 document written by L. Ron Hubbard, who was apparently irritated by flagging sales at Scientology outlets. Continue reading Scientology training includes how to physically pull cash away from a reluctant patsy
 Filmmaker Mark Bunker was dubbed “Wise Beard Man” by the Anonymous movement in 2008. We’ve been reading Mark’s observations about Scientology since the late 1990s, and we’re eagerly awaiting his documentary about Scientology, “Knowledge Report.”
Bunker’s recent return to Clearwater to live has us very intrigued. He told us he was going to approach the city’s new police chief about the infamous injunction that defines how protesters and the Church of Scientology can interact downtown, and we told him we wanted to know how it went. So he sent us over a full report! How did it go, Mark? Continue reading Scientology yesterday and today: Reports from Mark Bunker and Dennis Erlich
 We’ve been leaked a video which could not be a more perfect distillation of Scientology as it exists in 2014.
This thing, well, it’s — it’s beautiful. Before we show it to you, we want to help you put it in context. The few remaining Scientologists in Atlanta, like other cities in the U.S., are under intense pressure to donate huge amounts of money in order to pay for a new building they don’t need. These new facilities are called “Ideal Orgs,” and just yesterday former Scientology spokesman Mike Rinder posted a great backgrounder on this maniacal decade-long push by church leader David Miscavige. Continue reading Ladies and gentlemen, the greatest Scientology video in the history of Scientology videos
 Martin Ottmann was in Scientology relatively briefly: He first got involved in Stuttgart in 1989, joined the Sea Organization and went to Clearwater in 1990, and by the end of 1992, after returning to Germany, he was out. Since then, however, he’s become known for his dogged pursuit of documents that reflect every possible detail of Scientology management and Scientology life. We asked him to bring some of his expertise to the Underground Bunker and help us dig into the dark corners of this secretive organization.
To start things off, Martin sent us a 1989 document that was smuggled out of Scientology’s Pacific Area Command (PAC Base), its big Los Angeles complex in the former Cedars of Lebanon Hospital. The document describes a change in policy that made it even more difficult for Sea Org parents to spend time with their children. Sea Org members are Scientology’s most dedicated workers — they sign billion-year contracts and work 110-hour weeks for pennies an hour. Continue reading The Document: When Scientology canceled ‘Family Time’
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We have several correspondents on the scene today as the next dramatic showdown occurs in Luis and Rocio Garcia’s fraud lawsuit against the Church of Scientology.
