crimes
Scientology has a long, well-documented history of breaking the law.
More about crimes
crimes in the News
Date | Title | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| November 12, 2007 | A Church Accounting | While religious institutions have constitutional protection against certain taxation, they are also expected not to abuse their special status. In fact, while Grassley is looking into such matters, he should add the Church of Scientology to the list. Scientology's shameful past includes a 25-year legal and psychological campaign against the IRS to be recognized as a tax- exempt religion. Scientology tactics included a criminal conspiracy in the 1970s to bug IRS offices, which led to 11 convictions of church members including founder L. Ron Hubbard's wife. Scientology filed dozens of lawsuits against the IRS, hired private investigators to dig up dirt on IRS employees and financed other IRS critics. | |
| November 4, 2007 | Belgium Builds Case Against Scientology | Prosecutors say the evidence points to one conclusion: The Church of Scientology in Belgium is a "criminal organization" that has used fraud and extortion to separate members from their money. | |
| November 4, 2007 | Belgium Builds Case Against Scientology | Prosecutors call the church a "criminal organization." The church says it's a "witch hunt." It all began with a woman who wanted her money back. In 1997 a former member of the Church of Scientology, unhappy with courses she had taken, tried to get a refund of 700,000 Belgian francs - about $17,000. Authorities began looking into the church's finances and interviewing people. | |
| October 2, 2005 | NY Post: Scientology Sex Assault Nightmare | The New York Post reports that Scientology auditor and course supervisor Gabriel Williams repeatedly raped a 16-year-old Scientologist who had been ordered to live with Williams while she worked at Scientology's Mountain View org. | |
| September 22, 2001 | Sentencing in Trial Against Scientology | After 7 months of trial, thousands of written pages, hundreds of people investigated and 12 Scientologists accused, the judge now has to decide whether the 12 members of Scientology are guilty of conspiracy, a crime for which the public prosecutor asked for three months in prison for each. | |
| July 1, 2001 | Scientology faces ban over jail `infiltration' | Independent: Scientology faces ban over jail `infiltration' | |
| June 27, 2001 | Scientology money laundering in Russia | Itar-Tass Russia: "Olga Ukhova, director of the regional Dianetics scientology centre, has been sentenced to six years imprisonment conditionally for illegal entrepreneurship and money laundering in particularly large amounts." | |
| June 27, 2001 | Tass: Khabarovsk Sect Chief Convicted for Money Laundering | Olga Ukhova, director of the regional Dianetics scientology centre, was sentenced to six years imprisonment conditionally for illegal entrepreneurship and money laundering. | |
| June 13, 2001 | Tom Cruise Sect Preys On Drugs Prisoners: Warning As Cult Targets British Jails | Mirror: Tom Cruise Sect Preys On Drugs Prisoners: Warning As Cult Targets British Jails | |
| June 7, 2001 | Unorthodox Arrest: Church of scientology calls cops and has one of its harshest and most vocal critics jailed | Now: Unorthodox Arrest: Church of scientology calls cops and has one of its harshest and most vocal critics jailed | |
| May 30, 2001 | Office Search Part Of Criminal Probe | Albuquerque Journal: Office Search Part Of Criminal Probe | |
| May 12, 2001 | Courts: EarthLink co-founder's files are seized as a criminal probe opens into alleged Ponzi scheme | Los Angeles Times: Courts: EarthLink co-founder's files are seized as a criminal probe opens into alleged Ponzi scheme | |
| April 27, 2001 | Scientology Critic Convicted | Wired: Scientology Critic Convicted | |
| April 4, 2001 | Letters: Scientology Should Be Treated Differently | Leaders of Scientology, represented by at least one lawyer who works with Pope, were convicted in a plot involving infiltration and burglary of federal government offices. Scientology officials and organizations have been criminally convicted in Canada. If attorney Wallace Pope and Clearwater police Chief Sid Klein can't tell the difference between Calvary Baptist Church and a syndicate like Scientology, they are a lonely pair indeed. | |
| April 3, 2001 | Church of Scientology Sent to Trial in France | A French magistrate has ordered the Paris division of the Church of Scientology to stand trial on charges of attempted extortion and invasion of privacy, judicial sources said on Tuesday. Investigating magistrate Renaud Van Ruymbeke also notified Marc Walter, a leader of Scientology in the Paris region, that he would face trial on the same charges, in addition to false advertising. | |
| June 27, 2000 | Letters To The Editor: Scientology approach to crime | Berkshire Eagle: Letters To The Editor: Scientology approach to crime | |
| June 24, 2000 | Mental manipulation now a crime as sects targeted | Sidney Morning Herald: Mental manipulation now a crime as sects targeted | |
| April 6, 2000 | Scientologists Are Saying Church Being Persecuted | Lawyers for the Church of Scientology argued yesterday that criminal charges filed against them in a church member's death were brought by prosecutors determined to negatively brand the church. Prosecutors countered this case is not one of religious freedom, but one of medical neglect. Lisa McPherson had been under the care of Scientology for 17 days following a minor car accident and a mental breakdown. Prosecutors said she was badly dehydrated, malnourished and that the medical care church members gave her was unlicensed and inadequate. | |
| December 14, 1999 | Scientology: white-collar crime club | Knoxville News-Sentinel: Scientology: white-collar crime club | |
| December 8, 1999 | When Can A Church Be Accused Of A Crime? | Lisa McPherson, 36, was a Scientologist who died after being under the church's care in Clearwater in 1995. The state has filed charges of abuse and practicing unlicensed medicine against the church's Flag Service Organization, or simply "Flag." McPherson died that Dec. 5 after 17 days at the church's Fort Harrison Hotel under the supervision of Scientologists. The state says she died of a pulmonary embolism, with dehydration and immobility as contributing factors. The state says her final days featured raving delusions and forced medication. | |
| November 24, 1999 | Scientology Prompts Review Of Death Case | In an unusual step, Pinellas-Pasco Medical Examiner Joan Wood has agreed to reconsider her conclusions in the 1995 death of Scientologist Lisa McPherson. The medical examiner's findings are key elements in two court cases against Scientology. Three years after McPherson's death, the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office charged the church's Clearwater operation with two criminal counts: abuse of a disabled adult and practicing medicine without a license. The church also faces a wrongful death lawsuit filed by McPherson's family. | |
| November 15, 1999 | Reuters: French ex-Scientology leader guilty of fraud | A French court sentenced a former regional leader of the Church of Scientology to jail for fraud in connection with courses offered by the organisation. | |
| November 6, 1999 | Police No Longer Checking On Church | Clearwater officers haven't actively investigated the controversial Church of Scientology in several months. The Clearwater Police Department no longer assigns an officer to gather intelligence about the Church of Scientology, a major policy shift ending 20 years of vigilance against the controversial group. | |
| October 24, 1999 | IRS Examined Scientology Dollars, Not Dogma | The Church of Scientology is, after all, an organization that bugged IRS offices, saw 11 of its members sent to prison and was found to be financing founder L. Ron Hubbard's lifestyle aboard a yacht. "Either Scientology changed very basically or the IRS changed. Or maybe both," former IRS commissioner Donald Alexander said of the settlement. "I hope that the IRS did not give in to intimidation," Alexander went on, alluding to the years in the 1970s when his agency battled the church. "I have great reservations, based on the public record and published stories, about this organization's activities and whether this was, is, or remains a money-making cult." | |
| October 23, 1999 | Scientology's Finances Detailed | The Church of Scientology, the secretive international organization that recently won a decades-long drive for federal tax exemption, counts assets of about $400 million and appears to take in nearly $300 million a year from counseling fees, book sales, investments and other sources, according to documents filed with the Internal Revenue Service. The documents show that the group spends heavily on legal fees, advertising and fund-raiser commissions, and is spending $114 million to preserve the writings and tapes of its deceased founder, L. Ron Hubbard, which it calls its scripture. |