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Press in the News

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November 24, 1988 Scientology Leader Sent to Jail in Spain A judge in Spain ordered the head of the Church of Scientology International jailed Wednesday pending possible indictment on charges of fraud, criminal association and tax evasion. Judge Jose Maria Vazquez Honrubia said it will be at least a week before Heber Jentzsch of Los Angeles sees a second judge about setting bail. He said Jentzsch was being sent to a prison outside Madrid. The judge said authorities had frozen $1.76 million in bank accounts belonging to officials of the U.S.-based Church of Scientology and the church's drug rehabilitation program, Narconon. crimes, Heber Jentzsch, Madrid, Narconon, Press
November 22, 1988 Spain Seizes Scientology Leaders Police arrested 69 people in a raid on a hotel and accused 45 of them of fraud, illegal association and forgery for being members of the Church of Scientology. Among those held was Heber Jentzsch, 53, of Los Angeles, worldwide director of the faith, and two unidentified Americans, judicial sources said. In 1986 and again last June, Spain's Justice Ministry rejected a petition by the Church of Scientology for accreditation as a legitimate religious institution on the ground that the group's activities "negatively affect public health." crimes, Heber Jentzsch, Madrid, Press
November 21, 1988 40 Scientology Leaders From 7 Countries Detained in Spain Forty leaders of the Church of Scientology from seven countries face charges of extortion, forgery and tax offenses after police raids, a judicial source said today. Police also shut down 26 of the group's offices across Spain on Sunday and seized bundles of documents. Charges against the church include falsification of public documents, extortion, tax evasion and capital flight. crimes, Press
November 13, 1988 The Dark Side Of Cults "It's not our job to identify which groups are harmful," Kropveld explains. "It's not the group itself that concerns us, but the pitch used to get you to buy into them. You have to be aware of the deception, the dubious recruiting practice. Every group has a right to believe in what it wants. But the bottom line is - you have to ask yourself, does that belief withstand the scrutiny of the criminal or the civil law?" There are apparently a number that cannot. In February, The Church of Scientology, charged with fraud and false representation, agreed to pay 10 of its disgruntled members $250,000 in an out-of-court settlement. The 10 had given the church between $5,000 and $45,000 over periods of up to five years. As part of the settlement, the former members cannot talk to the press about their time with the Scientologists. Montreal, Press, Scientology and Society
October 28, 1988 Church Lawyer Alleges Ministry Bias Premier David Peterson has been asked to appoint independent lawyers to prosecute the Church of Scientology, after allegations that the Attorney-General's Ministry is caught in a conflict of interest. Lawyers for the church also asked the provincial auditor yesterday to examine the propriety of the ministry's having financed a civil suit launched by one of its own lawyers against the church and several media outlets. Casey Hill, defamation, lawsuits, Press, Scientology and Society, Toronto
October 25, 1988 Paper Wants Scientology Documents Unsealed The St. Petersburg Times has asked a federal judge to unseal four court files pertaining to the Church of Scientology. The files, which otherwise would be available to the public, were sealed in 1986 by U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Kovachevich at the Scientologists' request. The suits alleged that Scientologists invaded the plaintiffs' privacy and abused the courts by filing malicious actions. Tanja C. Burden of Las Vegas said Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, his wife, Mary Sue, and the Clearwater church enslaved her for more than four years. The sealing of the files put all record of the cases and any subsequent developments out of public view. Clearwater, Gabe Cazares, lawsuits, Press, Scientology and Society, Tonja Burden
October 18, 1988 High Court to Rule on Scientology Case The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a government appeal in a Los Angeles case involving the Church of Scientology in order to decide how far the Internal Revenue Service can go in obtaining and using confidential documents in tax-fraud inquiries. The government launched an investigation in 1984 of the tax returns of L. Ron Hubbard, the church's founder who died Jan. 24, 1986. The IRS said it suspected that millions of dollars in church funds were transferred to Hubbard in the late 1970s and early 1980s in an apparent scheme to protect the church's tax-exempt status and avoid paying taxes on the money. IRS, Press
March 25, 1988 Scientologists Lose Rounds In Lawsuit Against City Current and former city commissioners may not be forced to reveal their motives for passing a controversial charitable solicitations ordinance when they give depositions to the Church of Scientology, a federal magistrate has ruled. The same magistrate, Thomas G. Wilson, also has ruled in Tampa that the Church of Scientology cannot refuse to submit documents requested by the city as it prepares to fight a lawsuit filed by the Scientologists. Clearwater, Press
March 20, 1988 Cult Fighters In Center Of Raging Storm The Cult Awareness Network, a low-profile and nonprofit organization that gathers information on "destructive" cults - those that allegedly employ mind control techniques, coercion and unethical or illegal practices - serves as a warehouse of information, with files containing profiles, membership lists, and even tax returns of more than 1,000 cults and suspected cults. IRS, Press
January 16, 1988 The Messianic Con Man Gerry Armstrong had been a dedicated member of the Church of Scientology for more than a decade, swept away by its heady promise of superhuman powers and immortality. He had been twice sentenced to long periods in the Rehabilitation Project Force, the Scientologists' Orwellian prison; he had been constantly humiliated and his marriage had been destroyed; yet he remained convinced that L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, was the greatest man who ever lived. That is, until 1980 when Armstrong discovered 21 boxes of Hubbard memorabilia inside a secret base set up by Scientologists in the Californian desert. Gerry Armstrong, L. Ron Hubbard, Press

Press in the News

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May 12, 2006 Polish Scientologists Ordered to Remove Tents When Scientology erected tents in Warsaw's city center to attract new members, city officials ordered them taken down. Press
September 30, 1996 Patrice Vic Trial Begins - Scientology Executive Charged with Manslaughter Trial begins in the death of Patrice Vic. Scientology executive Jean-Jacques Mazier is charged with manslaughter, and 22 other Scientologists also face charges. crimes, deaths, France, Patrice Vic, Press