Scientology’s cruise ship the Freewinds: Why OT 8 needed to be delivered off-shore

(This article by Jeffrey Augustine was originally published on Tony Ortega’s blog and is republished here for archival purposes)

As covered in our previous article, the Church of Scientology proclaimed the imminent release of the highest auditing level on the Bridge, OT 8, in 1971. “Imminent,” however, turned out to be another 14 years of waiting before it was L. Ron Hubbard announced the release of the level in Ron’s Journal 39. Hubbard declared that OT 8 was his 1985 New Year’s Gift to Scientologists…

On OT 8, Scientologists would finally discover the primary reason for amnesia on the Whole Track — why they had forgotten most of what they had experienced in their trillions of years of previous existence. Such a huge technological advance would need a special location to deliver, and a new Advanced Org dedicated solely to OT 8. An elite team of Sea Org auditors would need to be selected and trained.

But why a ship for OT 8? We see three reasons. First, the Church was purchasing real estate in Downtown Clearwater at a pace that made the locals tense about Scientology’s plans for their tranquil seaside community. Those tensions were becoming open hostility by 1985. Second, Scientology did not have IRS tax exemption in 1985. Third, Scientology was still smarting after the FBI’s massive 1977 raid and the subsequent prosecution of eleven church officials.

Hubbard was in hiding, and he had a series of backup ranches in case he needed to flee his hiding place in Creston, California. Having a ship based outside of US jurisdiction offered the Church its own backup location. The IAS was already headquartered in Curacao and it made sense to designate Curacao the home port of the new ship. Essentially, the new ship would serve as an IAS office and fundraising center. Scientologists who visited the ship would be squeezed for IAS donations.

The undertaking to find, purchase, staff, and renovate a suitable ship was called the Ship Project, with the IAS fundraising from 1985 to 1988 to pay for the initial costs. In 1986, the Ship Project was taken over by the Flag Ship Trust. A most curious entity, the Flag Ship Trust had no jurisdiction and could only be contacted in care of Whitman & Ransom in London:

The Flag Ship Trust purchased the Bohème in September 1986. However, the way in which Scientology purchased and took ownership of the vessel was dodgy. For example, the Church of Scientology told the IRS in 1992 that the Freewinds had a mortgage on it:

[The] “Freewinds” cruise vessel: this asset has a net book value (cost less depreciation} of $15,295,000 and is subject to a mortgage of $12,500,000 held by Trust for Scientologists. The net equity in the vessel is thus $2,795,000. The vessel is owned by San Donato Properties Corporation and is chartered to Majestic Cruise Lines Inc. Its home port is Curacao in the Netherlands Antilles, and it sails primarily in the Caribbean.

San Donato Properties Corporation is a Panamanian Corporation and a subsidiary of Transcorp Services S.A. In turn, Transcorp Services S.A is owned by the Flag Ship Trust. Thus, it appears that the Flag Ship Trust conveyed ownership of the Freewinds to San Donato Properties Corporation in such a way that resulted in a $12,500,000 mortgage on the ship. This was simply moving a Scientology asset from one pocket to another in order to create a mortgage and a new owner. All of these offshore machinations created legal barriers behind which Scientology was shielded.

The new Advanced Organization created to manage and deliver OT 8 was named the Flag Ship Service Organization (FSSO). One of the initial goals of the Ship Project was to find Sea Org members who were professionally qualified to serve in key FSSO positions aboard the new ship. On the Apollo, which was classed as a private yacht, Commodore Hubbard could appoint a person Captain based solely upon their past life experiences of having captained ships. However, David Miscavige and the FSSO had a different situation. The Freewinds is classed as a cruise ship and had to meet the standards of maritime law for cruise ships. Miscavige had to find a professional Captain, navigators, electricians, deck hands, mechanics, chefs, and trained engineers for the engine room. The crew of the Freewinds had to be Sea Org as well because the FSSO is a Sea Org Org. Mike Napier was a public Scientologist who had captained ships and had masters papers. He was recruited into the Sea Org as were other qualified people. The crew of the Freewinds constitutes the FSSO. The ship itself serves as the FSSO Base.

The FSSO can also be called the CSFSSO (Church of Scientology the Flag Ship Service Organization). In its 1992 IRS application for tax exemption, Scientology made it abundantly clear to the IRS that both the Flag Ship Trust and the CSFSSO keep and bank all of their money outside of the US.

The Church of Scientology Flag Ship Service organization (CSFSSO) was incorporated in Curacao, Netherlands Antilles as a non-profit foundation in April 1988. It commenced activities on 1 May 1988, shortly before the maiden voyage of the Freewinds on 6 June 1988. Its procedures for handling its receipts, discussed below, have applied since its inception and remain unchanged today.

CSFSSO does not have, nor has it ever had, a United States bank account. None of its income has ever been banked in the U.S. CSFSSO has never provided any religious goods or services to its parishioners within the United States; rather, these activities are conducted entirely outside the U.S., from aboard the M.V. Freewinds.

CSFSSO has local bank accounts in Curacao, Netherlands Antilles, the home port of the Freewinds. CSFSSO also has U.S. dollar and foreign currency accounts in Luxembourg. CSFSSO accepts payments and donations via major credit cards (e.g. Visa and Mastercard), which are deposited in its local accounts in Curacao.|

Parishioners in the U.S. who wish to make donations to CSFSSO for religious services usually send payment by check or credit card debit to CSFSSO via the Church of Scientology Freewinds Relay Office, located in Clearwater, Florida. This is a practical expedient because the Freewinds is usually at sea in the Caribbean and its exact location for mail purposes varies. The Relay Office collects all mail and other communications destined for the Freewinds. Any currency intended for CSFSSO is converted into a U.S. dollar draft or money order; cash is never sent abroad in a mailpack because of the risk of theft or other loss. Every week, the Relay Office forwards all mail, including checks and credit card invoices, to Curacao. If the Freewinds is not in port, the mailpack is collected by a Ship’s representative and delivered to the Ship as soon as it arrives. All checks are invoiced by CSFSSO on-board the Freewinds and is deposited into local bank accounts in Curacao, as noted above.

In that same 1992 IRS filing Scientology also told the IRS about Scientologists having bounced checks:

One wonders what sort of hellish Ethics handlings OT 7’s faced when their “postulate checks” for OT 8 bounced. This amusing admission that some Scientologists write bad checks shows us that Scientology follows up to collect on them.

When the Church of Scientology took delivery of its new ship in 1986, an intense 20-month period of renovations began. Deadly blue asbestos on the ship was discovered during this period. Former Sea Org member and architect Lawrence Woodcraft wrote an affidavit on this matter in 2001. Woodcraft describes the extensive amounts of asbestos aboard the ship. An excerpt of the Woodcraft Affidavit is quite revealing about Scientology’s attitude regarding asbestos:

No one on the ship knew anything about asbestos, nor did they care… Around this time Bitty Miscavige visited the ship. She was the Church executive with overall responsibility for the ship project. I went to her and took copies of the ship’s blueprints and showed her the full extent of asbestos on the ship. At first she was calm, but as I further explained the dangers, she begun to realize that it was a problem. We had a meeting to discuss the problem of asbestos. Steve Kisacky stated that L. Ron Hubbard doesn’t state in policy that asbestos is dangerous; he only states that fiberglass is dangerous and therefore we are only removing the fiberglass. In fact, the dock next to the Freewinds was piled high with fiberglass that had been removed by Sea Org members. It was explained to me that the ship was being remodeled only according to the written policies and “advices” of L. Ron Hubbard. Since Hubbard had been in the US Navy and had then founded the Sea Org and had run a fleet of ships, he knew everything about ships. If asbestos was dangerous, he would have written this somewhere. Also Hubbard knew everything about cancer. He had written that cancer was caused by the mind and specifically second dynamic aberration (problems with relationships). I was told that people only get sick if they go into “agreement” with being sick. As the ship was going to be filled with “operating thetans” doing the highest level in Scientology (OT 8) nothing was going to make them sick. I was being a “wog” (non-scientologist) worrying about a little thing like asbestos.

International Management having decreed that Sea Org members and OTVIII’s were impervious to asbestos and mesothelioma, the renovations and crew recruitment continued apace. Scientology management’s view of asbestos offers us yet more evidence into how Scientology thinks and acts with wanton and flagrant disregard for the well-being of its members.

In our next installment we look at the immediate events leading up the Maiden Voyage of the MV Freewinds.

Declaration of Lawrence Woodcraft

Lawrence Woodcraft Affidavit about Asbestos on the Freewinds - January 24, 2001

What a train wreck: The ignominious fate of Scientology’s original flagship, the ‘Apollo’

                                                  L. Ron Hubbard’s Flagship Apollo

(This article by Jeffrey Augustine was first published on The Underground Bunker. It is republished here with added content and archival material.)

L. Ron Hubbard’s original flagship, the Apollo, met a freak ending when it was hit and destroyed by a 3,750,000 pound freight train. This is somewhat ironic when you remember Hubbard’s 1963 claim…

“I notice that we all believe that Venus has a methane atmosphere and is unlivable. I almost got run down by a freight locomotive the other day — didn’t look very uncivilized to me.” – L. Ron Hubbard, “Between Lives Implants” lecture, SHSBC #317. 23 July 1963.

Commodore L. Ron Hubbard in his office on the Apollo. In this photo we can see Ron wearing a Rolex; his pack of Kool cigarettes; ashtray; and his daily glass of Coca-Cola. Ron’s fake war medals can be seen on the right side of the photo. The fake medals are hanging in a display case leaning against the wall.

Train-ship collisions are as rare as David Miscavige doing a network television news interview, which is to say that both have only happened once, according to the record. How did this bizarre collision occur? The story begins in 1975 in Daytona Beach, Florida when the Sea Org left the Apollo and went ashore.

When Hubbard and the Sea Org went ashore in 1975 and began surreptitiously to take over the town of Clearwater, Florida, the Apollo became a forgotten discard, a sort of second wife the Sea Org never had. The vessel was now a 39-year-old boat that guzzled expensive fuel oil. Accordingly, a seven-man skeleton crew was assigned to maintain the vessel while the Church worked to sell it and make some money. The crew dropped anchor in Nassau and would remain there for two years as only a tiny handful of prospective buyers came and went.

Read Paul Kawaller’s account: The Final Days on the Apollo

The Apollo was finally sold for $90,000 in 1977 to Consolidated-Andy Inc., a shipbreaking firm in Brownsville, Texas. The poster russ tee k9 added this comment on the sale of the Apollo on Tony Ortega’s blog:

Originally intending to dismantle the ship for scrap, Richard Jaross, Vice-President of Consolidated-Andy Inc., told the Brownsville Herald in October 1977 that the company had decided instead to turn it into a floating restaurant and locate it at the highly popular tourist town of South Padre Island.

Consolidated-Andy Inc. then changed its plans and sold the ship at auction to Zanzibar Shipping in 1978 for $188,000, doubling its investment in a one-year flip. Rechristened the Arctic Star by Zanzibar, the ship would never leave Brownsville for South Padre Island. Zanzibar Shipping would later be described in court papers as a, “Panamanian corporation with its headquarters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.” This makes no sense, but it gets more tangled as Zanzibar Shipping claimed in court papers that it did no business in the United States.

The 1982 Memorandum Decision of District Judge DeAnda tells the story and adds an incorrect detail that would surely have infuriated Commodore Hubbard:

The ship now called “ARCTIC STAR” has seen a colorful and varied career. Christened the “ROYAL SCOTSMAN” in 1936, she plied the rough seas between Belfast and Glasgow and survived. She risked German U-Boats when used as a troop ship in World War II and survived. She even had a name change (to “APOLLO”) and saw use as a spy ship for the CIA and survived. After having successfully avoided these often encountered and expected nautical dangers, it is perhaps quite ironic that she did not survive the night of September 16, 1980, when while lying at berth in the Port of Brownsville, Texas, she was rammed and constructively sunk by a railroad train.

…In addition to its unusual history, the ownership of the “ARCTIC STAR” is also far from ordinary. Although since being rechristened the “ARCTIC STAR” the ship has never left the Port of Brownsville, Texas, it is owned by Zanzibar Shipping, S. A., a Panamanian corporation with its headquarters in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The exact makeup of this corporation, created especially for ownership of the “ARCTIC STAR,” is shrouded in mystery; its stock is “bearer stock” and not even the corporate secretary, Ms. Ann Priddy, has any idea who or where its stockholders are. Despite its being headquartered in Wisconsin and having its only known asset permanently docked in Texas, Zanzibar Shipping maintains that it does no business in the United States.

The Apollo was not a CIA spy ship. In fact, L. Ron Hubbard was infuriated when this rumor was circulated during the years when the Apollo was cruising around the Mediterranean. The “Apollo is a CIA ship” rumor caused the Apollo to lose docking privileges in Mediterranean ports. Soon, virtually no Mediterranean ports would accept the Apollo. This forced Hubbard to order the Apollo to cross the Atlantic in July 1974. The Apollo then cruised the Caribbean for about sixteen months. Hubbard decided to have the Sea Org go ashore to Daytona Beach in October 1975.

THE LAWSUIT

“WTF!?” you may be asking yourself. How does a train hit a ship? One of my sources sent me a PDF copy of the newspaper article from the Brownsville Herald which is posted at the bottom of this article. In the article we learn that the collision happened late at night. The four people who were living aboard the ship were not injured; the same could not be said for the Apollo.

Quoting from the July 19, 1981 story we read:

The train, operated by Missouri Pacific, had been rolling along the concrete pier on a siding when seven boxcars detached from an engine, smashed through a blockade and struck the ship…

It was a night Capt. Robert Manning won’t easily forget either.

“I said: ‘I can’t believe this, there’s a train hanging out of the ship.”

Manning, asleep at the time of impact, recalls he was awakened by his wife, Anna, telling him: “ Honey, we’ve been hit by a train .”

“I thought it was a dream,” Manning said.

And it wasn’t easy explaining it to the Coast Guard and others he contacted by telephone. “They said, ‘Right, captain. Now put down that bottle and get yourself some sleep.’

“And I said, ‘No, really, we’ve been hit by a train .’

“And they’d say, ‘Captain, put out what you’re smoking and try to get some rest. Everything’s going to be all right.’”

Captain Manning’s appearance is as colorful as his great story-telling ability:


Trial Judge DeAnda wrote of Captain Manning:

The ship’s master is Captain Robert Manning, all of whose navigational charts seem to point towards the federal courthouse. See U. S. v. Firebird, Inc., No. B-79-116, (S.D.Texas, filed May 17, 1979); Baldwin v. Cisneros, No. B-79-249 (S.D.Tex., filed November 15, 1979); Brownsville Navigational District v. “ARCTIC STAR”, No. B-82-5 (S.D.Tex., filed January 11, 1982); Zanzibar Shipping v. United States, No. H-82-288 (S.D.Tex., filed after January 11, 1982).

Missouri Pacific Railroad Company conceded liability. The locomotive was pulling eighteen fully loaded freight cars. Seven of these cars separated from the train, jumped the tracks, smashed through a concrete barrier, and slammed into the Arctic Star. The only question now was how much Zanzibar Shipping could take Missouri Pacific to the cleaners for.

Here is a photo posted on the Bunker by PickAnotherID that shows the culprit in the crash:

               Following the 1980 collision, Engine 2199 was placed back into service.

Fun Fact: Athearn sells a replica of the ship-killer Engine #2199. This makes the perfect gift for model train enthusiasts who want a replica of an engine with an unusual history:

HOW HARD DID THE TRAIN HIT THE APOLLO?

Essentially, the train cars hit the ship so hard that “the nine-inch polypropylene stern lines securing the ship snapped from the impact.” Imagine the sheer force needed to snap 9″ polypropylene lines! The ship’s stern was pushed out and its bow was pushed in and collided with the dock. The net effect was that the hull was twisted from the impact. As the court noted:

Repair of a twisted hull is extremely expensive. The “ARCTIC STAR” is a riveted-hull vessel, a type of construction no longer used in shipbuilding. To determine the exact extent of the damages would require the ship to be towed to a shipyard capable of doing this type of repair work and there drydocking and completely inspecting the ship. Estimates for this repair work were uniformly high…The lowest estimate is $10,000,000.

The court noted that the locomotive and its fully loaded freight cars weighed 3,750,000 pounds. The speed at which the fully loaded train was moving cannot be found by your correspondent. However, physics gives us the simple equation: Force equals mass times acceleration. The train was pulling eighteen fully loaded freight cars at a sufficiently high rate of speed that when seven cars separated from the train and jumped the tracks, they hit the 3,244 ton Apollo with a high enough amount energy to twist the ship’s 340 foot hull. According to the court record, the Apollo rolled during the impact and took on some water. The ship didn’t sink but it did take on water.

The Apollo began life as the HMS Royal Scotsman. Built in 1936 at Harland & Wolff’s Belfast yard, the ship was built to ferry cattle and passengers between Belfast and Glasgow. The ship served as a troop transport in WWII. Scientology purchased the Royal Scotsman in 1967 and rechristened it the Apollo. The photo was taken during the HMS Royal Scotsman’s sea trials. The vessel was 340 feet in length and weight 3244 tons. The beam was 48 feet and the draught 17 feet. 

The court discussed the various legal theories in determining damages. This was necessary as the opposing parties were light years apart in what the damages should be. The court noted this discrepancy in whimsical language:

One of Defendant’s experts, Tommy Laing, estimated the damages at $21,000, based on cost of repair; one of Plaintiff’s experts Fergus Fleming, estimated damages at $35,000,000, based on cost of replacement. This is not a shadowland, but the Twilight Zone. Even when considering value alone, the differences are staggering. A surveyor for Plaintiff, Manning Dierlam, estimated the “ARCTIC STAR”‘s market value at $2,500,000… Defendant’s experts’ top value was $350,000.

The court next discussed the actual condition of the ship…

…the photographic evidence introduced during the trial indicates an aging and rusting ship in poor condition…The fact that the “ARCTIC STAR” could not legally sail on September 16, 1980, and the costs of re-securing her seaworthy status are important and relevant factors the Court has considered in determining her value. Because of her poor condition and lack of papers the Court further finds that on September 16, 1980, the “ARCTIC STAR” was not seaworthy.

Two other factors the Court has utilized in determining the value of the “ARCTIC STAR” are her insured value and the ship’s mortgage. Plaintiff’s claims of great value for its vessel are undercut by the fact that it did not maintain insurance on her…Zanzibar Shipping apparently negotiated a mortgage with a foreign bank for $200,000 and had received a Letter of Credit for that amount.

…After considering all of the above factors and findings of fact, the Court concludes that the value of the “ARCTIC STAR” on September 16, 1980 was $350,000. The Court finds her salvage value was $58,400, based on $40 a ton for uncut scrap and a weight of 1460 tons…Plaintiff is therefore entitled to recover from Defendant the sum of $291,600 as damages for the constructive total loss of the “ARCTIC STAR.”

An additional $13,000 was awarded for a small scow and a hatch cover the train destroyed. Costs of cleaning up 10 tons of oil that were spilled were awarded as were survey fees. Zanzibar Shipping paid $188,000 for the ship and collected $291,600 in damages, thus turning a tidy profit. The court awarded 12 percent per year interest from the date of the loss and so Zanzibar pocketed about another $70,000 in interest.

Gulmar Inc. of Brownsville, Texas was given the contract to haul away the damaged Arctic Star and scrap it. The Apollo, the once legendary Flag Ship of Commodore L. Ron Hubbard, was disposed of quietly and without sorrow under the pitiless sun in a nondescript ship breaking yard in Brownsville, Texas.

In a peculiar postscript to this story, parts of the Apollo deemed to be of value were stored by Gulmar Inc. in 1984 only to be promptly forgotten. In 2016, Gulmar Inc. sold these items at auction. An eBay seller purchased the lot and realized he had parts of the Apollo.

The seller offered the ship’s helm for $19,995.95. We contacted him, and he said that he had sold the item, but wouldn’t reveal the identity of buyer or the amount paid.

Consolidated-Andy Inc. purchases the Apollo. Story of October 16, 1977 in the Brownsville Herald. Please hover your cursor over the document to invoke the page up/page down controls at the bottom of the page frame:

brownsville-herald-oct-16-1977-p-9.AAA

The Brownsville Herald article on the train hitting the Apollo. Please hover your cursor over the document to invoke the page up/page down controls at the bottom of the page frame:

Apollo.brownsville-herald-jul-19-1981-p-27

The Memorandum Decision in Zanzibar Shipping v. Railroad Locomotive Engine. Please hover your cursor over the document to invoke the page up/page down controls at the bottom of the page frame:

ZANZIBAR SHPG. v. Railroad Locomotive Engine, 533 F. Supp. 392 (S.D. Tex. 1982) __ Justia.1

Church of Scientology Continues to Attacks Autism; Calls It a Myth

The Church of Scientology’s lunatic anti-psychiatry group “Citizens Commission on Human Rights” has long attacked autism as a myth, as a condition that does not exist.

Scientology viciously and irrationally rejects and attacks Psychiatry and all psychiatric diagnoses as being false. Because autism is a psychiatric diagnosis — the Autism Spectrum Disorder is classified and described in the DSM-5 —  it must therefore be false according to Scientology.

Jett Travolta (1992-2009) died tragically at aged sixteen in Freeport, Bahamas. Four years after his death, Scientologists John Travolta and Kelly Preston admitted that Jett was autistic. Grief is complex. When Jett was alive John and Kelly denied that he was autistic. This was due to the couple’s commitment to Scientology’s anti-psychiatry views.

When Jett was alive,  John Travolta’s brother Joey publicly stated that Jett was autistic. Joey implored John and Kelly to get Jett the help he needed. Instead, Kelly insisted that her son Jett had Kawasaki’s Syndrome that had been caused by exposure to carpet cleaning chemicals when he was young.

John and Kelly eventually did the right thing by acknowledging that autism existed. Kelly even opened up about it in a video:

In 2015, Scientology hired former US Congressman Dan Burton to lobby against vaccines in Congress. Forbes covered this in its article entitled, Former U.S. Rep. Dan Burton, Vaccine Foe, Now Lobbying For Scientology Outfit. An excerpt from that article:

When he served in the House of Representatives, Dan Burton (R-Indiana) reportedly held at least 20 hearings to try to force people to accept his belief that mercury in vaccines causes autism. Now he’s pulled down 20 Gs–$20,000 from July to September—as a lobbyist on behalf of the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR), which sounds reasonable enough, except that it’s a group co-founded by the Church of Scientology. The transition isn’t a big one for Burton because because Burton and Scientology and whacky autism causation theories go way back.

According to lobbying disclosure reports, Burton was paid to:

“maintain or increase protection for the public with reference to psychiatric treatments including drugs and brain devices.”

That’s not so wildly off the mark from his earlier goal of protecting the nation from mercury in vaccines with the expectation, one assumes, that doing so would protect the nation from the scourge of autism. Never mind that the nation isn’t under threat from either. Burton’s last hurrah as a Congressman was in 2012, the usual dog-and-pony show, giving the soon-to-be former Congressman one last chance as a representative of the people to claim that:

“I’m convinced that the mercury in vaccinations is a contributing factor to neurological diseases such as autism.”

Scientology’s partner in working to rid the world of vaccines is the notoriously anti-vaxxer group the Nation of Islam. Apparently, Scientology and the Nation of Islam like polio, smallpox, measles, and other deadly diseases that were largely eradicated by large-scale vaccinations programs. Dangerous pseudoscientific idiocy is certainly one thing that Scientology and the Nation of Islam have in common. Robert Kennedy Jr. has worked with Scientology and the Nation of Islam on this insanity. Look at the sensationalistic garbage Kennedy promotes:

In an irrational act I will never understand, Kelly Preston became a spokesperson for Karastan Carpets in 2008 when Jett was still alive. To promote carpets means that these carpets will need to be cleaned with carpet cleaning chemicals. This means the infants crawling on the carpets will be exposed to these chemicals as was Jett. Seems like a 4D overt on Kelly’s part.

The Nation of Islam: Updates on Money, Sexual Abuse, Jesus, and L. Ron Hubbard

This video of Mr. Farrakhan opens with his indignant declaration that he “didn’t get a dime from Dianetics or Scientology.” In fact, he recalls, the Nation of Islam had to spend a lot of money to buy the books for Dianetics.

Mr. Farrakhan then goes on to defend Dianetics by arguing that it will help members of the Nation of Islam overcome the trauma of sexual abuse. However, what Mr. Farrakhan ignores is that the Church of Scientology covers up rape, sexual abuse, and even pedophilia.

This begs the question: Why is Mr. Farrakhan looking for help with sexual abuse from a group that covers up sexual abuse? Mr. Farrakhan should demand that the Church of Scientology first cleanse its own house and expel all known rapists, child molesters, and those who have committed spousal abuse or domestic battery. The Minister should demand that Scientology stop covering up these crimes and sheltering the criminals simply because they are Scientologists.

Where Mr. Farrakhan is to be commended is that he, unlike the Church of Scientology and the Catholic Church, acknowledges that sexual molestation exists as a problem. Pope Francis, to his disgrace, has gone the way of John Paul II in attempting to cover up and protect pedophile priests. The recently published paper entitled The Testimony by Archbishop Carlo Maria Viganò has served to intensify the pressure on Pope Francis by calling for him to resign. Archbishop Viganò claims that Pope Francis knew about and covered up the sexual crimes that Cardinal Theodore McCarrick perpetrated upon his subordinates and seminarians.

By contrast, Mr. Farrakhan has acknowledged that spousal abuse and sexual abuse exist. Accordingly, he incorporated both into the pledge that Black Men signed at his now legendary 1995 Million Man March. This section of the pledge reads:

I pledge from this day forward I will never abuse my wife by striking her, disrespecting her, for she is the mother of my children and the producer of my future.

I pledge that from this day forward I will never engage in the abuse of children, little boys or little girls for sexual gratification. For I will let them grow in peace to be strong men and women for the future of our people.

Again, we ask the question: Given the Nation of Islam’s decades-long willingness to forthrightly acknowledge the problem of sexual abuse, why does Mr. Farrakhan turn for help to a group that will neither acknowledge the problem nor punish the perpetrators?

WHITE JESUS

Even as Mr. Farrakhan warns the Nation of Islam that they were given a white Jesus to keep them enslaved, he leads the Nation to uncritically embrace and accept a white Savior named L. Ron Hubbard. NOI Western Regional Representative Tony Muhammad has called Hubbard, “an angelic messenger sent from God.”

Scientology leads to slavery. That is how the system is designed. L. Ron Hubbard wrote in his Admissions:

All men shall be my slaves.
All women shall submit to my charms.
All mankind shall grovel at my feet.

— Scroll down to the bottom of this page to read the Admissions of L. Ron Hubbard–

The Nation of Islam is focused on the 400 years of slavery, brutality, and injustice Black people in North America have suffered at the hands of the White man. And yet it seems Mr. Farrakhan is taking the Nation back into the bondage of Egypt when he submits the Nation to L. Ron Hubbard, the white man whose stated Magickal goal was to make all men his slaves.

We wonder if Mr. Farrakhan is cognizant of the Master Race ideology at the heart of Scientology  or if he is simply dazzled by the auditing experience? Many public Scientologists such as Mr. Farrakhan are so dazzled by auditing and the wins they get from auditing that they just do not care to know what Scientology actually is at its core. Most Scientologists are not aware of the deliberately calculated and methodical ways in which the Church of Scientology traps them legally, psychologically, and spiritually.

Mr. Farrakhan publicly stated that any member of the Nation of Islam who refused to do Dianetics would never have a place of leadership in the Nation. Instead, he said, “they will be thanked for their labors and asked to step aside.” This is called an “enforced reality” in Scientology and that is what Mr. Farrakhan is doing: He is enforcing his reality upon others. In doing so, he is taking away their self-determinism. To take away the self-determinism of another unless they comply with your demands made under threat or duress is itself a form of slavery.

In the video, Mr. Farrakhan repeats his long-standing rationale that because Scientology is useful and can help the Nation of Islam, all criticisms of Scientology should be ignored. Farrakhan says, “They’ve beaten the hell out of Scientology now so everybody wanna run away. Farrakhan not that kind of man.” Farrakhan’s comment that “everybody wanna run away” is quite revealing. What group of persons is the everybody who wants to run away because of Scientology’s reputation? It appears there are cracks in the Nation of Islam over Scientology.

The Church of Scientology has been exposed and called to account due to its inhumanity; greed; lies; Fair Game attacks on former members, journalists, and critics; breaking up families by Disconnection; and its cynical exploitation of Sea Org members — and this includes the use of child labor in the Sea Org. If Mr. Farrakhan willingly chooses to ignore the evil, malice, abuses, greed, and lies at the heart of Scientology then that’s all on him. Farrakhan can “not is it” all he wants, but his not-isness doesn’t change reality.

“Not-isness” is a Scientology word for denial. To “not is” something is to pretend it doesn’t exist or deny its existence because you can’t confront it. Our critique of Mr. Farrakhan is that he wants the best of what Scientology has to offer and will “not is” the rest.

Many Scientologists have used this approach and it typically ends in failure when Scientology’s brutality suddenly and utterly destroys one’s ability to remain in a state of denial. It is an overwhelming experience that shatters all hopes and dreams. There is usually a triggering event in which all of the years or decades of repressed and pent up frustration, anger, and pretending break the dam and it all floods into full awareness. This necessary crisis is one way out. The easy way is to just leave Scientology.

TO WHOM DOES THE MONEY TRAIL LEAD?

Mr. Farrakhan specifically rebuts the oft-heard claim that he personally makes money from Dianetics and Scientology. The basis of his denial refers to the fact that the Church of Scientology pays a 10% commission to its salespeople — who are called Field Staff Ministers (FSM’s) or registrars — whenever they sell Scientology goods and services to others.

This raises the obvious question: Given the fact that the Church of Scientology is a business based solely upon the payment of money in exchange for overpriced goods and services, who then is paid commissions on the monies generated by sales to the Nation of Islam? While we welcome any information,  here is our short list of three obvious candidates:

  • Tony Muhammad — Nation of Islam
  • Jim Mathers — Scientologist
  • Alfreddie Johnson — Scientologist

                    L-R: Tony Muhammad, Jim Mathers, Alfreddie Johnson

Jim Mathers is a white Scientologist who is seemingly omnipresent at Nation of Islam events related to Scientology. Mathers’ presence at NOI events since the beginning of the Nation’s involvement with the Church of Scientology has been left completely unexplained. Aside from Jim Mathers, white Scientologists are seldom ever seen at NOI events.

Mathers is frequently photographed in the company of Tony Muhammad and Alfreddie Johnson. Does Jim Mathers make money as an FSM to the Nation of Islam? Or does he serve another purpose?

Do Tony Muhammad and Alfreddie Johnson make money as FSM’s to the Nation of Islam? Nation of Islam members have never been told who gets the 10% Scientology commissions. This lack of financial transparency naturally creates questions.

Mathers recently donned the garb of a clergyman to appear at the Ebony Awakening event held in the ballroom of Scientology’s Fort Harrison Hotel located at Flag Land Base in Clearwater, Florida. The available literature gives no explanation for his appearance at the event which was largely attended by members of the Nation of Islam who are also Scientologists.

WE KNOW WHERE SOME OF THE MONEY DIDN’T GO

When Scientologist Alfreddie Johnson brought Nation of Islam Western Representative Tony Muhammad into Scientology, there was one problem: Tony Muhammad didn’t have the money to begin his Bridge.

Word went out to the Celebrity Centre that money was urgently needed to get Minister Tony Muhammad onto the Bridge. Leah Remini, who was then still in the Church, stepped up and loaned Minister Tony a good amount of money to begin his Bridge.

Tony Muhammad has never paid Leah back, this despite the strict Islamic teaching that a Muslim may not enter Paradise until all of his or her debts are paid:

Muhammad ibn Jahsh said: ‘We were sitting with the Messenger of Allaah (Sal Allaahu Alaiyhi wa Sallam) when he raised his head towards the sky, then he put his palm on his forehead and said: “Subhaan-Allaah! What a strict issue has been revealed to me!” We remained silent and were afraid. The following morning I asked him,

“O Messenger of Allaah, what is this strict issue that has been revealed?” He said, “By the One in Whose hand is my soul, if a man were killed in battle for the sake of Allaah, then brought back to life, then killed and brought back to life again, then killed, and he owed a debt, he would not enter Paradise until his debt was paid off.” (Hasan-al-Nasaa’i).

When will Minister Tony Muhammad correct the stain upon his honor as a Muslim by repaying this debt? Or has Minister Tony embraced Scientology to the extent that debts to SP’s do not have to be repaid? This is how the Church of Scientology actually views the matter.

Leah publicly chided Minister Tony about his unpaid debt as these two tweets show:

THE TRUE HISTORY OF JESUS BY THE HONORABLE ELIJAH MUHAMMAD

Mr. Farrakhan is quite correct in stating that Jesus was not white. One widely-held opinion is that Jesus was most likely an olive-skinned, black-haired, Jewish Palestinian. Nevertheless, Jesus is rendered in white Christian art as a white man. The Mormons, for example, depict a clearly out-of-place white Jesus preaching in Mesoamerica:

In his 1959 sermon The True History of Jesus, the Honorable Elijah Muhammad said that Jesus was a black man. The question of Jesus’ color has therefore been long established in the Nation of Islam:

Below is a PDF transcript version of The True History of Jesus as Taught by the Honorable Elijah Muhammad. Please hover your cursor over the document to invoke the page up/page down controls at the bottom of the page frame.

The True History of Jesus as Taught by the Honorable Elijah Muhammad

The Affirmations of L. Ron Hubbard are next. Again, please hover your cursor over the document to invoke the page up/page down controls at the bottom of the page frame:

LRH.Admissions

 

$1.7 Billion in Scientology Assets Show in IRS 990-T Forms

Here are links to PDF’s of the actual 990-T documents the Church of Scientology submitted to IRS. These forms irrefutably prove the $1.7 billion in assets owned by the Church of Scientology through its various religious corporations.

A 990-T must be filed when a tax-exempt organization earns unrelated business income. For example, when Flag rents out the ballroom at the Fort Harrison for a wedding.

As of 2012, the bulk of Scientology’s real estate assets were held by its three major corporations:

1. CSI: Church of Scientology International 2012 Book Value: $846,314,618

2. CST: Church of Spiritual Technology 2012 Book Value $447,192,921

3. FSO: Flag Service Organization Book Value 2012 Book Value $290,655,686

Total: $1,503,163,225.30

Forms after 2012 are not available. This may indicate that Scientology entities enacted a policy in 2013 to no longer engage in any activities that generate unrelated business income.

Additional Scientology tax documents show another ~$150,000,000 in Scientology book value, thus bringing the Church of Scientology’s 2012 book value to $1.7 billion dollars.

4. COS WUS: Church of Scientology WUS Book Value 2012: $45,265,237

5. FSSO:  Flag Ship Service Organization Book Value 2012: $26,705,235

6. CCI: Celebrity Centre International 2012 Book Value $39,392,879

7: SBPI: Social Betterment Properties International 2008 Assets $39,573,456

8. Church of Scientology of San Diego 2013 Book Value $14,330,406

9. Narconon: Narconon 2012 990’s totaling ~$60,000,000

10. ABLE: Association For Better Living & Education Int’1 2012 receipts $7,767,910

In addition to the assets listed above — which include real estate and cash — there is thought to be $1.5 billion dollars in Scientology liquid cash in bank accounts owned or controlled by these corporations:

11. CSRT: Church of Scientology Religious Trust

13. US IAS Members Trust

14. COSRECI: Church of Scientology Religious Education College, Inc. (UK)

15. SIRT Scientology International Reserve Trust – may have been dissolved

16. SORT: Sea Org Reserves Trust

If you have any corrections or additions for this list, please post comments below or contact Jeffrey Augustine at scienowriter@gmail.com.

A Scientology Private Investigator Visits Our Home Asking About Leah Remini and Heber Jentzsch

                         Private Investigator Rebecca Dobkin

(Note: This article by Jeffrey Augustine was originally published on Tony Ortega’s Underground Bunker and is republished here for archival purposes)

By Jeffrey Augustine

Los Angeles, September 5, 2018: A woman dropped by our house in the Los Angeles neighborhood of Los Feliz and asked to speak to my wife, Karen de la Carriere. Karen was busy, so I talked to her.

She handed me her card, which identified her as a private investigator named Rebecca Dobkin.

I asked her who she was working for, and she told me she was working for an attorney named Amanda Touchton. I asked her to spell it.

She said that Touchton represented Heber Jentzsch.

Heber is Karen’s ex-husband. He has also been, since the 1980s, the nominal president of the Church of Scientology International. I say “nominal,” because it was always little more than an honorary title — the real power to run Scientology was invested in founder L. Ron Hubbard and then, after his death in 1986, current leader David Miscavige.

Heber was well liked by Scientologists and also got along with reporters — for a while, at least, he was the person Scientology sent out to handle questions about the church, and he was pretty good at it. He was also frequently on stage at Scientology’s major events. But then, in the 1990s, his role seemed to get smaller and smaller, until he vanished pretty much altogether.

When Miscavige’s bizarre jail for upper level management was created at Scientology’s secretive management compound Int Base in 2004 — it eventually became known as “The Hole” — Heber was one of its prisoners, which we know from multiple witnesses. Heber has been out of sight almost entirely since then.

One exception was when Alexander Jentzsch, the only child that Karen and Heber had together, died in 2012 at the age of 27. Karen by then had left the church and wasn’t allowed to see her son’s body (he had died of pneumonia, exacerbated by a pain medication he was taking, according to the LA Coroner), and at first she was told that Scientology planned to have no memorial at all. But after the media made a stink about it — including Tony at the Village Voice — the church did hold a ceremony (Karen wasn’t invited) and Heber showed up for it, the first time we’d seen a photo of him in years.

[Last known photo of Heber Jentzsch, center, at the 2012 memorial for his son Alexander at the Scientology Hollywood Celebrity Centre with Stan and Phillipa Gerson.]

Tony has reported in the past how Heber, who is from a huge Mormon family, has been missed by his relatives, who want to hear how he’s doing.

Dobkin told me that Amanda Touchton was representing Heber “in a matter related to Leah Remini’s reality TV show.”

She mispronounced Leah’s last name as “Reh-MEENIE.”

She said that she was investigating an incident that had happened at Int Base, which is near San Jacinto, about 85 miles east of Los Angeles. Apparently, someone had asked law enforcement to make a welfare check on Heber at the base.

I knew nothing about it, I told her.

She claimed that Heber had been thrown into the back of a police car during the welfare check, which I found hard to believe. Law enforcement officers checking on an 82-year-old’s welfare aren’t likely to treat them like a dangerous criminal.

She also handed me a printed out copy of a story that appeared here at the Bunker, which cited Karen saying she had been told that Heber had suffered a stroke.

She asked me how Karen knew that. I said I didn’t recall but that Heber had a lot of relatives. I couldn’t remember.

[Amanda Touchton]

I told Dobkin that Heber Jentzsch doesn’t make enough money as a Sea Org worker to pay for a lawyer, so I assumed the real client was Scientology.

She wouldn’t confirm it.

But we think it’s a pretty good bet that it was.

 

All Scientologists Must Show Their IAS Card At Events!

As the IAS letter (scroll down for the full text) makes clear, only card-carrying IAS members will now be allowed into Scientology events. David Miscavige, it seems, has become increasingly paranoid that spies, critics, or even journalists will get into Scientology events.

For new Scientology watchers, here are specific details about Scientology’s unregulated slush fund aka the IAS.

Here is the PDF. Note: Please hover your cursor over the document to invoke the page up/page down controls at the bottom of the page frame.

IAS membership 2018_Redacted

Scientologist Grant Cardone to Open a Non-Accredited Investment Fund Controlled by FCC Rules: What Could Possibly Go Wrong?

Cardone.Fund

By Jeffrey Augustine

Elena Cardone posted this on Facebook. She convinced Grant to open a non-accredited fund for friends and family.  Elena mentions that this all per FCC rules.

Memo to Elena: The Federal Communications Commission does not regulate securities. What you meant to say was the SEC as in the Securities & Exchange Commission. This sort of mistake does not inspire confidence in potential investors. Report to Cramming and clear up this misunderstood so that your potential investors don’t get jittery. Financial terms are very precise and must be kept that way, particularly as they relate the Federal regulatory agencies.

A “non-accredited investor” is defined as:

An investor who does not meet the net worth requirements for an accredited investor under the Securities & Exchange Commission’s Regulation D. A non-accredited individual investor is one who has a net worth of less than $1 million (including spouse) and who earned less than $200,000 annually ($300,000 with spouse) in the last two years.

When a company raises private equity for an investment, such as a new company or a hedge fund, it is able to receive unlimited investments from accredited investors. On the other hand, Regulation D stipulates only 35 non-accredited investors are allowed to invest money into a private placement.

Grant and Elena Cardone are looking for 35 non-accredited investors. Why? Grant’s website says he has $450 million invested in apartment complexes. In another place he claims close to a billion dollars. Given these numbers, why would Cardone be looking for non-accredited investors from among family and friends? The portfolio of properties shown on his website should easily attract accredited investors with serious money, particularly given the attractiveness of apartment rental units as more people become unable to afford to purchase homes due to the growing income inequality in America. This is a Scientology-related matter worth keeping an eye on.

I’m not a hater Grant. I enjoy watching you and Elena work. Besides, now that Bob Duggan is off the Scientology radar, you have to step up and fill the billionaire vacuum in Scientology. Do it. I’ll even show you some support. I like your twin brother Gary too:

Scientology Infighting: St. Hill Using the Weak British Pound to Compete with US Orgs


Thanks to our source who sent us this advertisement from Scientology’s St. Hill Advanced Org (AOSH UK) in England.  St. Hill is sending this piece to US Scientologists in attempt to lure them away from American Orgs.

St. Hill is using the weakness of the British Pound against the US Dollar to attract American Scientologists away from Flag and other US Orgs. The message is simple:

Come to St. Hill where it is 20% cheaper to audit your BT’s!

This shameless poaching of American Scientologists by St. Hill tells me five things:

1. The stats at St. Hill have crashed through the basement floor and so it has now made a move on American Scientologists by offering them Scientology services on the cheap.

2. David Miscavige has obviously approved this cutthroat competition between Orgs on different continents as international stats have crashed. So long as money comes in, Miscavige doesn’t care where it comes from.

3. Flag and the other American AO’s are powerless to do anything about St. Hill actively working to steal their customers.

4. St. Hill can brag that it is “Ron’s home” because it was Ron’s home. Of course, Ron Hubbard made the Church of Scientology buy it from him for an exorbitant sum. Indeed, Ron made a fortune dumping St. Hill onto the Church. The Church then had to pay for all of the badly-needed improvements Ron didn’t pay for when the place belonged to him. So, yes, why not audit at the manor where Ron lived for eight years?

5. St. Hill is not saying the quality of services it delivers is superior to American Orgs. Rather, St. Hill is only saying its services are cheaper.

My prediction: Flag will react by offering 25% discounts on package deals to compete with St. Hill.

*****

That Scientology Orgs are trying to steal each other’s customers show the invisible hand of the market at work. The market forces of Capitalism are now at play within Scientology. Price erosion may begin to occur as the Orgs compete with each other. However, this will prove to be intolerable in the long run for David Miscavige.

Thus Scientology seems to be coming to a fork in the road. Will the Church become Monastery Scientology, an exclusive club where only the very wealthy are allowed? Or will price erosion occur to the extent that Scientology becomes a discount retailer like Wal-Mart?

My bet is, and always has been, on Monastery Scientology.

When push comes to shove, Scientology is designed to accommodate a small base of wealthy members who love status and elitism. Scientology was never designed for downstat and degraded wog trash who actually have to live on a budget.

 

Scientology Operative Exploiting the “National Association of Commissions for Women” to Attack Leah Remini’s Show Scientology and the Aftermath

The red arrow points to Scientology Operative Taryn Teutsch who attended the recent NACW 2018 conference in Los Angeles. Taryn is now using photos from the conference on Twitter to imply that NACW supports her baseless Fair Game attacks against her father Mike Rinder.

Taryn Teutsch, a member of Scientology’s Sea Org, is exploiting the prestigious National Association of Commissions for Women (NACW) in an attempt to gain legitimacy for her attacks against Leah Remini’s Emmy-winning A&E show Scientology and the Aftermath.

The goal of Scientology operative Teutsch is to get her father Mike Rinder fired from Leah Remini’s show. Mike was the third-highest ranking official in Scientology for three decades before he escaped and began speaking out. Mike’s expertise gained from serving in Scientology at the highest levels is a key part of what makes Leah’s show incredibly powerful, accurate, and insightful.

Taryn is attempting to get her father fired by promoting an old and thoroughly discredited narrative of domestic violence (1). Taryn shared this manufactured narrative with unwitting NACW attendees as her photographer snapped photos. Taryn then posted these photos on Twitter in a way that implies NACW endorsement:

More of Taryn’s photos with unwitting attendees were posted on Twitter to imply NACW endorsement:

TARYN TEUTSCH — REPEAT OFFENDER:

GRETCHEN CARLSON & THE YWCA OF GREATER LOS ANGELES

Scientology operative Teutsch used the exact same tactics when she attended the YWCA of Greater Los Angeles “Phenomenal Woman” award ceremony earlier this year. Teutsch had her photo taken with honorees including Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey and Gretchen Carlson. Teutsch then used these photos on her blog and on Twitter to imply that Lacey and Carlson endorsed and approved of her attacks against her father.

Scientology operative Teutsch with Gretchen Carlson:


Jen Hanson Gruber, one of our readers who is absolutely not afraid of Scientology, informed Gretchen Carlson that her name and image had been misappropriated by an operative of the Church of Scientology. Jen also sent the official police reports and other documents to show that Taryn was lying:

Gretchen Carlson texted back to ask how she could her photo taken down from Taryn’s Twitter page:


Scientology operative Teutsch also used the YWCA GLA event to have her photo taken with Los Angeles District Attorney Jackie Lacey:

We contacted the YWCA of Greater Los Angeles and they issued a statement distancing themselves from Scientology and Taryn Teutsch.

Scientology operative Teutsch also targeted the Leila Grace Foundation:

Taryn Teutsch spoke at the Leila Grace Foundation. This foundation is a, “is a non-profit organization that provides sexual assault awareness for college students across the country. It’s main focus is to provide education, which can reduce the risk of sexual assaults on college campuses.” Taryn’s eight year old “fake news” story has nothing to do with rape or sexual assault. Why did Taryn exploit the Leila Grace Foundation?

The Church of Scientology’s goal is to infiltrate women’s groups using Taryn Teutsch’s manufactured and false narrative in order to, ultimately, stop Leah Remini’s show. That Scientology would use such treacherous and underhanded means to accomplish its ends is nothing new.

While Scientology seeks to exploit women’s groups, it is instructive to note that L. Ron Hubbard’s wife Mary Sue Hubbard went to prison for crimes her husband ordered in Operation Snow White. Hubbard himself went into hiding after the FBI raid and remained an unindicted co-conspirator.
Likewise, Scientology leader David Miscavige’s wife Shelly Miscavige has been locked away for at least twelve years. The most dangerous job in Scientology is being the wife of the leader.

For more information on how Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard viewed women, please read:

Scientology TV, Taryn Teutsch, and L. Ron Hubbard’s Disgusting View of Women

Teutsch’s conduct in spinning a web of lies about her father is consistent with Scientology’s decades-long pattern of lying to destroy those people whom it deems enemies. Indeed, after the journalist Paulette Cooper wrote a book which was critical of Scientology, the Church succeeded in getting Cooper charged for making a bomb threat. When the FBI later raided Scientology facilities, the records obtained showed that Scientology had orchestrated the entire affair. The charges against Paulette Cooper were dropped and Scientology had to pay Paulette Cooper what we imagine was a substantial legal settlement.

(1) The Evidence Discrediting Taryn Teutsch’s False Narrative Against Mike Rinder:

Scientology Sea Org Member Taryn Teutsch Engaging in Fake News to Attack Leah Remini’s Show & Her Father Mike Rinder

Scientology’s Fair Game Campaign Against Mike Rinder Collapsing Under the Weight of Scrutiny

The Paramedics Report on Cathy Bernardini: Why Taryn Teutsch’s Fair Game Attack on Mike Rinder Falls Apart

Taryn Teutsch Uses a Photo of Gretchen Carlson in Her Fair Game Campaign Against Leah Remini’s Show

Leah Remini’s response to Scientology’s many vitriolic attacks on her is easily summed up in this short video clip:


MIKE RINDER

Mike Rinder was born into a Scientology family. He joined the Sea Org as a teenager and worked as a messenger for L. Ron Hubbard aboard the Apollo, the vessel Hubbard called his flagship. Mike rose through the ranks and eventually became the third highest ranking official in the Church of Scientology.

When Mike escaped from Scientology and began speaking out publicly against Scientology leader David Miscavige’s culture of violence, lies, and greed he was declared a Suppressive Person and became a target of Scientology’s doctrine of Fair Game. Essentially, Scientology Fair Game is designed to utterly destroy a person. As L. Ron Hubbard wrote:

Hubbard’s call to destroy those people deemed to be enemies of Scientology explain Taryn Teutsch’s actions and conduct.

Scientology and Taryn Teutsch will cynically exploit anyone and any group in their ruthless pursuit to destroy those who speak out and expose Scientology.

We are not afraid.