Democratic Vice-Presidential Nominee Senator Kamala Harris of California

When she served as the Attorney General for the State of California, Democratic Vice-Presidential Nominee and Senator Kamala Harris filed felony criminal charges against a group of Scientologists who operated a fraudulent Scientology front group called the American Health and Education Clinics (AHEC). This group was part of another Scientology front group called the World Literacy Crusade.

Then Attorney General Harris’ action stands in stark contrast to Congressperson Karen Bass who spoke in support of Scientology at a Scientology event in 2010. The story of Bass’ support of Scientology went viral. That Bass’ association with Scientology greatly harmed her political career and reputation shows just how horribly the Church of Scientology is viewed in America. As has been said before, Scientology is career suicide.

As covered on Tony Ortega’s blog and this blog, the criminal charges Kamala Harris filed against the Scientology defendants arose from a $3.8 million MediCal fraud. Essentially, the Scientology defendants conspired with two Compton high school coaches and a principal to put high school students through an unnecessary program based upon Scientology’s pseudo-scientific Narconon treatment program. The defendants then fraudulently billed the State of California for the bogus services. The pretrial conference for the defendants is set for January 12, 2021 at the Clara Shortridge Foltz Criminal Justice Center in Downtown Los Angeles.

THE DEFENDANTS

The Defendants:
Rizza Islam
Hanan Islam
Zakiyyah Islam
Beverly Bayon Washington
Nimat Islam
The other defendants in the case plead guilty and have been sentenced.

The criminal charges:
Grand Theft
Presenting False Medi-Cal Claims
Insurance Fraud
Failure to File Tax Return

We reported on the arraignment of the defendants from the courtroom. The defendants presented a Sovereign Citizen defense which failed badly. Judge Pastor ruled that the evidence presented met the burden to bind the defendants over for criminal trial. A summary of our court reporting as live-blogged by Tony Ortega:

SCIENTOLOGIST ARRESTED IN L.A. COURT: Narconon fraud defendants in wild scene

Scientologists led away in handcuffs after stunning evidence of fraud heard in L.A. court

Scientologist removed from L.A. court again after screaming at judge in fraud hearing

As Scientologists face another day in L.A. court, we have a bizarre twist to the case

Scientologists will face trial after judge cites ‘sophisticated fraud’ scheme

ABC7 in Los Angeles covers the Scientology Narconon fraud hearing — with sketches!

The Charging Documents: