Author: Scientology Money Project

"Old Guard" Church of Scientology critic married to Karen de la Carriere, former Scientology Class XII C/S. Love knows no boundaries.

Scientology Money in a Mormon Bank: More of the Secret Relationship Exposed

Tony Ortega today posted a most interesting article on Efrem Logreira, the 75 year old man whom the Church of Scientology clipped for $75,000 in a credit card scheme. Scientology wants to return the $75,000 to Logreira as this scam has blown up in its face. However, Mr. Logreira has been paying crippling amounts of monthly interest on the balance on the cards and therefore demands to recover interest in order to be made whole on the entire amount. Scientology does not appear interested in making Logreira whole and wants to pay only the balance on the credit cards less interest.

As we learn in Ortega’s story, Scientology’s long-time attorney Mr. Moxon presented Mr. Logreira’s counsel Graham Berry with the check shown above. This is where the Scientology Money Project is extremely interested as the check posted by Tony Ortega shows the Church of Scientology of Los Angeles Claims Verification Board to have its account with the California Bank & Trust Los Angeles Metro Branch.

California Bank & Trust Los Angeles Metro Branch is a subsidiary of Zions Bancorporation, one of America’s largest banks. Founded in 1873 by Mormon leader Brigham Young, the Mormon church once owned a majority interest in Zions Bank. Even after selling its interest, CEO Harris Henry Simmons is a Mormon as are many of Zions’ employees. Several Zions employees also hold political office in Utah.

Zions is a powerful bank with deep connections to the LDS Church and, now it appears, financial ties to the Church of Scientology. The Church of Scientology has long had a not-so-secret backchannel relationship with the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints and now we see one more element of the relationship. In a second check Ortega posted today, we see a check from Scientology’s Continental Liaison Office (CLO).  The account is held in same Los Angeles Metro branch of California Bank & Trust. 

A MORMON OFFICIAL DEFENDS SCIENTOLOGY

Jean Huysmans, Public Affairs Committee of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, publicly spoke on behalf of Scientology in a video produced by the Church of Scientology. In this video, praises L. Ron Hubbard and attacks psychiatric drugs. The presumption here is that Huysmans was fully authorized to do this video by the First Presidency in Salt Lake City.

SCANDALS

Zions Bancorporation is not without its scandals. In 2011, the bank was fined $8 million dollars for violating US laws related to anti-money laundering and bank secrecy laws. FinCen cited 132 suspicious offshore wire transfers into Zions offshore entities totaling $12.3 billion. Zions was fined $8 million. As we read in the Assessment of Civil Money Penalty issued by the US Department of the Treasury Financial Crimes Enforcement Network:

FinCEN has determined that Zions violated the BSA requirements: to establish and
implement an effective anti-money laundering (“AML”) program with respect to its casas de cambio (“CDC”) and foreign correspondent customers’ account relationships; timely file Suspicious Activity Reports (“SARs”); and comply with the foreign correspondent account regulation(s).

Zions’ foreign correspondent business was initially handled by its Financial Institutions Group (“FIG”), and focused on Mexico and countries within Latin America. In January 2007, the Bank restructured its correspondent banking from FIG to an International Correspondent Banking Group (“ICB”). At its height, the Bank had 54 foreign correspondent relationships that included 19 CDC accounts, 4 casas de bolsa (securities firms), 15 foreign banks-primarily from Latin America-and 3 foreign corporation customers. The services provided by the Bank to these customers included wire transfers, Automated Clearing House (“ACH”) transactions, cash letter activity processed through remote deposit capture (“RDC”) technology, and deposits.
The Bank provided wire transfers, ACH transactions, deposits, RDC services and imaging for processing cash letter instruments to its foreign correspondent customers. The Bank launched its RDC product in January 2005 and realized a significant increase in activity involving its correspondent accounts in 2006 and 2007. In 2005, the volume of transactions using RDC exceeded hundreds of millions of dollars, and continued to increase into the billions of dollars in 2007.

Zions failed to implement an effective AML program for its foreign correspondent business reasonably designed to identify and timely report transactions that exhibited indicia of money laundering or other suspicious activity, considering the types of products and services offered by the Bank, the volume and scope of its business, and the nature of its customers. Zions failed to implement a program tailored to the risks inherent within its foreign correspondent business lines and geographical reach. As a result, Zions failed to timely file SARs representing billions of dollars in suspicious transactions, thus greatly diminishing the potential utility of such reports to both law
enforcement and regulatory agencies…

Internal Policies, Procedures, and Controls

Zions failed to implement an effective system of internal controls reasonably
designed to ensure compliance with the BSA and manage the risks of money laundering, in its CDC and foreign correspondent customers’ accounts. Zions lacked adequate written policies, procedures and controls reasonably designed to assess the risks of money laundering and ensure the detection and reporting of suspicious transactions with respect to its CDC and foreign correspondent customers’ accounts.

Zions Bancorporation — Assessment of Civil Money Penalty

Note: Hover your cursor over the document to invoke the page up/page down controls at the bottom of the document.

ZionsAssessment

L. Ron Hubbard’s Racism, Scientology’s Hypocrisy, Jewish Graves, and Louis Farrakhan

Scientology’s phony STAND league just issued a tweet decrying the vandalism of Jewish graves in Missouri. STAND’s tweet declares: “It’s Time to End the Bigotry.” However, STAND’s tweet is easily exposed as fraudulent given Scientology’s complete unwillingness to address Scientologist Louis Farrakhan’s bigotry:

Scientology is calling on others to end bigotry when it refuses to end its own bigotry and hypocrisy. Scientologists considers themselves a Master Race. As such, Scientologists are inherently prejudiced against the inferior race they calls “wogs” and “homo saps.” This is pure bigotry and hatred. Where is STAND’s call to reform Scientology’s own discrimination?

L. Ron Hubbard’s racial bigotry is well documented and Scientology has never apologized for it. Here are just a few infamous examples of Hubbard’s racism:

You shouldn't be scrubbing the floor on your hands and knees. Get yourself a nigger; that's what they're born for. -- L Ron Hubbard, in a letter to first wife, Polly Grubb 

Actually, have you ever noticed how a Negro, in particular down south, where they're pretty close to the soil, personifies MEST? The gatepost and the wagon and the whip and anything around there? A hat. They talk to them, you know. "What'sa mattuh wi' you hat?" They imbue them with personality. -L. Ron Hubbard, Therapy section of Technique 80, Part I, "Route to Infinity", 21 May 1952 

The Arab is to a point where he won't even follow a decent leader. He's got to have a man of blood, a man of cruelty, exaggeration and bigotry. Then he'll follow him...the Arab is trying to be pleased with death and murder and mayhem and disease and poverty and political unrest. -L. Ron Hubbard, 20th Advanced Clinical Course, "Case Analysis Rock Hunting", lecture of 4 August 1958
L. Ron Hubbard blasphemes the Prophet Muhammad and the Kaaba in Mecca:

Scientologist Louis Farrakhan is himself cognizant of Hubbard’s racism and explained it away as being inconsequential relative to the value of Scientology’s technology.

It may be that because Farrakhan gave Hubbard a free pass on racism that Scientology, in turn, has to give Farrakhan a free pass on Anti-Semitism. Hence, Scientology’s silence on Farrakhan’s Anti-Semitism speaks volumes even as Scientology pretends to care about Jewish graves.

The issue here that the Church of Scientology cannot have it both ways. Scientology cannot call for an end to bigotry even as it allows Scientologist Louis Farrakhan’s attacks on Jews to continue unabated. Indeed, Mr. Farrakhan attacks Jews even as Scientologist Tom Cruise received the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s highest award in 2011, this as covered in our previous article. Scientology is clearly hypocritical in these matters.

Scientology cannot call for an end to bigotry even as it fails to apologize for Hubbard’s bigotry and racism. Hubbard is presented by Scientology as the wisest and most spiritually enlightened man who ever existed. L. Ron Hubbard’s racism and bigotry cannot be reconciled to his claimed enlightenment.

STAND League’s disingenuous hand-wringing over the vandalism of Jewish graves is just another Scientology fraud.

 

What Will It Take for The Simon Wiesenthal Center to Call Out the Church of Scientology for Supporting Louis Farrakhan?

The Simon Wiesenthal Center is clear and unambiguous in the call to action contained in its March 16, 2018 press release: Political leaders and national media must call out Louis Farrakhan for his Anti-Semitism.

In 2011 the Simon Wiesenthal Center awarded Tom Cruise its highest honor which is the Humanitarian Award. There was a public outcry inasmuch as Tom Cruise belonged to the Church of Scientology, a group defined by its inhumanity.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center was informed by every means possible that the Church of Scientology had partnered with Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam. The Wiesenthal Center refused to see that in giving Tom Cruise a medal it was, by extension, engaging in willful ignorance concerning  the Church of Scientology and its strategic partnership with the Nation of Islam.

Rabbi Heir, the Dean and founder of the Wiesenthal Center, defended the award to Tom Cruise by declaring, “We should not engage in any guilt by association… We’ve given a medal of valor to the Pope. Does that mean we agree with everything the church has done? No.” Writer Danielle Berrin noted that Rabbi Heir was “focusing on Cruise-the-individual, not Cruise-the Scientology missionary.” We personally don’t buy these arguments as they negate the precept of collective responsibility, a core teaching of Judaism. While Tom Cruise is not Anti-Semitic, he has never once publicly denounced the Anti-Semitism of his fellow Scientologist Louis Farrakhan. Why does Cruise remain silent given his award from the Simon Wiesenthal Center? It appears that Cruise simply used the Wiesenthal Center for PR reasons. We say this because Cruise has not taken any affirmative actions to fight the Anti-Semitism within Scientology’s own ranks.

To argue that Tom Cruise shares no moral or collective responsibility for the Church of Scientology and its partnership with the Nation of Islam is a bogus argument, particularly given Tom Cruise’s public and financial support of the Church of Scientology beginning after 911 and continuing through his 2011 award from the Wiesenthal Center. Tom Cruise publicly and profanely attacked Scientology’s critics during a Rolling Stone interview in 2004. Rolling Stone’s Neil Strauss wrote in his piece The Passion of the Cruise:

Since Scientology, in the popular imagination, is such a loaded word — often associated with heavy-handed recruitment tactics, strong-arm-lawyer assaults and steep membership and course fees — one would think that Cruise wouldn’t be so willing to take a journalist through that world.

“Who are those people that say those things?” Cruise asks when I bring it up over lunch one day. “Because I promise you, it isn’t everybody. But I look at those people and I say, ‘Bring it. I’m a Scientologist, man. What do you want to know?” I don’t mind answering questions.”

He lists some of Scientology’s selling points: its drug-abuse, prison-rehabilitation and education programs. “Some people, well, if they don’t like Scientology, well, then, fuck you.” He rises from the table. “Really.” He points an angry finger at the imaginary enemy. “Fuck you.” His face reddens. “Period.”

The Simon Wiesenthal Center knew all of this, was informed of it in 2011, and nevertheless chose to ignore the evidence.

At the time of the Simon Wiesenthal’s award to Tom Cruise award in 2011, many of us who are critics of Scientology informed the Simon Wiesenthal Center about the Church of Scientology’s brutality and inhumanity and its relationship to Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam. Our calls and e-mails fell on deaf ears and were instead met with the Center’s defense of its award to Tom Cruise.

Here’s what the Simon Wiesenthal Center can do if it is serious about Louis Farrakhan:

1. The Simon Wiesenthal Center must publicly call out David Miscavige and the Church of Scientology International for doing absolutely nothing to stop Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam in spreading Anti-Semitism. Scientology has never once issued a press release stating that it abhors Anti-Semitism. Scientology remains completely silent about Farrakhan’s Anti-Semitism when he is in fact a Scientologist and has praised L. Ron Hubbard numerous times. Likewise, Farrakhan’s top lieutenant Tony Muhammad has praised L. Ron Hubbard even as he has spread Farrakhan’s message of Anti-Semitism.

2. The Simon Wiesenthal Center must publicly demand that Scientology leader David Miscavige declare Louis Farrakhan a Suppressive Person for preaching and teaching Anti-Semitism. Farrakhan’s Anti-Semitism violates Scientology’s incessant calls for religious tolerance. Now is the time when the Church of Scientology has to actually put its call for tolerance into action by declaring Mr. Farrakhan an SP. Failing to do so is an admission that Scientology’s call for tolerance is nothing more than hollow words and empty PR. The STAND League either means something or it does not, in which case STAND is a fraud.

3. The Simon Wiesenthal Center must publicly demand that Scientology leader David Miscavige order the Church of Scientology International to revoke any and all licenses to the Nation of Islam to practice and deliver Dianetics and Scientology. The reason for the revocation would be Anti-Semitism. The Church of Scientology International should not allow an Anti-Semitic group to have, use, or deliver the materials of Dianetics and Scientology.

4. The Simon Wiesenthal Center should ask, and expect, its honoree Tom Cruise to personally intervene in this matter and present the Simon Wiesenthal Center’s case against Louis Farrakhan to Scientology leader David Miscavige.

The Simon Wiesenthal Center has to take the initiative here by going on the offense and calling out the Church of Scientology for its support of Louis Farrakhan. Press releases aren’t working. The Church of Scientology has leverage over Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam and should be called upon to use that leverage to curb Farrakhan’s Anti-Semitism.

The Simon Wiesenthal centers enjoys tremendous prestige and its supporters include some of the most wealthy and powerful people in the world. The Center can ask its supporters to support the call for the Church of Scientology to do something about Louis Farrakhan’s Anti-Semitism.

Scientology Dictator David Miscavige In a Free Fall in Colombia Over His Fake Medal

Retired Colombian Police General Carlos Ramiro Mena Bravo presented an unauthorized medal to David Miscavige. Outrage has ensued in Colombia over giving an American cult leader an undeserved and unauthorized medal. An investigation of this insult to Colombia in underway by the authorities.

Tom Cruise recently took late night show host James Corden skydiving. The two men skydived to promote Cruise’s monster box office film Mission Impossible – Fallout. In the video, Cruise showcased his expert skydiving skills while Corden nervously fumbled his way through his first jump in which he was attached to a master skydiver with 7,000 jumps. Cruise’s landing was picture perfect as he glided effortlessly to the ground. James Corden, on the other hand, skidded to a rather abrupt stop and then did a face plant.

If anyone could use Tom Cruise’s help with a parachute right now it is Scientology leader David Miscavige, a man who finds himself in a sudden, calamitous, and unexpected free fall in the Colombian media. Miscavige appears to be headed straight down for a face plant in Colombia.

Despite decades of Scientology “safepointing” itself in Colombia, no one in Colombia is coming to Miscavige’s defense as he is being pilloried in the media for having received a medal from a retired Colombian police general who had no authority to award the medal.

Never one for modesty, Miscavige went fullblown Messiah in this bizarre award ceremony and had the general give him the medal for, “saving humanity from violence, evil, terrorism, drug dealings and all the negative factors that threaten it.” This screenshot from davidmiscavige.org tells the story of Miscavige’s runaway ego:

David Miscavige is a certifiable megalomaniac. He actually believes that he has personally saved humanity from “violence, evil, terrorism, drug dealings and all the negative factors that threaten it.” Moreover, he wanted a medal given to him at a special ceremony in recognition of his having saved humanity. This is the delusional state in which Mr. Miscavige exists.

The basis of Miscavige’s medal is a ridiculous claim the Church of Scientology’s has been making for many years now. Specifically, Scientology claims that its efforts in distributing millions of copies of The Way to Happiness brought peace and calm to Colombia and therefore paved the way for the 2016 peace treaty between the Colombian government and FARC rebels that ended a 50 year civil war in Colombia. This claim so ridiculous that it deserves nothing but scorn. Here is the claim for Scientology’s own website:

Two things to note in this story:

1. The event at which Miscavige received his medal for saving humanity took place in Bridgetown, Barbados and not in Colombia. This is the first indication that the presentation of the medal was not authorized by the Colombian government; had it been authorized the event would have taken place dockside in the Port of Cartagena where the fifty-year old Freewinds frequently docks and/or goes into drydock for repairs.

2. Aside from the retired police General Carlos Ramiro Mena Bravo, there were no Colombian government, military, or police officials at the Barbados event. The absence of Colombian officials also indicates that this was not an authorized event. The retired General Mena has been rebuked for wearing his uniform without permission and displaying the Colombian flag and other state symbols without permission. Retired generals are not allowed to do these things without explicit permission as they no longer hold office and are civilians.

When David Miscavige opened the Bogota Ideal Org on July 15, 2015 there were several Colombian officials who spoke at the event and participated in the rope pull:

L-R: Dr. Sandra Rincón, Advisor to the Ministry of Social Integration, Bogotá City; Lt. Colonel Carlos Peña, Coordinator for Anti-Drug Education, Colombian Anti-Narcotics Department; Captain John Galindo, Operations Director, Circle of Aid Technicians of Colombia; David Miscavige; Lt. Colonel Anstrongh Polania, Chief of the Department of Joint Operational Law, Ministry of Defense; and Lt. Colonel Edgar Rojas, Special Ops Commander for Rural Zones, National Colombian Police.

DAVID MISCAVIGE — FALLOUT

Now that David Miscavige is in a free fall in the Colombian media, he suddenly has no friends or allies in the Colombian government — and indeed who would come forward to defend the man given his grandiose Messianic claims? Even Colonel Ricardo Antonio Prado, long the face of the Colombian National Police in Scientology PR and at its events, including events held on the Freewinds, has not appeared anywhere to defend Miscavige:

Colonel Ricardo Antonio Prado, the long-time champion of Scientology in the Colombian National Police. Will the David Miscavige scandal force him into retirement?

Miscavige has no defenders and is instead receiving his just and due comeuppance in a barrage of negative headlines. These headlines are translated via Google:

Text of a Google-Translated Article in Colombia

Translation via Google: Controversy for awarding leader of Scientology — The ceremony was held in Barbados, for “saving humanity from violence (…)”.

As portions of this translated article from El Espectaror makes clear, David Miscavige — in his perpetual quest for self-glorification — has gotten a retired Colombian general into trouble:

David Miscavige and the Church of Scientology have badly embarrassed themselves in Colombia. However, as of the date of publication of this article, Scientology has not issued a press release stating that David Miscavige would return this unauthorized and unsanctioned medal.

As this story continues to unfold, we’re wondering how many chartered planes full of Scientology lawyers bearing suitcases full of cash David Miscavige is flying down to Colombia in an attempt make the medal legitimate. On the other hand, no amount of money and lawyers is going to persuade anyone in Colombia to legitimize Miscavige’s claims to have saved humanity.Nevertheless, David Miscavige plays for keeps. In our view, he has no intention of giving up his fake medal and it will remain on his vanity website.

In our opinion, the entire matter reeks of a caper between a retired general and Scientology. There has been a claim put forward that the general authorized the medal while he was still in office in December 2017 but that Miscavige was not available to receive his medal for saving humanity and instead waited six months. This claim to legitimacy rings false. Miscavige charters a private jet when he travels. It would be nothing for him to fly from Tampa to Cartagena for an officially-sanctioned ceremony and award when the general was still in office. Instead, Miscavige waited six months to receive the award in an unsanctioned ceremony in Barbados at the end of the 30th Maiden Voyage cruise of the Freewinds.

General Mena Bravo surely must have known there would be blowback from the Colombian government and people for him giving an official award to an American cult leader. This is why, in our view, Mena played a game in which he technically authorized the award when he was in office but then waited until he was retired to award it. Mena broke the rules by wearing his uniform and using the Colombian flag, but so what? He is well established in Colombia and will likely receive a slap on the hand for this bit of capering. Alternately, if this story doesn’t die a quick death in the Colombian media, whatever Scientology paid Mena Bravo for this caper may be discovered and publicized. This is a calculated risk Mena chose to take.

When Pope Francis visited Colombia in September 2017, he was greeted in Bogota by President Juan Manual Santos and the First Lady. Thousands of people lined the streets for the Holy Father’s procession. There was no seedy ceremony in Barbados with a retired police general.

This is how a true global ecclesiastical leader is welcomed in Colombia:

Breaking News: David Miscavige’s Medal NOT AUTHORIZED by the Colombian Police!


As is being reported by International Scientology News and other sites, the medal Scientology leader David Miscavige received in Barbados from a retired Colombian Police official was not authorized by the Colombian Police. This explains why the ceremony was held in Barbados and not in the Colombian port of Cartagena.

Colombia Reports carried this headline:

The story is blowing up in Colombia and soon the news of David Miscavige’s fake medal will become international news. This story is reminiscent of David Miscavige’s fraud with the Atlantic Advertorial:

The article from a Google translation of an article in Colombia:

The publication on the website of David Miscavige, world leader of Scientology, of a decoration made by General (r) Carlos Mena last June, has generated controversy because the retired officer acted on behalf of the institution without his permission .

According to the Miscavige website, on June 23 in Bridgetown, Barbados, the officer, who is observed in the photographs in his police uniform, delivered “on behalf of the Colombian National Police” the transparency medal of the General Inspection Brigadier General Jaime Ramírez Gómez.

The resolution to grant said medal to Miscavige, apparently, was signed by the same General (r) Mena last December, when he was still Inspector General of the Police, a position he held until January, when he retired for having completed his years of service In the institution.

However, sources consulted by The W confirmed that neither in the current General Inspectorate nor in the Police Directorate were they aware of the trip of General (r) Mena to Barbados, which apparently was on June 22, for -estando uniformed- to decorate Miscavige in an act in which he was recognized as Inspector General of the Police and in which national symbols were displayed, such as the Colombian flag.

That is, as understood on the Miscavige website, General (r) Mena acted on behalf of the National Police, although he did not have authorization to do so.

Other retired officers consulted by La W explained that this type of acts or decorations could be done by a retired officer, only if the director of the Police, in this case General Jorge Hernando Nieto, authorizes it, which did not happen in This time.

For this reason, within the Police it is investigated what exactly happened and what actions the Institution could take by the use of its name in this act in foreign territory.

The Scientology Rogues’ Gallery

Scientology OTVIII William Rex Fowler was convicted of first degree murdering for shooting and killing his business partner at point blank range. Fowler was sentenced to life in prison with no parole:

Tony Ortega: Police Raid Narconon in Atlanta

Scientology’s Atlanta Drug Rehab Crumbling: Executive Director Mary Rieser Out

Tennessee Scientologist charged for holding people against their will at treatment facility

Spain 1988: 71 Arrested in Scientology Probe

Scientology’s fraud conviction upheld in France

April 2015: Tony Ortega posts audio of the police interviews of the private investigators who followed Ron Miscavige Sr. while carrying an arsenal:

There is more….

 

The Strongest Evidence Yet for Scientology Having Only 27,000 Members Worldwide

Scientology TV on Twitter has 26,943 followers. The account was created on June 4, 2014 and has now had four years to build a base of followers. And yet, Scientology TV’s Twitter following has plateaued at just under 27,000 followers.

We believe Scientology TV’s Twitter followers are the strongest evidence ever seen for the actual global membership size of the Church of Scientology in 2018.

The reasons for our conclusion:

1. David Miscavige put his full weight behind the acquisition, renovation, and launch of Scientology TV. As such, all Scientologists would be expected to get onboard and fully support Scientology TV. This includes following Scientology TV on Twitter.

2. David Miscavige went on a publicly televised show for only the second time in his career to introduce and launch Scientology TV. Again, all Scientologists would be expected to support David Miscavige by getting onboard and fully supporting Scientology TV.

3. The Church of Scientology funded a massive advertising campaign for Scientology TV. There have been commercials on broadcast television, major sporting events such as the Super Bowl and the World Cup, cable networks, and on social media platforms.

4. The massive Scientology ad campaign focuses on the line: “Curious? We Thought So.” This is Scientology’s attempt to redefine controversy into curiosity. This attempt is not at all convincing — but it does show how desperate Scientology is to use Scientology TV somehow spin the perpetual and self-created controversies and horror stories in which it is continually engulfed.

5. The Church of Scientology has purchased billboards and radio spots nationally in the US to promote Scientology TV.

6. The total Twitter likes of Scientology TV, we believe, reflect the total membership of Scientology. We think Scientology’s global membership breaks down approximately as follows:

A. 22,000 public members.

B. 5,000 Sea Org and Staff members.

7. Tony Ortega reported that Scientology staff members have been ordered to watch Scientology TV. Such an order would come from David Miscavige personally. Below are copies of the orders Tony posted at the Underground Bunker; the nature of these orders is such that Scientology publics would be expected to comply to forward “Command Intention” as its called in Scientology.

 

 

Tom Cruise and David Miscavige Have Brunch & L. Ron Hubbard Was Supposed to “Make Himself Visible” by 1999

The Church of Scientology sent this now widely-circulated photo of Tom Cruise and David Miscavige to the Los Angeles Times for its feature article on Scientology. Published December 5, 2004 both the photo and the Times caption are unintentionally hilarious:

A STAR AND HIS LEADER: Tom Cruise and David Miscavige after a brunch at Scientology’s Celebrity Centre in Hollywood about a year ago.

Tom Cruise and David Miscavige send mixed signals in the photo. They want to present a sinister image of themselves as planetary-clearing, Psych-busting, bad-ass, leather-wearing Scientologists on their matching Ducati’s. However, bad-ass bikers don’t do brunch. The photo looks like a sultry urban bromance more than anything else.

In the L.A. Times article of 2004 we learn several interesting facts:

1. David Miscavige had molds made of his feet so that he could order custom made shoes:

2. Scientology acquired the old Gilman Hot Springs resort for $2.78 million in 1978. The resort became the home to Scientology’s Gold Base where the infamous “musical chairs” event occurred. This event was first reported on by Marc Headley at xenu.net. This was when Marc was writing under the screen name Blownforgood. Marc’s book Blown For Good: Behind the Iron Curtain of Scientology is a true classic.

3. The Church used the names “Scottish Highland Quietude Society” and “Western States Scientific Assn.” to purchase the Gilman Hot Springs resort. Scientology did not want anyone to know who the real buyer was. This was the same dishonest method whereby Scientology acquired its first properties in Clearwater.

4. Scientology spent “at least $45 million” on improvements Gold Base in the period 1978-2004. The LA Times article does not mention Scientology’s sniper nest and lookout station at Gold Base that was named the Eagle’s Nest. Details are in my 2014 podcast with Jackson Morehead, the former Security Chief at the Base. In this podcast Jackson covers the big fire that was caused by toilet paper being set afire, the razor wire fences, and the sniper rifles at the Base:

5. Scientology was planning on a television station as early as 2004. Scientology TV was launched March 12, 2018 — a glacial fourteen years later. The “speed of particle flow” was slow on this project.

6. Scientology spent $9.4 million to build a mansion on its Gold Base for the deceased L. Ron Hubbard. The article informs us that Ron’s mansion is named Bonnie View and has a lap pool and a movie theater. Looks like Ron wants to do laps in his pool and watch movies when he returns from Target 2.

7. David Miscavige told Sea Org members that the Bonnie View mansion needed to built quickly as L. Ron Hubbard was returning and would make himself visible within thirteen years of his 1986 death. Former Sea Org member Karen Schless Pressley, author of Escaping Scientology: An Insider’s True Story, was quoted in the LA Times 2004 on Hubbard’s mansion and David Miscavige’s claim that Hubbard would soon appear:

A teenage L. Ron Hubbard never made himself visible by 1999 as promised by Scientology leader David Miscavige.

This is hardly surprising as David Miscavige’s prophetic track record has been abysmal:

* The Ideal Orgs have not boomed Scientology or even moved the needle

* Scientology TV was dead on arrival. Scientology’s “uncorrupted communication line to the billions” is an infomercial of incredible boredom and repetition.

* The new Flag Building in Clearwater did not boom Scientology.

* Scientology did not destroy Psychiatry by the year 2000 as Miscavige predicted

Finally, Miscavige got these predictions incredibly wrong when he made them in 1992 during the 25th Anniversary of the Sea Org:

A Scientology Salesperson’s Secrets for Getting Money Fast From His Fellow Scientologists!

The Church of Scientology is wealthy because it knows how to separate people from their money with great speed — and this by using every trick in the book. David Sonenfild was an extremely successful Church of Scientology “Reg” for many years. A “Reg” is a highly trained high-pressure Scientology salesperson who will use every form of flattery, apparent concern, tricks, connivance, dissimulation, threats, promises, or whatever else is needed to part a person from their money as quickly as possible.

David did a “hat write up” of the techniques he used — scroll down to the bottom of this post for a PDF copy. In Scientology-speak a job is called a “hat.” Instead of saying “do your job!” Scientology says, “wear your hat!” Strange talk, but Scientology’s insular language is part of its core cultic construction.

This “hat write up” was intended for use in training new regges in the techniques of selling Scientology where the focus is on urgency. Scientology has always used extreme urgency, emergency, and time pressure to create a sense that some horrible disaster is lurking just around the corner unless people act right now! Time pressure is the essence of hard sales and Scientology constantly uses time pressure against its own membership.

The Sonenfield Hat Write Up begins by using the term “Body Registrar.” This is a Scientology term of art for any Non-Scientologist, i.e. you are just a body to the Church of Scientology. Hence, the job of the “Body Registrar” is to get your body into a Scientology Org and then employ specific techniques to get your money “with no added unnecessary time.” The Church of Scientology, you see, doesn’t have time to waste given the fake urgency it has created and operates under on a 24/7/365 basis.

The Church of Scientology is nothing more than a nonstop wealth extraction machine erected entirely upon a sustained, hyperventilating, and completely false sense of emergency and crisis coupled to the hope of someday attaining unspeakably glorious and exalted spiritual states of being.

Page 13 of the PDF (scroll down) is the most damning page in the entire document as it shows how Scientology’s salespeople target retirement monies; funds for children’s college education; personal and business checking accounts; savings accounts; bonds; etc. In a recent story by Tony Ortega, Scientology even used three attractive young Sea Org women to help “convince” a 75 year old man to buy some Scientology courses. Scientology then opened credit cards in the man’s name and put him $75,000 into high interest credit card debt.

Please read the document below carefully, particularly page 13 where you will see that the goal in Scientology regging is to separate a person from their money “as fast as humanely possible.” The goal is to not give a person anytime to think about the serious financial repercussions and harm they may be doing to themselves by acting in haste under Scientology’s hard pressure sales tactics.

Given the fact that Scientology treats “monies on account” as irrevocable donations, the fact is that as soon as Scientology gets a person’s money it is gone forever. As we saw with the Garcia sham arbitration, Scientology is based on malice, bad faith, and lies. Scientology will say or do anything to get money and then fight for years (or decades if needed) to keep every penny. This is why Scientology wants to get the money as fast as possible and have the person sign an agreement that their money is now irrevocably Scientology’s money. This is part of Scientology’s pattern of financial fraud and predation.

Page 13:

The PDF: Hover your mouse over the document to invoke the page up/page down controls at the bottom of the page frame:

David Sonenfild, Hat Writeup, Body Registrar, Cincinnati org

Scientology: No New Twitter Followers in the Past 18 Months ; Scientology TV Producing No Results!!

As the statistics on socialblade.com make clear, the Church of Scientology gained no new followers on Twitter in the period April 2018 — July 2018.

With the exception of adding about 1,800 followers in the period November 2017 — February 2018, Scientology on Twitter flatlined and has been dead since January 2017.

However, the ~1800 the Twitter followers Scientology added were all lost on July 17, 2018 when Twitter stripped Scientology of 1,882 fake followers.

Essentially, Scientology has been dead on Twitter from January 2017 through July 2018. Eighteen months of no new Twitter followers!

David Miscavige’s $100 million dollar white elephant a/k/a Scientology TV has had zero impact on social media.