2015: General Mena of the Colombian National Police Meets Tom Cruise

General Mena meets with Tom Cruise in 2015. Photo from El Espectador.

Thanks to scientia posting today in comments on Tony Ortega’s article on Colombia, we learn that Tom Cruise met with General Mena in 2015 when the actor was filming American Made. This is the same year David Miscavige opened the new Ideal Org in Bogota. El Espectador did an article with photos on Cruise meeting General Mena.

It was General Mena who, after he had retired, awarded David Miscavige an unauthorized medal in Barbados. This has caused a great deal of controversy in Colombia and hearings are being held by the Senate. Colombia Reports noted in its recent article that Colombia’s police are embarrassed over the medal the retired General Mena gave Scientology leader David Miscavige:

The El Espectador article shows how closely Tom Cruise was working with David Miscavige & OSA to further safepoint Scientology in Colombia. Tellingly, General Mena did not allow Scientology’s front man Colonel Prado to appear in the pictures of himself with Tom Cruise. It seems that like David Miscavige, the General wanted Tom Cruise all to himself. General Mena perhaps ordered his subordinate Colonel Prado to go write some traffic tickets that day and stay away from HQ.

Although Cruise downplays his Scientology involvement, being able to link Cruise so explicitly to General Mena shows Mena to be the likely Kingpin on the Colombian side of the Scientology-Colombia operation.

Photo from El Espectador.

An El Espectador photo of Tom Cruise with Colombian soldiers:

Here is my recent podcast with former Scientology Colombia staff member Adrian Vanegas:

Why Colombia’s military was fertile territory for Scientology — and one general’s stunning role

Retired Colombian Police General Carlos Ramiro Mena Bravo presented an unauthorized medal to David Miscavige. Outraged 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.

(Note: This piece was first published on Tony Ortega’s Underground Bunker on August 23, 2018. It is republished here for archival purposes. We add additional research notes to our article after the text of the Underground Bunker piece. Scroll down for the additional research notes.)

While things have been exploding over Scientology in Colombia, our man in Los Angeles, Jeffrey Augustine, has been looking into the relationship between David Miscavige’s organization and that South American country, looking for clues to how things got to their present mess. We think he’s turned up some fascinating stuff…

Over the last three weeks, the Colombian press has been diving into Scientology’s archives and finding volumes of evidence about Scientology’s activities there. The press has focused on comedian Andrés López, who has been promoting Scientology in Colombia since at least 2004. And in 2008, Scientology’s Guillermo Smythe, who works PR on the ship Freewinds, apparently first made contact with Colombian national police Colonel Ricardo Prado, who would go on to become such a promoter of Scientology front groups he would be awarded Scientology’s highest honor, the “Freedom Medal.”

But what we’re hearing less about than Scientology’s activities are the conditions in Colombia that made it such fertile ground for Scientology and its “human rights” front groups. In 2011, the Colombian government was rocked by revelations of extrajudicial killings conducted by the Army during the period 2002-2010. These killings occurred during the Army’s war against FARC guerillas, and they consisted of civilians being murdered by the Army and then falsely identified as guerillas in order to increase body counts. The victims were typically poor, unemployed, handicapped, or otherwise disadvantaged young men in remote villages. These people were killed and then dressed in guerilla combat fatigues and identified as terrorists. The nightmarish military euphemism “False Positives” was later used to minimize the atrocities. A recent study by Omar Rojas Bolaños and Fabian Leonardo Benavides argues that as many as 10,000 civilians were the victims of extrajudicial killings. The Colombian military has resisted efforts to bring the generals and political leaders responsible for the extrajudicial killings to justice. Several military officers who attempted to expose the killings were murdered. A 2015 article in the Los Angeles Times noted…

Ramiro Orjuela, a Bogota-based human rights attorney who helped research the HRW report, said the slow pace of prosecutions of army leadership is because of a “lack of political will. … This is a very precise demonstration of how the attorney general’s office remains fearful of the army leadership, who are extremely powerful. Potential witnesses in these cases have been threatened and even killed.”

With that kind of shocking human rights record in Colombia, Scientology may have seen an opportunity — similar to the way Scientology sees opportunities for public relations operations and recruitment at the scene of natural disasters in other parts of the world.

Sandra and Felipe Poveda are a brother and sister team and IAS Freedom Medal recipients. Sandra founded Youth for Human Rights in Colombia and her brother is its president. In a Scientology-produced video, the Povedas claim to have used Scientology’s Human Rights program to intervene in the serious matter of extrajudicial killings of civilians by the Colombian Army. As a result of their program, the Povedas say that civilian complaints against the Army dropped 96 percent.

In this series of screenshots from Scientology TV, viewers are asked to believe that Colombian soldiers were so morally deranged that they did not know that murdering civilians or wounded guerillas was wrong:





I see in this absurd Scientology narrative a cynical attempt to shift the blame for extrajudicial killings onto common soldiers who did not know right from wrong. For its part, Scientology got access to compliant soldiers for its public relations purposes. The military, meanwhile, had evidence that it was doing something about human rights in the wake of the extrajudicial killings.

Back in the US, Scientologists were led to believe that the campaign was making a difference across the entire nation of Colombia and were thereby induced to make further donations.

This same pattern has been used by Scientology with the Los Angeles Police Department and other police agencies in the US. These agencies distribute Scientology’s free anti-drug booklets and videos. In return, Scientology receives PR photos of smiling cops holding Scientology booklets. The police officers are generally photographed with local Scientologists officials. (We covered this in a previous story at the Bunker.) Just as we see photos of smiling LAPD senior command officers with Scientologists we see the same in Colombia.


For years, Scientology used Colombia as a prop until things unraveled after David Miscavige had retired General Carlos Ramiro Mena pin a medal on him at the end of this year’s “Maiden Voyage” celebration on June 23 in Barbados. Mena may have violated rules by being in uniform, and for taking the medal to Barbados. Scientology has argued that the decoration was already approved by the director of the National Police, General Jorge Nieto, and that it took place in Barbados because Miscavige couldn’t pick it up in Colombia.

But we’ve learned something new about Mena that puts his participation in a new light.

Mena was a powerful official in Colombia, and according to a listing of National Police personnel, he was the Director of Criminal Investigations for Interpol in Colombia. In other words, he had access to global Interpol databases while he was associated with the Church of Scientology.

General Mena personally signed extradition orders for Colombian citizens to be sent to the United States. Here, for example, is an extradition order he signed, handing over a suspect to the DEA…


Longtime Scientology watchers will no doubt understand why this grabbed our attention. Scientology has long been obsessed with Interpol. L. Ron Hubbard was consumed with paranoia about what Interpol was saying to law enforcement agencies around the world about him. His Guardian’s Office made Interpol a key target during its “Snow White Program” in the 1970s, and Scientology commissioned writer Omar Garrison to pen a 1976 book attacking the agency, The Secret World of Interpol.

It’s fascinating to think that Miscavige had influence with a Colombian general who had access to Interpol’s files — and enough influence that the general would risk his retirement to pin a medal on Miscavige.

Yesterday, we learned from the Bunker’s correspondent in Bogotá that Colombia’s senate is showing a united front to have Scientology seriously investigated. We can only hope they go down many different avenues, including the things Gen. Mena might have been doing for Miscavige that we don’t know about. Yet.

— Jeffrey Augustine

Additional Research Notes:

1. As the Inspector General of the Colombian National Police, General Mena also participated in both US military and NATO training events. This screenshot is from a webpage on the Colombian National Army’s official website:

2. General Mena has significant connections in the Colombian government, Interpol, NATO, and the US military. For Scientology to have such a powerful connection raises many disturbing questions.

3. We did a guest piece on the Underground Bunker which showed that the Dianetics Center in Medellin was located right next door to the home where Pablo Escobar was shot and killed by Colombia’s elite Search Bloc troops in 1993.  We linked to a tourist video on YouTube which showed the Mission. We note that shortly after our story was published the entire YouTube channel where the video was located was taken down for violating terms of service. This was strange as it was an old account with little traffic. Perhaps it was inconvenient for David Miscavige to have the Colombian public reminded that he had a Dianetics Center next to the Pablo Escobar death house in Medellin even as he was receiving a dubious and unauthorized medal from the retired Colombian National Police General Mena.

The Dianetics Center in Medellin located in Medellin

The Pablo Escobar Death House. The Dianetics volcano banner can be seen next door to the right

4. I have been following the story of the extrajudicial killings in Colombia for many years. What I see in the Scientology component of the killings is essentially a form of collusion between the Colombian military leaders and the Church of Scientology to shift the blame for extrajudicial killings onto common soldiers, i.e. an attempt to say that no one in particular really did the killings.

The Poveda’s scripted narrative in their Scientology TV video is so insulting as to be beyond contempt. Their video is what led me to my thesis that the Poveda’s are playing ball with the Army on behalf of Scientology. Three screenshots of Felipe Poveda show him to have a ghoulish glee as he describes the killings. His smile is strange:

The Colombian military has painted a picture of a pervasive lack of training in which inexperienced soldiers, literally raw young recruits with AR-15’s, were fighting hardened FARC guerillas. So naturally there was going to be some False Positives. However, the military protests, there were no organized death squads, no guerra sucia as happened in Argentina. These are not “disappeared ones” they are simply False Positives — and this due to a lack of training combined with the extreme problems of positive visual identification in jungle warfare.

Add the fog of war to a lack of Human Rights training and there were bound to be problems: Shoot first and ask questions later. This simplistic narrative allows the Scientology component of Human Rights education to prove that the Army is bringing in an outside religious group to teach the soldiers respect for human life.

Over against this, there in an intense pushback from the Army on any prosecutions. IMO, this is a long game for the Colombian Army in which it has to distance itself by a least a decade from the killings which ended in 2010. One way to shift the narrative from “what happened” to “what we’re doing about it” is to shift the focus onto Human Rights education provided by Scientology. Yet this begs the question: Why doesn’t the Colombian Army or Police bring in Colombian experts and teachers on Human Rights? Why do they need an American Cult to do this work?

While the current focus in Colombia is one of whether or not tax dollars were spent on Scientology, I would like Senator Cepeda look at the false narrative Scientology helped the military and the police create.

A W Radio piece published yesterday shows General Alberto Sepúlveda praising Sandra Poveda. Here is a link to the article: http://www.wradio.com.co/no…

Here is a translation:

…General Alberto Sepúlveda was at the main table of this event and even had a conference in which he said that Sandra Poveda, Scientologist and director of the NGO to which the agreement in Colombia was terminated, is the “guardian angel” of the Army in the field of human rights.

“I want to confess that with Dr. Sandra Poveda here present, who is our guardian angel in Colombia on these human rights issues, human rights matter in the National Army (…) We have a series of documents, directives, clues so that our Soldiers learn to do what human rights are(…) and it has been in the hands of “partners” as Young People for Human Rights that we have managed to grow on this issue deeply. Well, you see some of the training for our soldiers there. We have trained them with thousands of soldiers, officers and non-commissioned officers in our jungles, “said General Sepúlveda.

The praise of the leaders of Scientology towards General Sepulveda did not remain there, Fabio Amicarelli, director of humanitarian programs of the Church of Scientology, congratulated General Alberto Sepúlveda for the success of the Army and Scientology, working together.

By training thousands of soldiers, there is a dilution of the killings and a re-contextualization of the killings as a lack of training spread across many years.

That an Army official ascribes “guardian angel” status to Scientologist Sandra Poveda is ridiculous. Again, is there no one in the Colombian military that can do this work? Or are certain officers in the Colombian military in the pocket of Scientology? General Sepulveda is absurd. He seems to be reciting a script written for him by Scientology. IMO, such ridiculously effusive praise betrays a hidden agenda.

*****
Scientology made it very easy to do. What Scientology offered the Colombian military and police was a “plug and play” curriculum of free and readily available booklets and videos on Human Rights. All the military and police needed to do was hand them out and take PR photos to show they were doing something about human rights in response to the extrajudicial killings. This was of course window dressing given the fact that no high-ranking Colombian officers or political leaders have ever been convicted in the killings. In exchange for its literature and videos, Scientology received a great deal of PR which it then used for internal fundraising.

5. Real human rights groups such as Amnesty International would never have gotten involved in this on terms dictated by the Colombian Army. In fact, just last month on July 9, 2018 Amnesty International denounced Colombia’s human rights violations and the continuing murders of human rights activists:

This gives us another avenue of investigation: Ask Amnesty International what it thinks of Scientology’s cooperation with the Colombia military and police. We intend to pursue this matter.

This Amnesty International headline would seem to put the lie to Scientology’s claim to be Human Rights champions in Colombia. If anything, it makes Scientology look like the Army’s PR unit.

6. The “peace settlement” between the Colombian government and FARC was constructed in such a way that required the Colombian Congress to approve a highly controversial law in which the top people on both sides would held harmless from prosecution:

On 28 December, Congress approved a law to provide amnesties or pardons
to FARC combatants and the waiving of criminal prosecutions for security force personnel not under investigation for or convicted of crimes under international law. Those who had served at least five years in prison for crimes under international law will, under certain circumstances, be conditionally released. Ambiguities in the law could result in many human rights abusers evading justice.

ref: http://www.refworld.org/doc…

The war between Colombia and FARC was bankrupting the nation. One figure showed that the Colombian government had to spend $3.9 million USD per day. The costs over two decades was around $12 billion USD. Another part of the damage was the reputation of the Army and the Police for the extrajudicial killings.

The missing links I’m exploring are those between the Colombian Army, the Police, and Scientology. The Colombian military and police needed a solution, they needed an outside party who would cooperate in what is, imo, obviously a false PR narrative. I say this because, as noted, Amnesty International and other real Human Rights groups would not participate in this Colombian Army-Police PR show.

General Bravo is one of the Shadowmen. He was, after all, the third highest ranking police official in Colombia. He has ties to NATO and the US Army as well.

I have a feeling that this is a big and deep rabbit hole which has been located and this story is just beginning. We need a Robert Mueller here in America to investigate Scientology and Columbia. It may be that Scientology is violating US State Department rules by working with a foreign power in the manner that it is.

 

Scientology TV and Scientology Comedian Andrés López: Busted in Ripoff of Photo from US Defense Department

U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates and Colombian Minister of Defense Dr. Silva discuss defense cooperation plans at the Colombian Ministry of Defense in Bogota, Colombia April 15, 2010. DoD Photo by U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Jerry Morrison(RELEASED)

The above photo is located on the US Department of Defense archive website. Link to Photo. Per the official caption, this 2010 photo is of then U.S. Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates meeting Colombian Minister of Defense Dr. Silva in Bogota in 2010. The significance of the photo is explained in this article.

In the “Meet a Scientologist” episode with Colombian Scientologist and comedian Andrés López, López makes the claim that widespread “word of mouth” enthusiasm resulted in the Colombian Ministry of Defense coming to know about a free show he was doing to entertain a brigade of Colombian troops.

Andrés López’s implication was that the entire Colombian Ministry of Defense was so excited about a comedian doing a free show that they dropped their concerns about guerilla rebels and narcotics traffickers and met in formal session to celebrate the Scientology comedian’s generosity. López paints a picture of soldiers so absolutely starved for any scrap of entertainment that they were wildly grateful for his unheard of gesture of a comedian entertaining troops. To hear López tell the story, this has never been done in the entire history of the world.

This is so typical of Scientology to make a big deal out of an utterly mundane matter. The self-important López has basically insulted every entertainer who has ever done a free show for any military. Many celebrities have gone into war zones to entertain troops.

A photo is then shown in the video at this juncture. The photo is supposed to be the Colombian Ministry of Defense enthusing about Scientologist López’s show. The video subtitle shown is López’s voiceover:

Here is the fact: Scientology TV has ripped off a US Department of Defense photo to depict the Colombian Ministry of Defense meeting to discuss the generoisty of the great Andrés López doing a free show for the troops.

Taken in 2010, the photo shows US Defense Secretary Robert Gates and US Ambassador to Colombia William R. Brownfield and their staff members seated on the left side of the table. On the right side of the table is a US Admiral seated next to Colombian Minister of Defense Dr. Gabriel Silva. The only Colombian in the photo is Dr. Silva. Everyone else shown are Americans. This is extremely sloppy work on the part of Scientology TV. No fact checking of the context of the photo was done. This garbage is what Scientology TV is producing. Of course, there could be something more sinister at work as we cover later in the article.

What we focus on here is that Scientology TV has used the images of former US Defense Secretary Gates, US Ambassador William R. Brownfield, and Colombian Minister of Defense Dr. Silva without their knowledge or permission. While the image is in the public domain, the use of it to suggest that American and Colombian officials endorse Scientology is misleading and dishonest. When I saw Robert Gates in the video I knew immediately who he was. I searched  for the official photo on the DoD website and found it in a matter of minutes. Scientology TV is not honest nor does its staff appear to understand that details matter in a documentary.

ANDRES LOPEZ IS ALSO DISHONEST IN THE VIDEO

Scientologist Andrés López is also dishonest in the video. He claimed he was doing a “free show” for the military when in actuality his “free show” was a presentation of Scientology’s booklet The Way to Happiness:

Although then Colombian President Santos appears at the event, the Scientology TV video oddly glosses over President Santos’ appearance. Santos’ image quickly passes by in a few seconds. This is extraordinarily strange considering that Santos won the 2016 Nobel Peace Prize for his role in ending Colombia’s 52 year old violent and bloody war between FARC and the Government.

Why does Scientology TV skim over the appearance of an actual Nobel Prize laureate at its TWTH event? Why does Andrés López downplay it as well? The appearance of President Santos could be a separate video in its own right. Scientology has never had the President of a country or a Nobel Prize winner in any of its events or videos and yet when it finally has both in the esteemed President Santos it is a non-event.

“The Norwegian Nobel Committee announced at 1100 today (7th October 2016) that it has decided to award the Nobel Peace Prize for 2016 to Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos for his resolute efforts to bring the country’s more than 50-year-long civil war to an end, a war that has cost the lives of at least 220 000 Colombians and displaced close to six million people. The award should also be seen as a tribute to the Colombian people who, despite great hardships and abuses, have not given up hope of a just peace, and to all the parties who have contributed to the peace process. This tribute is paid, not least, to the representatives of the countless victims of the civil war.”

This lack of emphasis on President Santos is extremely suspect as Scientology never wastes any PR and is, in fact, so desperate for PR that its videos often feature very minor third-rate officials with meaningless titles such as the Third Assistant Undersecretary for Agriculture in Aruba.

Here is one item we’re looking at: In November 2017 the International Consortium of Investigative Journalism published information from the Panama Papers showing that Santos was in control of two offshore companies in Barbados. This is the island where David Miscavige received his fake medal from General Mena. There may be absolutely nothing to this at all. However, the Scientology Money Project will investigate and continue to connect dots as we dig into the money trail between Scientology, Scientologists, and Colombian officials.

Bottom Line: Scientologist Andrés López entertains troops only promote Scientology.

In exchange for López doing a show, Colombian soldiers were required, at the orders of senior Colombian military officials, to wave copies Scientology’s booklet The Way to Happiness in the air. This is all done for Scientology PR:

Senator Cepeda is calling for an investigation of the links between Scientology and the Colombian police and military. One person of interest in any inquiry would be Andrés López. If the government seized his e-mails and phone records it could be most interesting.

The potential for a Colombian Congressional investigation leads me to conclude that I could be wrong about Scientology being sloppy by using a photo of senior US officials as a substitute for a photo of the actual members of the Colombian Defense Ministry. It could be the case that the actual Colombian officials involved with Scientology didn’t want their names or faces shown in any Scientology for a good reason: The story has a bad odor to it.

Wealthy Colombian Scientologist Enrique Jaimes of the firm J.E. Jaimes Ingenieros S.A.   makes a cameo appearance at the end of the López video:

Where have we seen Mr. Jaimes before? Oh yes, he has a few IAS trophies:

To educate Scientology tinpot dictator David Miscavige on what a real Colombian award ceremony looks like here it is. This 2009 ceremony features Colombian President Uribe and Defense Minister Silva. The ceremony and the Order of Merit presented to US Chief of Naval Operations Admiral Gary Roughead were legally authorized and performed publicly in Colombia:

US Defense Department photo of Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Adm. Gary Roughead, middle, is congratulated by Minister of Defense Gabriel Silva, left, after receiving the Admiral Padilla Naval Order of Merit from Colombian President Alvaro Uribe. With Silva and Uribe are Gen. Freddy Padilla, commander of Colombian military forces and Adm. Guillermo Barrera, right, commander of Colombian naval forces. (U.S. Navy photo by Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Tiffini Jones Vanderwyst/Released) This Image was released by the United States Navy with the ID 091203-N-8273J-152

Compare this to what a fake and unauthorized Scientology medal ceremony in Barbados looks like. This tawdry Miscavige Fake Medal Affair appears to be unraveling as the Colombian Parliament investigates. Adios Dave!

$104,721 Per Year: If Sea Org Members Were Paid According to Minimum Wage Requirements in Los Angeles

1. Minimum wage in Los Angeles is $13.25 per hour.

2. The first four hours of overtime on any workday is calculated at $19.87 per hour. This is the “time and a half” hourly rate. Overtime is defined as all hours worked beyond eight hours.

3. All overtime hours that exceed 12 hours in a day must be paid at double pay. This is $26.50 per hour. However, all work hours that exceed eight hours on the seventh consecutive day of work must be paid at double time. Double time pay is $26.50 per hour.

4. Assume a 110 hour Sea Org seven-day work week.

5. A 110 hour work week equals seven consecutive days of 15.7 hours each.

6. Based upon the foregoing, the minimum wage paycheck in Los Angeles for a 110 hour work week would be calculated as follows:

A. Straight Time: 56 hours @ $13.25 = $742.00

B. Time and a Half: 24 hours @ $19.87 = $476.88

C. Double Time: 30 hours per week @ $26.50 = $795.00

D. Total Gross Pay Per Week: $2,013.88

E. Total Annual Gross Pay at 52 weeks: $104,721.76

This is the true legal and financial value of Sea Org labor under minimum wage guidelines in Los Angeles County for a 110 hour workweek of seven consecutive days. For specific details please refer to the California Dept of Industrial Relations Webpage on Overtime Rules.

More Math: 110 hours per week over 52 weeks = 5,270 hours of work per year for a Sea Org member.

$104,721.76 divided by 5,270 hours of work = $19.87 per hour pay on an averaged basis.

$19.87 should be the hourly wage for all Sea Org workers — particularly given the fact that they receive absolutely no benefits, no savings plan, no pension plan, etc. and must pay for their own personal expenses items. For example, Scientology does not pay for feminine hygiene products for female Sea Org members. Birth control for married couples in not paid for. Toothpaste, shampoo, and soap are not paid for. When an Org does not hit its gross income target in a given week, all Sea Org members in that Org are not paid at all. Worse, they are fed rice and beans for lunch and dinner.

Conclusion: Sea Org members are engaged in a billion year exercise in futility and self-torment for working as “religious volunteers” for a “stipend” each week of about $50 for a 110 hour work week. Some weeks Sea Org are not paid at all. Sea Org members also receive room and board in substandard living conditions. The Sea Org is slave labor and a lie. Sea Org members are basically forfeiting $2,000 a week in exchange for nothing except abuse, lower conditions, and being screamed at constantly.

One crucial item: American Sea Org members pay virtually nothing into the US Social Security system. When they reach 65 years of age there is no safety net and little or no Social Security check each month. The horror stories older former SO members have told me of being 65 years of age, or older, with no income and little or no Social Security income are horrific. Their story is brutal: Old and poor with nothing to show for having slaved away in the Sea Org. There is no pension in the Sea Org. The staff contract Sea Org members signs takes away all rights to pay and pension and instead provides a stingy little “stipend.” In America, religious volunteers can take vows of poverty, are not entitled to pay, and are not protected by secular workplace protections. Sea Org are hit especially hard due to the extraordinary greed and malice of Scientology whose policies do not allow for old age or pensions.

Here is an excerpt of the staff contract Sea Org members sign whereby they forgo $104,721 per year in income if they work in Los Angeles. Kiss that money goodbye forever:

To Recap: The Sea Org does not legally exist.

There is no health care plan.

Sea Org members get little or no Social Security when they reach age 65.

There is no pension plan for Sea Org workers.

There is only abuse.

Recommended Reading: Why no one should ever join Scientology’s ‘Sea Org’

An Alternative: Working two full time jobs at minimum wage would be 80 hours per week at $13.25. This brings in $1,060 per week or $55,120 per year gross income. This path would allow you to get your life back on track. You’re already working long hours so at least get paid the minimum wage for working. Moreover, an 80 hour work week cuts your present work week by 30 hours. You can also arrange your work schedule so that you have one or two full days off per week.

Why are Sea Org members sacrificing their lives and financial well-being to enrich Scientology?

If you’re in the Sea Org why are you still reading this? Blow and get out. Make a better life for yourself. Tell Scientology to stick its unenforceable “Freeloader Bill” in a dark place. You don’t have to pay a Freeloader Bill and Scientology can’t make you. “Volunteers” do not have to reimburse the costs of training. However, Scientology’s greed knows no limit and so it threatens Sea Org who want to leave with a massive Freeloader Bill in order to terrify them into staying. It is fraud and the intentional infliction of mental cruelty.

Here is the Sea Org staff contract in which Sea Org members sign away all their rights. Note: Hover your cursor over the document to invoke the page up/page down controls at the bottom of the document:

Church-of-Scientology-1996-Staff-Contract

Scientologist Michael Holstein & The Panama Papers

Michael.Holstein

The image above is from 2007 and was published in a Scientology magazine I received in the US mail many years ago. I posted several photos of Sea Org members contained in the magazine at xenu.net in a thread entitled David Miscavige’s Other Golden Boys.

According to this image above, Scientologist Michael Holstein was a European businessman who joined the Sea Org. Holstein was appointed the Solo NOTs Director of Processing at Flag. This is an extremely high pressure position in which one gets yelled at constantly by seniors for improved stars.

The Scientology Money Project is researching Mr. Holstein as his name appears along with that of Scientology billionaire Bob Duggan in the Panama Papers. In the relational map below, Michael Holstein is listed as a shareholder of a company called Genuine First Aid International. Also shown is Iraqi Scientologist Ali Shawkat who, along with his father Mudhar Shawkat — a former member of Parliament in Iraq — sold an Iraqi telecom company for $140,000,000 and moved the money out of Iraq. $14,000,000 of this money was invested in Scientologist Matt Feshbach’s Okyanos Heart Institute in The Bahamas. Feshbach sold, or otherwise transferred the company’s assets depending upon the different versions of changes of ownership we uncovered, and is no longer associated with Okyanos. Ali Shawkat also donated $5,000,000 to the IAS.

The scope of our research project is to examine where Michael Holstein fits into Bob Duggan’s financial empire. The diagram shows Duggan as a shareholder and Director of Genuine First Aid International — a company that has connections Amman, Jordan. Yet another Panama Papers diagram shows Robert Duggan to be a shareholder of a company called Spang CM Ltd. This diagram shows additional connections to the Cayman Islands and the Appleby Trust:

Michael Holstein is shown as the CEO of Genuine First Aid International of Fujian, China:

The connections between Duggan, Spang, Genuine First Aid International, and China are shown in the Panama Papers:

We learn at LinkedIn that Michael Holstein was apparently moved from his position as CEO of Genuine First Aid International in China to Operations Manager and transferred to Tampa:

What year did Michael Holstein leave the Sea Org and become part of what appears to be a “Scientology Money Club” that spans the globe? The locations of Scientology-owned businesses and offshore assets include, but are not limited to the following countries:

China
The Cayman Islands
Amman, Jordan
Venezuela
Iraq
United States
Canada
The Bahamas
The United Kingdom
Colombia
Taiwan

Michael Holstein’s Scientology Completions are published online:

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.