Cult Of Scientology Convicted Of Fraud In France
Church of Scientology lawyer Patrick Maisonneuve
Not a good week for the cult of Scientology!
On the heels of Scientology’s spokesman Tommy Davis’s disastrous interview on ABC’s Nightline last week, comes more news of Scientology’s downward spiral.
It has just been announced, that France has convicted Scientology of fraud. This news must have Scientology’s cult leader David Miscavige in quite the tizzy. Still nothing to say Miscavige?
David Miscavige is obvioulsy playing a “Where’s Waldo?” in all this breaking news.
The cult was also fined more than 600,000 euro. This is equivalent to $900,000 US. Almost a cool million. The court convicted the cult library (SEL bookshop) as well as SIX LEADERS. Scientology was found guilty of pressuring members to pay large amounts of cash by using harassment tactics, and also illegally dispensing vitamins.
Four of the leaders were given suspended sentences which can be anywhere from ten months to two years and the other two leaders were given fines.
Of course Scientology is going to appeal this verdict. Which is no surprise there.
Although prosecutors were going for an all out ban on Scientology in France, the court recently denied the ban. But even though Scientology has not been banned from France, this latest PR flap can’t be good news for Scientology, who desperately tries to hide all negative PR from it’s members.
The Infinate Complaceny Blog Webiste did a wonderful break down of the story (Much thanks to Jonny Jacobsen):
Here is a summary of the verdict and sentences in the Paris trial of Scientology. I have laid it out in the same style I used for What the Prosecution Wants to give you an idea of how far the court followed their recommendations.
Perhaps the most important feature of the judgement is what the court did not do: it made no ruling that would restrict the activities of either the Celebrity Centre or the SEL bookshop.
But the following individuals and organisations were convicted of organised fraud against some, but not all the alleged victims (of which more below):
The Association Spirituelle de l’Eglise de Scientologie CC (ASES), the Celebrity Centre, was convicted of organised fraud against the plaintiffs Aude-Claire Malton and Eric Aubry.
It was fined 400,000 euros and ordered to pay for the details of the conviction to be published in the major French and English-language news outlets including Le Monde, Le Figaro, Libération, the Herald Tribune and Time Magazine.
Scientology’s network of bookshops Scientologie Espace Liberté (SEL) was also convicted of organised fraud against the Malton and Aubry. It was fined 200,000 euros and ordered to pay for the publication of the conviction in the same newspapers.
These were the sentences for the individual defendants charged on this count, against either Malton, Aubry or both plaintiffs:
Alain Rosenberg, the managing director of the Celebrity Centre, was convicted of organised fraud against Malton and Aubry; and of complicity in the illegal exercise of pharmacy. He received a two-year suspended prison sentence and a 30,000-euro fine
Didier Michaux, the bookshop’s star salesman, was convicted of organised fraud against Eric Aubry – but cleared on the same charge relating to Aude-Claire Malton. He received an 18-month suspended sentence and a 20,000-euro fine
Jean-François Valli, the other bookshop salesman, who also did work for the Celebrity Centre, was convicted of organised fraud against Aude-Claire Malton – but cleared on the same charge relating to Aubry. He received an 18-months suspended sentence and a 10,000-euro fine
Sabine Jacquart, who was president of the Celebrity Centre, was convicted of organised fraud against both Malton and Aubry; and of complicity in the illegal exercise of pharmacy. She received a 10-month suspended sentence and a 5,000-euro fine
Aline Fabre, who supervised the Purification Rundown at the Celebrity Centre, was convicted of the illegal exercise of pharmacy. She was fined 2,000 euros
Marie Anne Pasturel, who acted as an intermediary for G&G in France, taking orders for the vitamins required for the Rundown, was convicted of the illegal exercise of pharmacy and fined 1,000 euros.
All the defendants charged in relation to Pierre Auffret and his company Parangon – the Celebrity Centre, the bookshop SEL, Rosenberg, Jacquart, Valli, Michaux – were acquitted.The court took into account the fact that Auffret himself had not filed a complaint: and he had insisted to investigators that any payments he had made were made willingly.
Neither Alain Rosenberg nor Anne Marie Pasturel attended the hearing.
Despite the guilty verdict and the fines, Maître Patrick Maisonneuve for the Celebrity Centre and Maître Louis Pamponet for the bookshop SEL (I think it was him) both looked extremely relieved – presumably because there was no attempt by the court to restrict the activities of either organisation.
FYI…
Alain Rosenberg, the managing director of the Celebrity Center in France, is an OTVII on Scientology’s Bridge to Total Freedom. He is one step away from the highest level on their bridge, which is OTVIII.
It’s amazing that his “OT powers” which have control over MEST (which is short for matter, energy, space and time) seemed to be totally on the fritz, and failed miserably during this court case.
Looks like you “pulled this in” Alain. Looks like the court was the one who was “at cause”.
To read more about Rosenberg and the case go here.
So back to this verdict..
So although France found them guilty and issued fines, France is not going to restrict Scientology’s activities?
So does that mean there will be more court hearings and fines down the line?
Hopefully….. that’s if more victims come forward and fight the cult.
Scientology was convicted of “illegal exercise of pharmacy”, but France is still going to allow Scientology to resume with their Purification Rundown? I am afraid I don’t understand.
Is Scientology going to continue to illegally dispense vitamins in hopes that more deaths and court cases will not occur in France?
The Purification Rundown for all of you who do not know what that is… is a Scientology program used to rid the body of toxins. (so they claim)
It involves ingesting LARGE doses of niacin vitamins and oil, running on a treadmill and sitting in a sauna for hours at a time daily. This regiment can last for FIVE weeks. It has NEVER been proven to have ANY beneficial qualities, nor does it have any scientific data to back up it’s claims of the regiment being successful with removing ANY toxins from the body at all. In fact it has been said that it is nothing but quackery and that large amounts of niacin can prove to be very dangerous to the liver.
The Purification Rundown, (also know as Narconon and Criminon) needs to be looked into extensively by the US Government and ALL Governments. Narconon goes into towns and sets up centers and claims they can cure drug addiction. They not only lie about their success rates with trumped up numbers, they talk towns into funding them with tax payer’s dollars. They also use the teachings of L. Ron Hubbard’s tone scale.
This program has gone under the names Second Chance, HealthMed Clinic and The NY Rescue Workers Detoxification Program (after 9/11) just to name a few. There are many other front group names they have used world wide.
The recently reported tragic deaths of those people in the sweat lodge in Arizona, received a lot of media coverage. It’s a wonder why our Government has not looked into the many deaths which have been related to this particular program.
Of course people are afraid to speak out against Scientology, never mind bring them to court. Hopefully this latest conviction in France will sway not only Scientology members to come forward with their stories, and perhaps file cases, but I hope it prompts non Scientology members who have also done The Purification Program through Narconon in hopes of being helped with their drug addiction. Second Chance and Criminon inmates also should be interviewed about this program.
I am sure Scientology will be on full damage control and looking for any Narconon or member success stories they can shove in people’s faces through the media, in light of France’s conviction. But please know that any success stories you hear, does not stack up against the fail rate of this program in any stretch of the imagination.
This news from France is especially bad on top of the latest Nightline stories that we just saw in recent days, and it was also announced today by the NY Post, that Tommy Davis tried to stop Nightline from airing these programs one hour before they were to air, made a scene and was asked to leave. Read about it here.
Wish there was film on that little hissy fit!
And oh yes….. not to mention the very recent defection of one of Scientology’s long time members, celebrity Paul Haggis. Again welcome out Paul!
Scientology members…. are you paying attention?
To France….
you almost had Scientology completely on the run. But this is good news too.
Although the fines and sentences are nothing more than slaps on the wrist to a multi million dollar BUSINESS, and they will be able to continue to do what they were doing to bring them to court in the first place, at least it’s a start in the right direction of unveiling the illegal activities of this abusive cult.
We need a LOT more of that going on, especially here in the United States.
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Pingback by Celebrity Blog | Babelogs | Celebrity Gossip » Blog Archive » Cult Of Scientology Convicted Of Fraud In France — October 27, 2009 @ 12:49 pm
Excellent, one more for the good guys.
Comment by bob dobbs — October 27, 2009 @ 1:10 pm
Strike three!
Comment by Rachel — October 27, 2009 @ 4:47 pm
These cults/religions need to be tackled in the US where they appear to be above the law and practise their perversions and crimes with immunity. Whether the problem is fraud, terrorism or paedophilia, there should be no hiding place for these criminals.
Comment by greg — October 27, 2009 @ 5:18 pm
I was so thrilled to see this on CNN today, and I knew I would have the pleasure of reading about it here.
I live2 miles north of Clearwater, Florida and I really wish something could be done to stop this evil cult that now “owns” Clearwater!
Comment by LoriGale — October 27, 2009 @ 5:19 pm
Damn, this has been ONE CRAPPY WEEK for Davie and his cronies and it’s only Tuesday!
First those two Nightline interviews, where Davis ultimately took off his mic and stormed out. Then there was the VERY PUBLIC defection of Sci Celeb Paul Haggis who left after 35 years because of their support of prop 8 in Cali. (I get the impression that this was the straw that broke the camel’s back).
NOW the guilty verdict handed down by the French courts. Damn, when it rains, it POURS.
Now I know, from what I’ve read, Scientology has survived worse than this. But think of it this way; all of those happened on an INDIVIDUAL basis and were more or less scattered.
These PR nightmares are all happening AT THE SAME TIME and INTERNATIONALLY to boot!
They’ll NEVER recover from this.
And to think… it might have NEVER HAPPENED if Scientology hadn’t tried to suppress that Tom Cruise video.
Remember, OSA… YOU ‘pulled it in’.
Comment by A_Watcher — October 27, 2009 @ 8:06 pm
Where is little Davey Miscavige? Why isn’t the ‘leader’ of $cientology addressing the convictions and the Nightline expose?
What did he do to ‘pull this in’?
Comment by Rachel — October 27, 2009 @ 9:57 pm
AWESOME!!!!! and the walls to the cult finally start to come crumbling down . . .
Comment by tiger — October 28, 2009 @ 3:10 pm
Great work, Dawn! You can now cite the fines as “over $1mm”. Poster Sponge at Why We Protest points out that it addition to the 668,000 fines for the crimes there are another 27,450 euros in damages and costs for a total of 695,450 euros or $1,030,587 at today’s exchange rate.
See:
http://forums.whyweprotest.net/123-leaks-legal/verdict-guilty-french-trial-verdicts-55238/22/#post1045229
Comment by Damian DeWitt — October 28, 2009 @ 5:17 pm
I’d like to see a Nightline series interviewing US State Attorney, IRS Commissioner, FBI, Senators and Congressmen on appropriate Committees to answer this question: Why is nothing being done about the reported crimes of human trafficking, coerced abortions, financial coersion, employee illegal abuses, and more?
Comment by Joey — October 29, 2009 @ 9:03 am
Joey, its because people don’t take C0$ seriously in 99% of the USA–the media ignores it and law enforcement is not interested in anyone dumb enough to join (like Peaches Geldoff, who just joined). People who live in Clearwater or LA, however, know that everyday people can get hurt by it and lots have.
Comment by Jim — October 29, 2009 @ 4:40 pm
I think Joey’s point is more interesting then the whole article. Why is not done? We all know… Law is just for ants.
Comment by Ike Myle — October 30, 2009 @ 1:58 pm
Ike… what is also VERY important about this lawsuit is the negative publicity for Scientology. Which is GREATLY needed so that other people will speak out.
Scientology members are kept in the dark about the activities of their so called church, and this case certainly will help to bring the abuses out in the open.
Comment by Justice — October 30, 2009 @ 2:22 pm
Gee Ike thanks so much for your compliment.
By the way, you are more than welcome to comment on our site, but our comment section is not to be used for your advertising purposes.
What Justice said hit the nail on the head. The more bad PR that Scientology receives, the better.
Comment by Queen — October 30, 2009 @ 2:29 pm
Queen- The SP Times does it again:
http://www.tampabay.com/
Comment by Rachel — November 1, 2009 @ 1:38 pm