Church of Scientology is a 'criminal enterprise' that should face Mafia-like RICO charges: lawsuit
The Church of Scientology is a "criminal enterprise" that uses celebrities, like Danny Masterson, to advance Mafia-like racketeering, a recently filed lawsuit alleges.
"Many of Scientology’s criminal enterprise’s money-making schemes are criminal in nature," the lawsuit alleges. "It routinely and systematically engages in fraud, human trafficking, identity theft and money laundering to fill its coffers and enrich its leadership."
To protect high-profile members, Scientology leaders allegedly retaliate against outspoken victims or witnesses with threats, extortion, identity theft, arson and different types of fraud, according to the complaint.
The Church of Scientology called the lawsuit's allegations against the church and its leadership "outrageous" in an emailed statement to Fox News Digital and said they're "complete fabrications."
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Danny Masterson was locked up in North Kern State Prison months after his rape conviction. (CA Dept. of Corrections and Rehabilitation/ Getty Images)
In exchange for celebrities' support, Scientology leaders were accused of covering up alleged crimes, like they allegedly did for "That ‘70’s Show" star Masterson, while allowing the abuser to continue to torment victims, according to the lawsuit.
The Church of Scientology said in its emailed response that the lawsuit "is nothing but an attempted money grab."
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"These statements are twisted, obscene and 100% the opposite of the truth," the Church of Scientology said in an email. "To repeat the scandalous claims and headlines is malicious.
"The real story is that the Church is a worldwide force for good as can be seen at Scientology.tv and Scientology.org. … Prejudicial and bigoted headlines foster animus and hate which have proven to be dangerous and put lives at risk."
The emailed statement is a sharp contrast to the bleak picture painted by an amended harassment lawsuit, which was filed in LA court on Dec. 27. It describes the use of the "fair use doctrine" to ruin Scientology's enemies, which include law enforcement, prosecutors, journalists and elected officials.
The Church of Scientology in Los Angeles July 7, 2020. (Bing Guan/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
The "undisputed and unquestioned leader" of the alleged "criminal enterprise" is David Miscavige, who is the TRC chairman of the board.
Miscavige and other leaders of Scientology allegedly don't allow members to have phones capable of dialing 911 or to make calls without using a code that allows leaders to track the calls, according to the lawsuit.
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The legal action details other disturbing allegations and uses Masterson's case as one example of the alleged rampant crime that's been covered up.
The accusers who brought the lawsuit implored the LA courts to pursue Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, or RICO, charges used to tear down the Mafia.
David Miscavige, left, chairman of the board of the Religious Technology Centre and leader of the Scientology religion, addressing a crowd during the opening of the Church of Scientology's new church in London Oct. 22, 2006. (Yui Mok/PA)
Enemies allegedly fall under Scientology's so-called "fair game" policy, although the term is not officially used anymore, which includes "haunting" enemies of Scientology "through concrete action," the lawsuit says.
That includes surveillance, private investigators and releasing information "that will damage the individual's professional and private reputation regardless of the truth of the information disseminated … procedures instruct followers to ruin the individual utterly," according to the lawsuit.
"Defendants implement Fair Game in a variety of different ways, all with the single objective to harm and destroy anyone who they have deemed an enemy of Scientology and with the ultimate goal of 'shudder[ing] [them] into silence,' "'obliterate[ing] [them]' and ‘ruin[ing] [them] utterly,'" the lawsuit alleges.
The "fair game doctrine" didn't stop the judicial system from convicting Masterson on two counts of rape and sentencing him to 30 years in prison.
That elicited applause from former members, like Leah Remini, who escaped and blew the whistle on the Church of Scientology.
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"I am relieved that this dangerous rapist will be off the streets and unable to violently assault and rape women with the help of Scientology, a multi-billion-dollar criminal organization with tax-exempt status," Remini tweeted after Masterson's sentencing.
"Hearing the survivors read their victim impact statements aloud in court while the man who raped them and some of the very Scientologists who terrorized them over two decades were just a few feet away displayed a level of bravery that I am in awe of."
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