[Re. Couple who feels scammed v. Carly Crutchfield, Scientologist]

MIAMI — Rosa Hernandez remembers this about her dentist: He sure could close a deal. She and her husband, Mauricio, had gone to Dr. Rene Piedra with a host of concerns. She had sensitive gums and a paralyzing fear of dentists. He needed bonding. Piedra, dressed in a business suit instead of a dental coat, showed them computerized models of how he would fix their teeth. He offered them a discount because they came in together, and helped them with a ...

* Scientologists warned over "detox" therapy * Cure-all can kill people with kidney problems * Church on recruitment drive in indigenous towns THE Church of Scientology is targeting alcohol-dependent Aborigines with a "drug bomb" therapy which the church has been warned could kill people with kidney problems. The Scientologists this week responded to a warning by the Northern Territory Health Department and stopped distributing literature which promotes a dangerous drug detoxification therapy. The group has been moving through remote Australia on ...

[Camelot Castle Hotel rip off: Ted Stourton, left, and John Mappin, right]

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. (CN) — A father claims Narconon International and the Association for Living and Education International are fronts for Scientology, and that he paid them $35,500 for "essentially worthless treatment" for his drug-addicted son. He says the groups run rehab programs "to enrich themselves and to provide a recruit base for the Church of Scientology rather than to provide competent treatment for chemical dependency." David Compton sued the two companies, and Narconon Vista, alleging fraud and breach of contract. ...

Concerns have been raised about a partnership between the Federal Government and a drug awareness group run by members of the controversial Church of Scientology. Corporate lawyer and researcher Grainne O'Donovan said the partnership could potentially be used by the church, through Drug Free Ambassadors Australia (DFAA), to try to recruit members from schools and youth groups. The DFAA-sponsored by Scientology - is a partner in the government's National Compact set up by former Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd in March within ...

Prosecutors in Samara Region are taking a high-flying businessman to task for forcing his employees to go on scientology courses. The director of electronics company RosKabelSvyaz Lev Syrolev was threatening to sack faithless workers, but now faces charges for using extremist material. “These practices are illegal and violate laws on combating extremist activity, labour laws, as well as the constitution of Russia,” Prosecutors said in a press release. The Surgut city court considers the ideas of L Ron Hubbard, Scientology’s founder, ...

Prosecutors have opened a criminal case against a Scientology center in the town of Shchyolkovo, 13 kilometers northeast of Moscow, on charges of inciting hatred, punishable with up to five years in prison. Investigators have decided that documents and literature confiscated at the center promoted extremism, a law enforcement official told Interfax, without elaborating. The decision was based on expertise conducted by leading Russian linguistic institutions, including the Linguistics Institute at the Academy of Sciences, Interfax reported. In April, works by ...

[...] 72. Guilt, shame, and separation constituted the social and psychological force that induced sustained, long-term commitment. Physical force, physical abuse and the fear of even greater abuse if one tried to escape were powerful deterrents to any attempts to leave. It could easily be argued that these coercions could have been sufficient to keep anyone from ever making an attempt to get out. There was, though, another level of forces exerted by Scientology that made leaving even more costly – ...