Is Scientology Breaking the Law?

Is Scientology breaking the law?

... There's evidence that they are.

"Since 1986 authorities in France, Spain and Italy have raided more than 50 Scientology centers. Pending charges against more than 100 of its overseas church members include fraud, extortion, capital flight, coercion, illegally practicing medicine and taking advantage of mentally incapacitated people."

- Time Magazine, May 6, 1991<

This page provides links to reports alleging that Scientology is breaking the law. The links are grouped by type of allegation:

false imprisonment<

25 reports

1968 - 1996

assault<

14 reports

1978 - 1998

practicing medicine without a license<

5 reports

1975 - 1995

threats<

5 reports

1978 - 1995

fraud<

18 reports

1975 - 1998

extortion<

9 reports

1978 - 1996

invasion of privacy<

11 reports

1975 - 1994

child neglect<

8 reports

1975 - 1991

coerced abortions<

2 reports covering several cases

1975 - 1993

weapons violations<

1 report

1991

conspiracy to murder<

2 reports

dates unknown but probably 1970s

commission of criminal acts<

2 reports

one from 1987

interference with the US Mail<

2 reports

one from 1978

slander, libel, and defamation<

2 reports

dates unknown, one from the 80s

falsifying information or conditions to deceive inspectors<

2 reports

1978 and 1982

obstruction of justice<

2 reports

1989 and late 1990's

violation of labor laws<

11 reports

1973 - 1996



The pages are perpetually under construction, as I keep finding more evidence.

Do you know of any illegal activity by Scientology? If you do, please send e-mail to [email protected]< , or post an account to alt.religion.scientology with CRIME: in the subject line.

As you read these pages, please keep these things in mind:

  • Scientology has a history of criminal activity.< Top Scientology officials have been convicted of a variety of crimes, and Scientology itself was convicted of espionage in Canada in 1992.
    As Time Magazine reported< in 1991, "Eleven top Scientologists, including Hubbard's wife, were sent to prison in the early 1980s for infiltrating, burglarizing and wiretapping more than 100 private and government agencies in attempts to block their investigations."
  • Scientology policy appears to support most, if not all, of these allegations. Scientology policy calls for illegal imprisonment< , violation of labor laws< , and a shocking disregard for the fundamental rights of all citizens< .
  • The allegations listed here span 25 years and much of the globe. Scientology's extremely high emphasis on doing things "standardly" makes it likely that criminal actions, dictated by Scientology policy, are happening today.
  • Scientology's U.S. strongholds are in California (Los Angeles) and Florida (Clearwater). There is every indication that Scientology operates in the same manner in every state and country , so allegations of misconduct in a particular state are probably indicative of misconduct in other Scientology locations.
  • While many allegations are several years old, they are often matched by more recent allegations of similar illegal behavior. I believe that this indicates an ongoing pattern. In particular, I believe that illegal imprisonment, the illegal practice of medicine, fraud, defamation, and the violation of labor laws are part of Scientology policy and, I believe, are practiced to this day.
  • While some of the allegations are from anonymous Internet users, their stories are consistent with allegations from sworn documents and newspaper accounts. Considering Scientology's policy on viciously attacking enemies< , it's understandable that some critics (like the author of this page) prefer to be anonymous.
  • Finally, please treat EVERYTHING you read (here and elsewhere) with skepticism. I believe that the accumulated evidence indicates that illegal activity has taken place and continues to take place. However, it is possible that everything described here is false. Please view the evidence and decide for yourself.

While I owe enormous gratitude to the many, many other web page creators whose links I followed, any errors are my own. I apologize for any inaccurate summaries or misattributions. I'll try to correct any errors that are brought to my attention.


You can help!

Are you furious? Are you curious? Are you outraged to think that a religious organization could commit such crimes in free and democratic countries? Are you a Scientologist who's upset that people are saying such awful things about Scientology?

Act now!

If you live in the United States, contact the US Attorney General< and your state attorney general< . If there's a Scientology office near you, please also contact your local district attorney. If you live outside the United States, contact your country's prosecuting authorities.

Ask for a full investigation into these allegations. (A sample letter is available.)< If some of the allegations are true, those responsible should be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. If some of the allegations are false, that information should be publicized so that people will know that the accusations were groundless.

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