{"id":20334,"date":"2024-01-12T10:08:53","date_gmt":"2024-01-12T15:08:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/?p=20334"},"modified":"2024-01-12T10:08:53","modified_gmt":"2024-01-12T15:08:53","slug":"is-the-church-of-scientology-a-criminal-enterprise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/news\/2024\/01\/is-the-church-of-scientology-a-criminal-enterprise","title":{"rendered":"Is the Church of Scientology a Criminal Enterprise?"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure id=\"attachment_20337\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-20337\" style=\"width: 1200px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/140\/2024\/01\/scientology-center_credit-Adriana-Adobe-Stock.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-20337\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/140\/2024\/01\/scientology-center_credit-Adriana-Adobe-Stock.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1200\" height=\"900\" \/><\/a><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-20337\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Adriana \/ Adobe-Stock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>A recently filed civil suit is making heavy claims against the Church of Scientology, alleging it to be a \u201ccriminal enterprise\u201d worthy of having RICO charges leveled against it. RICO stands for Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations and has been used to take down the Mafia. The suit, which has been filed against the Church of Scientology, the organization\u2019s leader David Miscavige, and actor Danny Masterson, alleges, \u201cMany of Scientology\u2019s criminal enterprise\u2019s money-making schemes are criminal in nature. It routinely and systematically engages in fraud, human trafficking, identity theft and money laundering to fill its coffers and enrich its leadership.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Masterson, a member of the church, was recently <a href=\"https:\/\/www.npr.org\/2023\/09\/07\/1198160934\/actor-danny-masterson-sentenced-to-30-years-to-life-in-prison-for-rape#:~:text=Music%20Of%202023-,Danny%20Masterson%20sentenced%20to%2030%20years%20to%20life%20in%20prison,involved%20the%20Church%20of%20Scientology.\">convicted of raping two women<\/a> and sentenced to 30 years to life. The complaint revealed three other previously undisclosed rape claims. Plaintiffs of the case claim that the church helped to hide the rapes and actively harassed alleged victims from reporting the abuses. This proposed second amended complaint was filed December 27. It accuses the church of being involved in human trafficking, fraud, and money laundering. A trial date is set for September 22, 2025. The church is also facing claims of harassment by former member, actress <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nbcnews.com\/news\/us-news\/leah-remini-claims-church-scientology-targeting-business-friends-rcna111348\">Leah Remini<\/a>. Remini has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usmagazine.com\/celebrity-news\/pictures\/leah-reminis-battle-with-scientology-through-the-years\/\">openly criticized<\/a> the church since she left in 2013, calling it \u201cevil.\u201d She filed a missing person\u2019s report for Miscavige\u2019s wife, Shelly, who has not been seen publicly since 2007. The LAPD <a href=\"https:\/\/www.dailymail.co.uk\/news\/article-12239943\/LAPD-closed-case-missing-Scientology-leaders-wife-Shelly-Miscavige-no-investigation.html\">closed the case<\/a> after speaking to a woman who claimed to be Miscavige, but a later report claimed that authorities did not confirm the woman\u2019s identity. Remini claims the church has harassed her since speaking out and that several of her credit cards have been hacked since filing her suit. Others former members have accused the church of misconduct and illegal dealings, with a slew of documentaries and books on the subject. Many former members discuss the practice of \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/hunter.cuny.edu\/news\/the-ontology-of-suppression-apostasy-disconnection-and-the-suppressive-person-type\/#:~:text=Persons%20who%20publicly%20renounce%20Scientology,that%20person%20by%20other%20Scientologists).\">disconnection<\/a>,\u201d where family members are told to disassociate completely with anyone who leaves the church and criticizes it. These people are labeled \u201csuppressive\u201d persons.<\/p>\n<p>The Church of Scientology has <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/entertainment\/church-scientology-criminal-enterprise-that-should-face-mafia-like-rico-charges-lawsuit\">denied all claims<\/a> in the civil suit. \u201cThese statements are twisted, obscene and 100% the opposite of the truth. 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. \u2026 Prejudicial and bigoted headlines foster animus and hate which have proven to be dangerous and put lives at risk,\u201d it said in a statement to <em>Fox News<\/em>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A recently filed civil suit is making heavy claims against the Church of Scientology, alleging it to be a \u201ccriminal enterprise\u201d worthy of having RICO charges leveled against it. RICO stands for Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations and has been used to take down the Mafia. The suit, which has been filed against the Church&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":664,"featured_media":20337,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Is the Church of Scientology a Criminal Enterprise?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A recently filed civil suit is making heavy claims against the Church of Scientology, alleging it to be a \u201ccriminal enterprise.&quot;\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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