France:Church Of Scientology Convicted Of Fraud

Today, a Paris court convicted the church of Scientology of organized fraud. The church of Scientology was found guilty of defrauding its followers. However, the court did not ban the organization’s activities in France as some opponents of the church were hoping for.

The French court gave fines totaling 600,000 Euros. In France, the church of Scientology is not recognized as a legitimate church but considered to be a cult. The case ,originated in the late 1990’s, was started by two plaintiffs who were defrauded of 20,000 Euros and 49,500 Euros each, for costly training materials they were coerced into buying. Before filling in court, the plaintiffs had tried to get their money back from the organization without success.

Scientology is officially considered a sect in France, but the organization claims it is legitimate and denies any charges of wrong doing. A lawyer for the church of Scientology has said it plans to appeal the French court’s verdict. Today, a church of Scientology representative compared, during an interview with the BBC, the action of the French court to the one of the Spanish inquisition.

France is one of the few country that doesn’t recognize Scientology as a legitimate religion. The organization was founded in the United States in 1954 by American science fiction writer L Ron Hubbard. It is officially recognized as a religion in the US, and counts among its members many Hollywood celebrities such as Tom Cruise, John Travolta and Lisa Marie Presley.

Members are required to give 10 percent of their income to the organization. The church of Scientology is very wealthy, especially in real estate investments. The church of Scientology has about 6 million members worldwide, and an estimated 450 million dollars in assets. It is also extremely secretive in its overall hierarchy structure. The actor Tom Cruise is rumored to be the number two man in the church pecking order.