Former Scientologist Paul Letterese has sued the church for $250 million in federal court, alleging that Scientology is a crime syndicate no different than the mob. He characterizes Tom Cruise as the "right-hand man" of COS boss David Miscavige, saying Cruise "has assisted the syndicate in acquiring funds and [made] his own donations of money believed to be in the multiple tens of millions of dollars." Letterese also claims to have been harassed by the church, alleging that a member once posed as his homosexual lover in an effort to smear his name. He also claims intellectual property infringement by the church over their educational use of a business book, "Effective Sales and Closing Techniques," that he says he holds the rights to. Oh, and they killed his cat.
Okay, I made up the part about the cat...but really, would you put it past them?
Scientology has shot back in the usual ways. They say Letterese is nothing but a disgruntled former member who shouldn't be taken seriously, that Cruise's name is only being dragged into it for the publicity value, and that the dispute over the book was already cleared up in court. COS also points out the $266,000 Letterese was forced to cough up in penalties after he failed to make his case in California court earlier this year. Letterese apparently wants the feds to take up the matter as a RICO case, and bust the church the same way they busted the Mafia. Sorry dude...the Mafia may have been rich and connected, but Scientology has Xenu on their side. And Leah Rimini. Can't beat that combo.
