The Church of Scientology of Toronto will petition the Supreme Court of Ontario Monday asking that a search warrant executed last year be quashed, although the Ontario Provincial Police have already used it to raid the sect's headquarters and seize 14 million documents. Investigators armed with the warrant raided the sect's Toronto headquarters in March 1983 and seized 904 boxes of papers and documents believed to substantiate suspected sect fraud, conspiracy, breaking and entering and theft, according to the warrant ...

The United States Treasury Department's Criminal Investigations Division has mounted an in-depth investigation into the activities of the Clearwater-based Church of Scientology, the Clearwater Sun has learned. In the past several weeks, Treasury agents have traveled across the United States interviewing a number of former Scientologists—including some who held positions of immense power and influence in the worldwide sect prior to their defection, sources said. Spokesmen for the Treasury Department and Internal Revenue Service in Tampa and Los Angeles, citing Department ...

How much evidence do area law enforcement agencies need before launching a full-scale investigation of the Church of Scientology? Apparently the agencies hereabouts are a lot less responsive than they are in Ontario, Canada. The same sworn statements alleging criminal activity on the part of the locally-headquartered sect given to authorities in the Tampa Bay area have prompted action by the Ontario Provincial Police and resulted in the dismissal in California of a civil suit against former Scientology archivist Gerald Armstrong. ...

Several former high-ranking Church of Scientology officials have provided state, federal and municipal law enforcement investigators with detailed information regarding the Clearwater-based sect's alleged criminal activities in the Tampa Bay area, the Clearwater Sun has learned. Although the same testimony provided to investigators in Clearwater has furthered large-scale criminal investigations in Canada and resulted in court rulings against the sect in California, no similar action has been implemented in the Clearwater area, a seven-month Sun inquiry has determined. And Gerald Armstrong, ...

L. Ron Hubbard, the controversial and elusive founder of the Church of Scientology, is nothing if not a prophet. In 1949, while still known principally as an author of science fiction, he was reported to have told a lecture audience, "Writing for a penny a word is ridiculous. If a man really wants to make a million dollars, the best way would be to start his own religion." Conventional clerics may dispute Hubbard's theology but they can't refute his economics. By ...

Former officials of the Church of Scientology say they helped L. Ron Hubbard, the reclusive founder of the cult-like organization, to secretly divert more than $100 million from the church into foreign bank accounts he controlled. The organization, long a subject of investigations in this country, Britain, France, Australia, South Africa, Spain and elsewhere, has maintained that Mr. Hubbard cut his ties to it in the mid-1970's, that he has received only a token consulting fee of $35,000 annually since then ...

The Church of Scientology faces mounting legal pressure in courts worldwide to explain its actions, policies, beliefs and inner workings. In the United States, Canada and Europe, Scientology is under ever-increasing scrutiny by law enforcement agencies, courts and even governments. And a ruling handed down last week by it Los Angeles Superior Court judge may complicate the legal proceedings involving the Clearwater-based sect. Judge Paul G. Breckenridge stated in an intended ruling Thursday that Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard is the ...

It's called the Hubbard Electrometer and is used as a spiritual guide during "auditing," a Church of Scientology practice somewhat similar to Catholic confession. The E-meter, as it is known, is said to be capable of measuring a person's "mental state and change of state" and can pinpoint deeply rooted, previously undetected problems in the brain. The small, simple electronic device, patented by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, may be the most visible of the "religious artifacts" associated with the Clearwater-based ...

The Supreme Court of Ontario ruled Friday that there is no legal recognition of priest/parishioner privilege. During a hearing before the court brought by the Church of Scientology of Toronto, Justice John Osler ruled that communications between a parishioner and a recognized religions leader are not protected from disclosure in the manner of lawyer/client communications. The Scientologists asked for the ruling as part of their motion to quash an Ontario Provincial Police search warrant executed last year on the sect. During ...

TORONTO—A 158-page search warrant Ontario Provincial Police used to raid the headquarters of the Church of Scientology in Toronto last year should have been restricted to prevent a massive search and seizure of church records and artifacts, a lawyer for the Clearwater-based church says. Marlys Edwardh, a lawyer representing the Church of Scientology of Toronto, told Ontario Supreme Court Justice John Osler that a higher standard must be applied by police when they search a church, even if the church is ...

TORONTO—A search warrant used to raid the Church of Scientology's headquarters here should be quashed because sect members could not commit a fraud while practicing their faith, the Clearwater-based organization's lawyer told the Ontario Supreme Court. Clayton Ruby said the Church of Scientology is protected by the guarantee of freedom of religion under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Ontario Provincial Police used the search warrant to seize more than 200,000 documents from the group's Toronto headquarters in March ...

TORONTO—The church of Scientology of Toronto was commanded Friday to move ahead with its case in Ontario Supreme Court proceedings unprecedented in Canadian history. The sect's reason for being in court—a civil motion questioning the legality of a police search warrant—has been usurped by arguments about religion and parishioner/priest confidentiality. Originally, the sect requested the hearing before Justice John Osler asking that he quash the March 4, 1983, Ontario Provincial Police warrant because, the sect said, the document was based on ...

TORONTO—An Ontario Supreme Court judge is expected to rule today in a hearing brought by the Church of Scientology centering on questions of religious equality and criminal wrongdoing. Judge John Osler said Thursday he will study lawyers' arguments and legal precedent in deciding whether to move forward in the hearing to quash an Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) search warrant resulting in the seizure of 25,000 sect documents. At issue is whether the massive 158-page search warrant and its supporting documents ...

TORONTO—A lawyer representing the Church Scientology likened the 34-year-old sect to the Roman Catholic Church during hearing Wednesday in Ontario Supreme Court. Arguing that the Ontario Provincial Police had no right to seize Scientology files during a raid on the sect's Toronto mission last year, Clayton Ruby told the court that Scientology should be given the same respect and protection afforded established religions. "Should a new church be (treated differently) because its doctrines are not as well-known?" Ruby asked Justice John ...

TORONTO—Is Scientology a religion? Since the inception of Scientology in 1950, the question of the sect's religious status has been argued in courts worldwide. And various courts' have offered different opinions. The Canadian Province of Ontario may rule on the religious status of Scientology during a hearing here that began Monday. But "religion" is only one of a myriad of questions before the Ontario Supreme Court. Monday's proceedings stemmed from a March 4, 1983, police raid involving 100 Ontario Provincial policemen ...

The Church of Scientology of Toronto will petition the Supreme Court of Ontario Monday asking that a search warrant executed last year be quashed, although the Ontario Provincial Police have already used it to raid the sect's headquarters and seize 14 million documents. Investigators armed with the warrant raided the sect's Toronto headquarters in March 1983 and seized 904 boxes of papers and documents believed to substantiate suspected sect fraud, conspiracy, breaking and entering and theft, according to the warrant and ...

[Picture] ''SCI-FI FILMMAKER Ken Annakin (centre) accepts a Saturn Award for science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, author of "Battlefield Earth". Also recently honored by the Academy of Science Fiction, Fantasy and Horror Films were Hurd Hattfield, left, for his title role in "The Picture of Dorian Grey", and Ray Bradbury for his "Something Wicked This Way Comes" screenplay. Annakin will direct two films based on Hubbard's novel.

CLEARWATER — In Pinellas County — with its 7 percent unemployment rate the signs on the four Church of Scientology buildings draw attention. Two say simply, "Now Hiring." Others promise a job with "low pay — great future." One along busy U.S. 19 touts jobs for "kitchen personnel." Two others boast: "We are recruiting." What the signs don't say is that the Church of Scientology isn't looking for employees. It is trying to recruit members. The signs also don't say that ...

The founder and spiritual leader of the Church of Scientology diverted millions of dollars in church funds into his own personal accounts, it was reported Sunday. L. Ron Hubbard, the reclusive leader of the Clearwater-based church, used a "dummy" foreign corporation as a funnel for the funds, the St. Petersburg Times said in a copyright story. Church officials denied the charges. But the newspaper said court files in the United States and Canada show Hubbard collected money worldwide through the Religious ...

Officials of the Church of Scientology have a system to destroy evidence and stall any police search at their headquarters in Toronto, says a statement by Attorney-General Roy McMurtry and Solicitor-General George Taylor. The actions of the 100 Ontario Provincial Police officers who raided the church's headquarters on Yonge Street on March 3 with sledge hammers and fire extinguishers were defended in the statement, which accuses church officials and lawyers of spreading misinformation about the raid. The allegations about a ...

Certainly, L. Ron Hubbard exists, says Janet Kenyon, public affairs director for the B.C. Church of Scientology. He has an office in downton Vancouver. "Come on in," says Kenyon, unfastening the purple velvet cable that is hooked across the entrance to L. Ron Hubbard's office at 401 West Hastings. His name is on the open door in gold-colored letters. A gleaming gold, or brass, letter opener lies on his desk. There are pictures of his kids. There is an unopened package ...

TORONTO — More than 100 police officers swept through the offices of a Church of Scientology building Thursday seizing documents as possible evidence in an investigation of fraud against the federal and Ontario governments. Inspector Phil Caney said the two-year investigation centers on a non-profit tax exemption obtained by Scientology "by alleged misrepresentations." Ontario Provincial Police also are investigating consumer fraud in the marketing of courses and alleged conspiracy to commit indictable offenses "where perceived necessary to protect the interests of ...

Sectarian propaganda, however diluted and well-disguised, has no place in the classrooms of Ontario's public schools. With that basic principle firmly in mind, Metro school boards should say, "Thanks, but no thanks," to members of the Church of Scientology who want to present a drug-education program to students starting in Grade 3. According to a report by Ellie Tesher in The Saturday Star, Scientologists for Social Action are mounting an intensive campaign to introduce their Drug-Free Schools program of lectures and ...