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Meet Tera and
Dr. Ed Hattaway
Letter to Scientologist Friend
Ed and Tera Hattaway
wrote a letter to someone who has been a good friend of theirs for
many years. The friend is a Scientologist who had written to the
Hattaways to find out why they are now publicly speaking critically
about Scientology. The Hattaways have given their permission to post
the text of the letter on our website.
April,
2001
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Dear XXXXX,
I wanted to take a moment to thank you for having the courage to
write us about the very delicate subject of our decision to leave
scientology. We understand from being involved in the church for
so many years the risk that this presents to you personally and
we do not take the very kind gesture you have made lightly.
Our decision has been made, and since you have expressed
curiosity about how we have arrived at this decision, we both
feel that a response is warranted. We will now present to you
the pieces of information that led us to this important decision
in our lives.
1) Our expectations after buying the L's at Flag were very high.
We felt that a high expectation was reasonable, after all, how
many people spend over $50,000 for ANYTHING in their lives and
expect nothing in return. You were witness to the aftermath.
After repeated returns to Flag for correction and cleanup after
correction and cleanup, not only did nothing happen, but rather,
we found that our lives were literally turned upside down. We
lost everything. As you pointed out in your letter, the
technical lineup has changed and now the sequence is L 11, L10,
L12. This is no consolation to us. LRH had set the original
lineup at L11, L12, L10. Assuming that he is supposed to be
source for the tech, it should have worked in the order that Ed
did them. They not only did not work; they worked COUNTER to the
expectation. Ed was not a NCG case. He was quite happy with
earlier auditing and this was why he trusted that the L's would
be a positive experience. Actually, after this we were still
intent on going up the bridge, although for most this would have
seemed enough to dissuade them from continuing on this route.
2) As for our use of the management technology, we had mixed
experiences. While managing by statistics and using hard sell
(which were the biggest concepts promoted by the various WISE
organizations that we participated in) gave us an initial
increase in production and income, the long-term effects were
very detrimental to our practice in the following ways. First,
applying conditions formulas on our staff led to high turn over
and a number of close calls with the Department of Labor. We
were beginning to address our staff on a personal level, as
conditions formulas frequently dictate, thus breaching the
employee/employer relationship. This would later have a negative
impact on our patient flow, because the people who worked for us
also were part of the larger community that we were marketing
into. Secondly, our worship of the almighty statistic began to
create a "pressure environment" not only amongst our staff but
also into our public as well. Those few patients who were
cordial enough to communicate to us about this would ask, "why
all the pressure", or "what's with all the tension in this
place?" At the time, we just did a non-confront on these types
of originations and labeled these people as 1.1 or antago. Many
years later we began to recognize that these patients had been
very generous to us by voicing their true observations, albeit a
critical one. We had begun to arbitrarily label any critic or
critical comment as a 1.1 or antago comment, effectively
"dead-agenting" the source, a major 3d aberration that is a
mirror-image of the church's operating basis in our experience.
Thirdly, use of hard sell was VERY DETRIMENTAL to the survival of
our office. This was a concept that was heavily promoted in the
WISE organizations we were part of. We started doing pre-payment
plans and generally following routing form concepts as in the
COS. We found ourselves running on our patients the same tactics
that were being run on us at the org and Flag. Like other
management tech concepts we employed this worked well, at first.
Income and production went up, we thought we were on to
something. Then came the rash of repayments. Patients were
talking on the outside and finding that other chiropractors were
charging visit to visit and this would prompt the refund. I
suppose if we could have threatened their eternity we could have
silenced them and kept the money, but we didn't have the balls or
the basis to hold that over their heads. What this lead to was
an environment of high stress, no referrals and no returning
patients.
3) Censorship of communication within the COS environment was a
huge red flag to us, but only after distancing ourselves for
sometime. While in the church the policies about not discussing
one's case were rationalized with explanations that this might
enturbulate other pc's or that it might give them a hidden
standard. We bought this at the time. Years later, looking back
it became clear to us that this was a control mechanism to censor
the COS public. Why is it really not okay to discuss your
auditing experience? Throw out your beliefs for a moment and ask
yourself this question. What real harm comes to a pc if he
listens to another's point of view regarding an auditing
experience? Are pc's that are progressing toward clear and OT
THAT fragile? The same conclusion applies toward the policies
that forbid criticism and invalidation of OT's. These are
supposed to be beings who have or are in the process of becoming
cause over the physical and spiritual universe! Yet, they cannot
have criticism? What REAL abilities do they possess? Neither Ed
nor I have ever met an OT that we said, "Wow, I want to be like
that guy!" The majority of OT's we have met are simply consumed
with going up the Bridge. Most are financially strapped and many
are divorced with broken families. Certainly there are
exceptions, but come on, what's the deal? OT's simply have not
been that impressive to us.
4) The disconnection policies of the COS destroy families. We
have seen several recent examples of this. For protection of
those involved, I will not disclose names. (Doesn't it strike
you as peculiar that this would be a legitimate concern?
Protection, from a church?) One mother in Clearwater was
unwilling to receive auditing, was labeled PTS H and because she
would not handle this, her husband, an OT7 was told to disconnect
from her. They have a son. Now when the father calls home, the
wife can only say "hi" and get the son on the phone to speak with
his dad. She has to leave the room while they talk. The dad
finds this arrangement unacceptable because he still has to be
connected to her. He is trying to arrange for a secretary to
pick up the boy and drive to another location so he can call his
son without saying "hi" to the PTS mom. I will not even comment
on my thoughts about this. Another friend of mine is in a
similar situation. She realizes that the COS is not for her
anymore. Yet, because she wants her children to have a
relationship with their father, she is forced to squelch her
communication. Her fear is, if she speaks up the ethics officer
will enforce a disconnection in order for the husband to continue
his 10-year OT7 grind. As an aside, this man is completely
disabled and extremely physically ill. What kind of group does
this to families?
5) You mentioned Greg and Debra Barnes in your letter so let me
address some of the points in their case. Our decision to leave
the church came before their declare. In fact, we knew nothing
of their situation until after we made it known that we were
leaving. Their experience only confirmed for us that we had made
the proper decision. You can get all the details of their
experience at www.lisamcpherson.org/LMT . Here are a few of the
highlights. This was taken from a high crime report by Virginia
McLaughty after she and the Barnes were declared:
"The auditor produced a pack of BFO's, an inch or so thick,
covering the SOLO NOTS administration line. She showed Virginia
the page that covers the history of the six-month check line.
Virginia immediately turned to the back of the reference to see
if LRH wrote it. It was written by RTRC I/C Int. (This post is
part of Senior C/S Ints office.) So, Virginia said, this is not
LRH so I do not have to follow it.
Christina said read this part. This part said that:
"..in 1982 LRH was consulted regarding a situation with SOLO NOTS
auditors at the time, to which LRH responded " get them in, get
them cleaned up, and keep them cleaned up". Thus, the six month
check line was born....".
Virginia then told Cosima the following: that's an LRH advice to
a specific situation at that time and that there are two HCOP/Ls
that apply to this.
1. HCOP/L Orders Vs Arbitraries says that taking an LRH advice
and applying it across the boards is exactly what LRH does not
want done.
2. HCOP/L Seniority of Orders, an advice does not take priority
over an HCOB, and a BFO does not take priority over an HCOB, such
as C/S Series
73RB.
Virginia additional note:
A BFO is a Base Flag Order. LRH's ADVICE (key term here), was for
THOSE SOLO NOTS AUDITORS AT THAT TIME "Get them in, get them
cleaned up, and keep them cleaned up".
Notice that this advice DOES NOT violate either HCOB
Confessionals and the Non-Interference Zone, or HCOB C/S Series
73 RA or RB. WHY? Because obviously the above mentioned solo NOTs
auditors were not progressing, moving well, were stalled, etc.
etc. He applied his own HCOB's perfectly in the proposed problem
to him.
The entire current 6-month check line is formed off of this
onetime "advice" by LRH.
-----------------------------------------------------------------
---------------
At this point, the terminals stopped trying to prove to Virginia,
with non-LRH references and incorrectly interpreted HCOP/Ls, that
the six months check line was a standard line. "
Now let's see what an authorized RTC representative had to say
when confronted with this data:
(from my story)
"Virginia returns to Flag to meet with RTC rep, Marina Pezzotti.
Marina says she has Virginia's security booklet wherein Virginia
had signed and agreed to do six-month checks. Virginia says that'
s not LRH and I should not have signed it. Virginia shows Marina
the section of C/S Series 73RB where it says:
b) Pre-OTs in the area between the beginning of New OT VI (Solo
NOTS
Auditing Course) and the completion of New OT VII (Solo NOTS) may
not receive any other auditing, with the exception of those
services allowed
in the No-Interference Area (between the start of New OT I and
the
completion of OT III) for pre-OTs who are stalled or moving
slowly.
EXCEPTION
Pre-OTs progressing well in the No-Interference Area should not
be interfered with by Sec Checking or anything else. However,
when a pre-OT is stalled or moving slowly, any of the actions
listed below, as appropriate, can be ordered by a qualified C/S..
1) Non-audited PTS handlings
2) Confessionals and O/Ws
3) The handling of postulates, considerations, attitudes, evil
purposes or
evil intentions (False Purpose Rundown)
4) Service Fac handling (bracket method only, no R3RA)
5) Disagreement Checks
Virginia says this is what this is all about and its RTC's hat to
get LRH applied, so I'm here to get that done.
Marina says there's lots of other references on sec-checking.
Virginia then tells Marina she has read all of those other
references and that LRH does not contradict himself. Virginia
says LRH himself has said when he wants that entire subject of
sec checking used and when he does not want it used.
Virginia says there has been black PR on her from Barbara Nelson,
that its Virginia's idea that there should not be sec checking on
OTs. Virginia says, look at this HCOB, what do the materials
state? This is LRH, not me. Marina says ok, I see your point.
Marina then says, what would you do if you were RTC? Marina has
Virginia read the RTC brochure that says they are responsible for
the security of the advanced course materials. Virginia tells
Marina that RTC's first responsibility, according to the
brochure, is KSW and that this LRH HCOB was not being applied and
that they should not be sec checking SOLO NOTS auditors
arbitrarily.
Marina again says what would you do if you were RTC? She says
that SOLO NOTS auditors lie, they falsify there worksheets, they
don't pull withholds, don' t disclose ethics situations in their
life, they have out tech and don't show it in their worksheets
and it is our sec checks that find this out. Virginia says, I
would apply LRH. I would find what LRH reference applies to the
problems you're having and do what it says. LRH always has a
solution.
Marina says yes, but I can't take any chances. Look at the
situation in Germany. Maybe when the environment is less hostile,
we won't have to worry about it and not do the sec checking all
the time.
Marina says like the 10 OT 7 and 8s who resigned the Church in
Germany. This is a perfect example of why we need to have this
sec check line. Virginia says, no its not, it's a perfect example
of how your sec check line doesn't work. Per LRH, you can't catch
a criminal with a meter. Marina agreed.
Marina then says, well how would we know because these guys had
perfect sessions? Virginia says what do you mean by perfect
sessions? Marina says the worksheets say, SOS, F/N VGIs, EOS. And
this is session after session after session, always perfect. And
then this happens, they resign the Church, which was a complete
surprise.
Virginia says, "perfect sessions?, that tells you right there
something wrong. Nothing is happening. The case is stalled and
needs a sec check per this HCOB". Marina says, "Well how would we
know"? Virginia says indicators, the C/S has to know indicators.
Marina says, well I'm not going to change the whole line. It's
not going to hurt you to get a sec check. If there is nothing on
the question it will F/N. Virginia said not if you know its out
tech and you're protesting it. Marina says it's not a technical
point, it's a security point. Virginia then said, does he say
anywhere in here that you can sec check for security purposes?
Marina says no.
Virginia said what do the materials state, regarding sec checking
of SOLO NOTS OTs who are not stalled or moving slowly. Marina
agrees the HCOB says that you do not interrupt them.
Marina then says per HCOP/L Eligibility For OT Levels it says you
have to have another eligibility sec check when you return to the
AO after an absence. Virginia turned to the HCOP/L and said "what
does further mean in this sentence?" Virginia says several
terminals have misinterpreted this HCOP/L to me with the wrong
definition of the word further. And I would be happy to show you
in the dictionary how it is impossible for the way it's being
interpreted to be correct. Marina said ok, ok, but I'm still not
changing the line. Virginia said, Marina, this is an LRH HCOB
applying to SOLO NOTS pre-OTs. How can you, as RTC, who LRH
specifically entrusted with KSW, say you're not going to apply
this? Marina says because she also entrusted with the security of
the advanced course materials.
Virginia then says, how can you alter the tech in the name of
security? What are keeping secure then? Squirrel tech? In KSW LRH
says its not the government or High Priests that will destroy us,
its our failure to retain and practice our technology. If we
alter the tech in the name of security, to prevent the advance
course materials from getting in the hands of the SPs, then the
SPs have already won. Because it is altering the tech that will
destroy us, not the SPs.
Marina then says, well what would you do if you were RTC?
Virginia then says, Marina, are you 100% for LRH? She said yes.
Virginia says good, then lets do what LRH says in this HCOB.
Marina says, well I might be willing to apply it to you. Virginia
says thank you, but it does not just apply to me. (Note the
attempted bribe there -Virginia)
Marina says I'm not changing the whole line, but I might change
it for you. She said let me check into this. Go do your new
program and check back with me in a few days. Virginia said ok
but I'm not doing any sec checking.
After that, Greg Barnes talks to Marina and Marina told him
emphatically that they are not changing the six months check
line. Virginia was unaware of this at the time.
Altered importance of destroying the tech in the name of
security: Falsehood that you can't apply HCOB C/S Series 73 and
have security too: Incorrectly included disagreement and
justifiers regarding applying HCOB C/S Series 73: RTC Exec Marina
Pezzotti
Incorrectly included betrayal of LRH's trust to preserve the
tech: All RTC Execs
Incorrectly included tech degrade for refusing to apply HCOB C/S
Series 73: Omitted application of HCOP/L 7 February 1965 Keeping
Scientology Working:
All RTC Execs and Flag tech terminals involved with OT 7"
------What was that again Marina?? Let's look again, especially
at this part..
"Virginia said not if you know its out tech and you're protesting
it. Marina says it's not a technical point, it's a security
point. Virginia then said, does he say anywhere in here that you
can sec check for security purposes? Marina says no.
Virginia said what do the materials state, regarding sec checking
of SOLO NOTS OTs who are not stalled or moving slowly. Marina
agrees the HCOB says that you do not interrupt them."
HMMMMMMMM, exactly who is "issuing alter-ised Scientology
technical data or information or instructional or admin
procedures......" and calling it Scientology?
Us, or RTC/CST?
That is the end of the section Virginia wrote to clarify her
situation. There is much, much more that she and the Barnes had
written in correct form with complete references. Perhaps this
is the type of detail you made need to form your own conclusions,
for or against the COS.
You asked why we left. These are some of the main reasons. Our
purpose is not to reg you offlines, but rather to make it known
that we are leaving and why.
Virginia had made a post to alt.religion.scientology, which is
the newsgroup that most anti-scientology news gets posted to.
(This newsgroup contains a good deal of outright natter, but
there are some researchers who like you, are looking for the
truth. You can join newsguy for $25 per year to access this
newsgroup.) In this post she presented some estimates regarding
FSO's income. Her estimate was that FSO brings in about 1
million per week on average. (I have no way to verify these
numbers, nor do I really want to take the time to do so)
Nevertheless, she estimated that there are close to 2000 on lines
on OT7. These pre-OT's are all on the 6 month check line. These
checks cost an average of $12,000 to $18,000 every six months, or
$24-$36k per year/pre-OT. Lets assume these estimates are off
and there are only 1500 pre-OTs on lines and it costs 20k per
year. Using the $20k estimate X 1500 pre-OT's and you get $30
million dollars! Or, better than half the estimated income of
FSO! Let me ask you, if you were RTC would you wants to give up
a $30 million per year line? Of course not. My contention is
that the COS has another higher master than the tech, and that
master is the almighty dollar.
To give you just one of many examples of the lengths the COS will
go to get their GI stats, the following account comes from a Flag
trained class IX, OT8:
I HAVE EDITED OUT REFERENCES MADE TO CONFIDENTIAL OT MATERIALS
I, Maria Pia Gardenia declare as follows:
1. I am over the age of 18 years.
2. The statements herein are of my own personal knowledge
and if called upon as a witness, I can testify competently
thereto.
3. My name is Maria Pia Gardini. I am an Italian citizen.
4. I became involved in Scientology through the Narconon program.
My daughter went into the program and at this time she gave me
some books to read about Scientology. After 8 months or so she
finished her program and told me she wanted to continue studying
Scientology. My mother and I paid for her auditing up to OT VII.
5. After she was on the OT levels, she convinced me to meet some
of the people in the Rome org. They convinced me to do the
purification rundown and to try auditing, so I bought one
intensive of "book one" auditing.
6. I started the purification rundown: on the second day I blew
(left suddenly) the sauna. I was scared to death of being in the
heat for four to five hours. I was 49 years old and felt I would
die. Members of the org came to my home and convinced me to
return and keep doing it. They said I was just going through
something and if I continued, I would get out of it. So, I
returned and finished the rundown. I quickly told them I was
done, and I was done.
7. I then started the auditing. My father was dead and I had
always been sad about his death. When I started auditing, my
auditor was a very warm and kind woman and we audited almost the
whole 12 hours that I had purchased on my father's death. I went
through a lot of emotions talking about his death, crying and
laughing and at the end I did feel better.
8. I then decided to continue. I wanted to buy another
intensive, but I was regged to buy 10 intensives more of book one
auditing. Meanwhile, they also sold me an academy package so I
could study to myself become an auditor. Soon, I was getting
auditing 3-4 hours a day and studying an additional several hours
a day.
9. When I attested the completion of book one, I was told I had
to
continue to handle the many more areas of my life. I then bought
all the Scientology Grades auditing plus NED (New Era Dianetics.)
10. I started on the objectives. This was the first failure for
me. Doing a drill called "Op Pro by Dup" involving repetitive
actions with a book and bottle, I became so upset I threw the
bottle at my auditor and tore up the book used in the auditing.
The auditor had to physically restrain me to keep me in the room.
11. Before I had just done auditing where I had talked a lot, so
of course one will feel better talking about their problems.
Now, this was something different.
12. I ended up slapping the auditor and running from the room. I
ran home and that evening four staff members came to get me.
They explained to me that I had lost control and if I finished
the auditing I would regain control. I returned with them and
finished the auditing.
13. I then audited the Grades 0-IV. I did not have any great
achievements during these. It was just sit there and listen and
talk to the auditor. I told the C/S that I didn't have any
"wins" on this (I in fact told everyone this), but they reminded
me that I had had a lot of wins before on my book one and the
grades were just to stabilize me for my OT levels. They told me
to just continue.
14. Then, they tried to audit me on NED, but after all the hours
of book one I was desperate.I had already talked about
everything! I became sick and was interviewed by someone who
said I had to do the CCRD. I had paid for 12 � hours of NED and
audited for 25 minutes. When I tried to get the money back for
these unused hours they said no, I paid for the intensive and I
had started it. So that was the end of that money (about $2000.)
15. I then went to Rome and while I was there a "mission" arrived
from CLO Italy to recruit people into the Sea Organization (SO.)
They wanted me to join and worked very hard on me. I agreed and
they gave me a contract for 1 billion years.
16. In the mean time I had done the class IV internship. They
now wanted me to start in the SO, but I wanted to go attest to
clear first. I bought CCRD in Copenhagen AOSH and went to do it.
I was told, because I was a Sea Org member the room and board
would be free. When I arrived, I was told "Free? CLO Italy
doesn't have any money on account here." I had to pay for
myself.
17. They put me in a hotel that was owned by the church called
"Nordland." It was like a pigsty; so dirty. I found one room
that was less dirty than the others and did not have other people
in it.
18. At this point I was now a class V auditor. It was terrible
in Copenhagen. I was given an auditor who was Swiss German who
did not speak Italian, but something similar. I started
eligibility with him and the session went on and on and on
because I could not understand him. I was supposed to stay there
two weeks but was there two months. Then, I was told I had to
buy more intensives. I explained the language problem, so they
switched auditors. He spoke good Italian, so I finished
eligibility in two hours then moved to the CCRD. I then attested
to clear.
19. Clear is supposed to be an expanded person. I did not feel
this. I really wanted badly to go back to Italy. When I did go
back, I simply changed suitcases and went to Milano to train for
the Sea Org.
20. Now, I was put in the kitchen to cook for 70 staff members.
This was terrible. Then, they wanted me to wash dishes. I said
no. I never have washed dishes in my life. I had my car there
so I left again. I went back home for 2 days before they came
and got me. This whole time my daughter was progressing in
Scientology. She was at Flag and I was afraid that they would
tell her I was misbehaving and she would be upset with me. So, I
went back. When I went back, they told me I was done with the
first phase of my training.
21. I then told them I had to go back to Rome to close up the
house. In Rome, there was another mission to get people to do
the OT levels in Copenhagen. I bought a package for OT I-III. I
wrote for permission to do these levels instead of going to work.
I received this permission and went to Copenhagen to do my OT
levels.
22. While I was doing my levels in Copenhagen, I was paying my
own room and board and then they asked me to start auditing their
pcs.
I HAVE EDITED OUT REFERENCES MADE TO CONFIDENTIAL OT MATERIALS
HERE
44. While I had been auditing, there was a raid in Italy and all
of the organizations were closed. When I returned to Italy after
OT V, the entire org of Roma had moved into my apartment (they
had called me in Copenhagen and asked to move into my apartment.)
I had instructed my building superintendent to let them in but to
not give them a key. They somehow got a key and made a copy
anyway. They were there all the time.the whole building was
protesting.
45. So, when I returned, I made them leave. I found them another
apartment and paid for the first two months of rent. It took
five days for a cleaning company to clean my apartment, it was
such a mess.
46. Now, I went to CLO in Milano to work. They were working in a
hotel because they had lost their building to the government. I
wondered what the hell I was doing there. I had no job to do.
We had Int (International Management) missions in to handle the
problems while I was paying the hotel for everyone in CLO. I
figured I would go on to do OT VI and OT VII. One of my seniors
thought this would be good for me to do. At this moment, I was
running out of money. So, to do these levels I sold my apartment
in Rome. My mother was very, very angry with this. She told me
I was crazy and they will ruin me. She was right.
47. Now, I come to Flag. Again, I was supposed to get room and
board because I was a staff member. Bah. No room and board! I
have again to pay for myself.
I HAVE EDITED OUT REFERENCES MADE TO CONFIDENTIAL OT MATERIALS
HERE
52. I never went to my home to audit; I stayed at the Sand Castle
and audited for 8 months. When I wasn't auditing I studied to be
a class IX auditor and was auditing public pcs.
53. When I attested to OT VII, Captain Ron Norton called me. I
was validated as being a class IX auditor and OT VII completion.
What the hell was I going to do with it? They asked me to sign
on to work at Flag and they would send another auditor to Italy
to replace me. I told them to call my senior.
54. In Italy they were still trying to open up the orgs. My
senior did agree, though I said I had to go back to Italy to
finish up and prepare. I did this.
55. When I arrived to start working at Flag, I was told that they
would put me in the Sand Castle hotel because there is no room at
the Hacienda. The Sand Castle was dirty and had unbelievable
cockroaches.
56. They told me I had to pay 10% of what a public would pay,
since it was a public room. When they took me to the room there
was no furniture, no bed nothing. I complained but was told it
was too late at night to do anything. I was told to sleep in a
chair. I said no, I just arrive after 10 hours of travel. It
was February 8 and cold. I ended up sleeping on the carpet.
57. The next day I refused to go to work unless I received a bed.
They then showed me a bed that had been outside in the garden;
they were going to throw it away. It was so dirty I would not
put my dog on that mattress. It had holes where rats had eaten
it. I absolutely refused. I told them I would start work on
Monday. I went to the store and bought myself a bed, blankets,
chair and sheets. I had it all brought to the Sand Castle.
58. After one month, I was told they had a place in the Hacienda
Gardens for me. So, I put my stuff together and they took me to
the Hacienda. When they opened the door, I plugged my nose it
stunk so badly. There were eight beds one atop of the other. At
this point I said take me to the captain.
59. I went to the Captain and told him I will not live like this.
I want to go back to Italy. He said no, we have a small
apartment in the Hacienda that we rent. We will give it to you
for half price. I agreed to this and paid $400 per month (this
turned out to be full price.)
60. Now, I moved into this apartment. At the end of the first
month, five other people were sleeping in this apartment. They
were putting staff members in my paid for apartment. These
people would eat my food and drink my water. I returned to the
captain.
61. I said enough is enough. You broke all your promises and I
want to go home. The captain told me to return to the Hacienda,
wait three days and he will come visit me and we will take care
of this.
62. In the mean time, I called an area realtor and arranged to
purchase a condominium. By the time I met with the captain, I
had my new home. At first, he told me no, I couldn't stay off
the base. I said it was this or nothing. He told me to write a
CSW, which I did, and he approved it. Thus, I had special
permission to live outside of sea org quarters.
63. So, I started to audit again. Then, there was a change of
captains. Ron Norton went to Gold and Debbie Cook became the
captain. This was in 1988. When Debbie Cook became captain, my
real problems started.
64. First, she wanted me to move back to the Hacienda, or she
insisted that I share my condo with other staff members. I told
her no to both. At this time, I was almost every week the
auditor with the most hours in the chair and that year I won the
worldwide highest auditing hours cup at the Auditors Day
celebration. At this point, I was a money making machine for
them.
65. I was always on the chair auditing. In September of 1990 I
received a phone call from Italy saying my daughter was in the
hospital in Pavia in Italy and I had to go to her at once. I
CSW'd to go see her and it was approved.
66. I returned to Italy and two months later, my daughter died:
November 18, 1990. She was 29 years old and an OT VII.
67. A bit before I left, however, I asked the senior C/S, Kathy
Webb, to give me a program to audit my daughter because she was
OT VII. This was to help her physically. The answer was, with
AIDS, she will die. What program do you want? Give her a
program to drop the body. Of course, I never did such a process
on her. You don't go to a sick person and say, "I give you a
program to drop your body."
68. Also in 1989 or 1990 they started releasing OT VIII. I was
told to buy a package on the Freewinds because this is the only
place OT VIII was delivered due to its extreme confidentiality.
I bought a package, but then I went to Italy because of my
daughter.
69. Two days after my daughter's death, I took her to the
cemetery to bury her in our family mausoleum. On this day, I was
recalled to Flag. My daughter was not yet buried. Flag phoned
me and spoke to my mother, who told them to fuck off and leave me
alone and forget my phone number. She was heavily against
Scientology.
70. When I spoke with them I told them my daughter had left a
daughter of 11 years old, Camilla, and I could not leave
immediately. The called me every day, several times a day to get
me to come back immediately. They called with no regard to the
6-hour time difference between the USA and Italy. They would
call at 4:00 a.m. and wake up the whole house of grieving people
to demand my return.
71. On the 29th of November, 11 days after my daughter's death, I
returned to Flag. I left my granddaughter with her stepfather
and my mother. When I returned to Flag I was very angry and the
staff at Flag were astonished at this. They could not understand
why I would be mad. I then went right back to work, but I was
not able to produce as well as I had before. Because of this,
they decided to send me to the ship to do my OT VIII.
72. The ship was in the Bahamas. I had to buy my own ticket to
get there. When I arrived, I also had to pay for my own room and
board. I didn't want to sleep in the staff berthing below decks,
as it was extremely hot down there, like 100 degrees. I could
not do this. As soon as I arrived, instead of starting my own
program I was put to work auditing others on their sec check for
OT VII and OT VIII eligibility. I was very valuable to them as I
could audit in three languages: English, Italian, and French.
73. Soon after I arrived, Milt Wolf, one of the ship captains,
and David Light, a registrar, sat with me and regged me to buy
books and materials. They also sold me a gold OT bracelet that
cost thousands of dollars. They sat with me and would not let me
go until I had bought and bought. I ended up buying an extra
suitcase to carry all the materials I had bought. Eventually, I
arrived in the course room to start OT VIII.
I HAVE EDITED OUT REFERENCES MADE TO CONFIDENTIAL OT MATERIALS
HERE
78. The night I attested to OT VIII, I went ashore with some
friends to see the casino in Nassau. Guess who was gambling
there? David Miscavige, Guillame Leserve and Ray Mithoff. Isn't
gambling an overt in Scientology? When I saw this, I was ready
to leave Scientology. (EDITED FOR OT MATERIAL) I wanted to
leave, but this was very difficult.
79. When I was finished (ot8), (this was December 1990) I
returned to Flag. Now, I was trying to figure out how to leave
Scientology. The occasion came in October 1991 when I received a
call that my mother was in hospital and very, very sick. Now, I
could return to Italy.
80. I CSW'd to leave. My CSW was NOT approved. I went to the
Captain to talk to her and she told me no, it was not important
that my mother was dying. It was only a body. I must stay at
Flag and produce for Scientology.
81. I again CSW'd to leave. Instead of giving it to the Captain,
I gave it to my DofP (Director of Processing) for OT
eligibility. Then, I went to my condo, packed my suitcase, went
to the airport, bought a ticket and went to Italy.
82. I thought I would be declared a blow, but after four days in
Italy I received, by fax, the CSW I had written. It was
approved. My mother died December 11, 1991.
83. On the 21st of December, Flag started regging me for the
money I was inheriting from my mother's death. Please see my
other affidavit for the completion of this story.
I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United
States of America and the state of Florida that the foregoing is
true and correct.
Executed in Grosetto, Italy this 14th day of February 2001
Maria Pia Gardini
Declaration of Maria Pia Gardini
I, Maria Pia Gardini declare as follows:
1. I am over the age of 18 years.
2. The statements herein are of my own personal knowledge and if
called upon as a witness, I can testify competently thereto.
3. My name is Maria Pia Gardini. I am an Italian citizen. The
Flag Service Organization defrauded me of $1,000,000 while I was
working on their staff as a highly trained Class IX auditor.
4. On the 21st of December, 1991, Tito Mazza, who was the Flag
Service I/C [in charge] in Italy, and Marco Puggelli, who was a
Flag FSM [field staff member], came to my home in Italy seeking a
donation for a Class VIII project at Flag. Shortly after they
arrived, Debbie Cook, the Commanding Officer for the Flag Service
Organization in Clearwater, Florida, called on the telephone
concerning this same project. She told me the cost of executing
the program was 2 million dollars U.S. and she wanted me to
finance the entire project. I told her I would never give them 2
million dollars whereupon she said she knew I would inherit a
large sum of money from my mother's death just 10 days before
and felt I should give them the money. I continued to say no and
asked them to leave. They would not but stayed and continued
badgering me. Finally, one of them took me into a side room and
told me if I just gave them a check to prove to the Captain of
Flag that I was a good scientologist they would leave. They
repeatedly told me I should be a good scientologist and give them
the money. I was also at this time very vulnerable. My daughter
had died one year before and my mother had now died 10 days
before. I was alone in the world. I finally gave them a check
for $30,000 and they left. At that point I told them
not to return asking me for money.
5. The morning after, my maid came into my bedroom and told me
there were two people sleeping in a car in my garden. I got
dressed and went to see who it was. There I found two sea org
members whom I recognized as working for Flag and the Flag Ship
Service Org. When I approached the car to tell them they could
not come into my garden in the middle of the night, they got out
of
the car and asked me for coffee. I took them into the house and
gave them coffee. They then fell asleep in my home. Around ten
o'clock, I received a phone call from Debbie Cook, who told me I
had not given enough money and I needed to give more to the two
staff members at my home. She went on and on
about the project needing my help, that Italy was really down and
it could be the first Clear country etc. Finally, I gave another
$50,000.
6. In Spring of 1992, I returned to Flag. The day after I
arrived, I went back to work as an auditor in the Sand Castle
hotel. That afternoon, at 2:00 p.m., I was called by Captain
Debbie Cook to go to the registrar area in the Fort Harrison
hotel. I am sure this day was Wednesday. When I arrived Captain
Cook was sitting in a small, back room accompanied by Piers
Almquist and a CMO messenger. I was directed to go into the
room and the door was closed behind me.
7. After the door was closed, Debbie Cook said to me "We want to
know how we can help you in your inheritance cycle." This was to
speed up my receiving the inheritance. I told her I had my
family lawyer and other professionals taking care of things and
that I needed Italian professionals taking care of
it, not Americans. She said they knew I had a beautiful villa
and other nice things and that I really needed to help with the
Italian Class VIIII project. I told her I could not give any more
money; my money was in Italy and my banker would need my
signature. She told me they would arrange for scientologists in
America and Italy to loan me money, then I could return to Italy
later and get the money to pay them back. She also wanted me to
call my banker right then and find out how much money I could
take out of Italy at that moment.
8. At this point, I didn't know what to do. I told her it was
too late in Italy for me to call the bank and I would call in the
morning and talk to my banker to see how much money I had in my
accounts. Upon this promise of mine to call my banker in Italy,
they let me leave the room. I then returned to work.
9. The next morning at 8:00 a.m. I was preparing for work when I
was told not to start working but to return to the Fort Harrison.
I did this, and when I arrived at the Fort Harrison I was
directed to the same little room. Inside waiting for me were the
following people:
Debbie Cook -- Captain FSO
Piers Almquist - a registrar
David Foster - a registrar
Pilar Saldiariagga - Commodores Messenger
John Lundeen -- Supervisor of the registrars
Chiara Staples - my FSM
10. Chiara had been called in and asked to lend me money. She
had $50,000 in cash in a bag and told me she would loan me the
money if I promised to pay her back as soon as I returned to
Italy and received my inheritance. Under pressure, I agreed to
do this. Almost immediately, Dave Foster told me that this
amount was not enough.
11. Debbie Cook then had an idea. She suggested that "Teresa",
the wife of Gerald Bloom, who was a Class V C/S, could also lend
me money. Teresa was called in and asked to loan me money. She
also said she did not have money in the USA. Teresa was asked to
call her mother in Switzerland to arrange to loan me $100,000.
The money was eventually transferred from Switzerland to the Flag
Accounts. I was praised and told to go back to work, which I
did.
12. On the following Thursday morning, I was again called by
Captain Cook and told to go to her office in the Coachman
building. When I arrived she and John Lundeen and another staff
member who was an MAA and was also Italian were waiting for me.
It was before 9:00 a.m. and they wanted more money. They pushed
and pushed me saying I must help Italy get the LRH materials.
They asked me to call my bank in Italy and talk to the director
to see how much money was available to me. I could not lie to
him because they put the phone call on speakerphone and of course
the other Italian staff member could
understand what was being said. The bank director told me that I
had just received money into my account from selling a large
piece of real estate. I tried to tell the director that I needed
that money for inheritance tax, but he told me I had more than
enough to cover it. So they now knew I had money in my account.
The Captain told me to ask how much I could have sent to the
United States without my signature. He said if I faxed him my
signature and a copy of my ID, I could have all the money I
wanted. I wanted to kill this bank director, but of course he
didn't know what was going on.
13. At this point, I ended up transferring $300,000 to the Flag
Land Base. I was very upset by this transaction and by the fact
that I was then highly commended at the staff meeting for having
donated so much. The whole staff clapped for me, however I felt
terrible and promised myself that this was it.
I would give no more money. I was also given other benefits due
to this contribution. For example I had been asking for a
lighter schedule for months due to a heart condition. Regular
Flag staff hours are from 9:00 a.m. to 10:30 p.m. It was not
until after I had made this contribution that a lighter
schedule was finally approved for me.
14. I then asked to return to Italy in order to see my attorneys
and finalize my inheritance and to visit my granddaughter. I
requested a leave of absence. I was told that it was okay to
leave, but before I left they wanted me to make my total donation
one million dollars and asked for the balance to
add to the previous donations. This was all for the Italian
Class VIII translation of materials and to pay for people to come
from Italy to Flag to train. Throughout the day I spoke with my
seniors in the organization and begged to go back to Italy. I
tried very hard to avoid the issue of money. This was in
September.
15. One Thursday morning at 6:00 a.m., High Levy showed up at my
home. He told me that I had to come right away to the Fort
Harrison because they needed me. I arrived at the Fort Harrison
and was taken downstairs. In a room awaiting me were Captain
Cook and Dave Foster.
16. They told me that Tito Mazza (who was one of the first two
men who came to my home in Italy) was on the phone from Italy.
Tito told me that the Italian statistics were down and they
really needed my money. He told me he had found someone who
could lend me $200,000. He said he would go to the
person in Italy and the two of them would call me back in America
and we would do a conference call. He did this, going to the
house of Franco Baggio, who happened to be one of my pcs. Mr.
Baggio told me he could loan the $200,000, however, he needed to
get it from the bank. He also told me he needed the loan
paid off in one month. I did not agree to do this and the
Captain and Dave Foster badgered and harassed me until I finally
just hung up the phone.
17. At this point, somebody called the Captain out of the room,
leaving just Dave Foster and me in the room. Mr. Foster started
yelling at me, becoming as red as a lobster and getting so upset
I thought he was going to have a heart attack. He wanted me to
give the money. He told me I was not a good Scientologist; that
my money was Wog money and needed to go to scientology; and that
I was unethical. I kept refusing to give any more money.
Finally, Dave Foster slapped me in the face. I began to cry.
18. The Captain FSO then returned to the room. I told her Dave
Foster had slapped me. Dave Foster denied it. Captain FSO then
immediately began asking me again for more money. They kept
badgering me, insinuating that if I wanted to go home to Italy, I
had better give the money. Soon, I was an emotional mess. I
wanted out of that room and to go home to Italy. It was apparent
to me that neither would happen if I did not agree: so, I
finally agreed to give them whatever money they wanted. At that
point they again called Franco Baggio and I told him to give the
money. Franco then wrote a check and gave it to Tito Mazza, who
took the check to Luxembourg and put it into a Flag account
there. Only after this did they let me out of the room. I then
returned to work.
19. I now wanted to leave for Italy, but OSA was holding my
passport and though I had asked for its return every night for
twenty days, they would not give it to me. I finally went to the
Captain FSO at the end of October. I begged to be able to return
to Italy so I could get the money to pay everybody
back. Also during this time I was sick with worry because they
had told me they wanted one million dollars and they hadn't yet
gotten that out of me. So every Thursday I was terrified that I
would again be called in and forced to give more money.
20. The Captain finally ok'd the return of my passport. Soon
after getting it, I was again called into a meeting in the
Captain's Office in the Coachman building. The Captain told me
to write a CSW to go to Italy and get it signed by all of my
seniors and bring it back to Snr. Staff HCO and then to her.
This
was the end of October. At this time she asked me if I had any
more money in the bank. I admitted that I did (lying to the
Captain is an overt). She told me the stats were down and I
needed to again contribute money. I was so anxious to get my CSW
signed so I could leave, I again wrote a check for Flag.
This was for $25,000 written on my account at 1st National Bank
(Amsouth) in Clearwater.
21. After this, I tried and tried to get everyone to approve my
CSW to go home to Italy. Towards the end of November, I received
all necessary approvals. I finally left for Italy in early
December.
22. When I arrived in Italy, my attorney told me that before the
12th of December I had to pay the inheritance taxes. I paid the
taxes and then found that nothing was left in the bank. I
decided I had to sell some property, as I was now virtually
penniless.
23. I then called Mr. Baggio and told him that I was not able to
repay his loan immediately. He was furious. I explained that I
had given all of my money to Flag. He didn't care.
24. In January of 1993, I called Flag and told them that I
couldn't return as I was broke and was trying to sell property.
I spoke with Debbie Cook. Her suggestion was that I put the
property in the name of Scientology America, and they would sell
the property and pay back all of the loans I had taken to pay
FSO. I told her this was not possible as the property was not
fully in my name, but also in the name of my granddaughter, who
was a minor, and another relative. Because my granddaughter was
a minor, the court would represent her in any sale and put the
money aside for her use.
25. Debbie then directed me to stay in Italy to sell the
property, and while I was there to continue working for Flag as a
"missionaire." She said I should audit people from my home.
She would send the clients to me. She said there were a lot of
Italian people in disagreement with Scientology who would
not go into an org but would come to my home or I could go to
theirs. So the people would pay Flag and I would audit them in
Italy. Of course, I got paidnothing to do this work.
26. I now began to sell my art and antiques just to survive until
I finally sold the property. I was then able to repay all the
money borrowed on mybehalf. Franco Baggio charged me 22%
interest on the money. This had never been discussed or agreed
to between us.
27. As soon as I paid Mr. Baggio, I received a call from Captain
FSO. She said she knew I had sold my property. She called me
directly because I had previously screamed into the phone at
another staff member, saying I was sick of getting calls from
Flag and to leave me alone. Debbie Cook asked me at
this time to pay the balance of the $1 million she wanted. I
refused. She then told me I had to return to Flag. I said I
could not. I reminded her I was doing all sorts of auditing in
Italy. She insisted I return to Flag. I still refused.
28. About two weeks later I was in Milano to audit some OT VII's.
At this time I was mentally a mess. My mother had died, my
daughter had died, my cousin had committed suicide, I had given
all of my money to Flag and my families business had lost all of
its assets. While I was in Milano, Tito Mazza and John Lundeen
bothered me about making further donations. I finally broke down
and wrote a check for the balance to make up $1 million. At this
point, I had paid a total of one million dollars to Flag and
$40,000 to Franco Baggio for interest.
29. Debbie Cook then called again to tell me I had not yet made
one million dollars. Per their account it was only $960,000. I
told her by my count it was one million forty thousand. That was
it. I refused to give any more.
30. At this time, my family began expressing concern for my
mental state, saying they believed I was crazy for throwing away
all of my money to Scientology. One relative was trying to
convince my attorneys that I was completely insane. This created
a great deal of difficulty for me. At this
time I decided to never return to work at Flag. My life was a
living hell.
31. I called Debbie Cook and told her I was not coming back to
work. Three days later, John Lundeen arrived at my home with
Chiara. These two insisted I pay the remainder of money to make
my donation for one million. This was insane. I could stand it
no more. I told them to take any money they wanted, I didn't
care. My nerves were gone at this point. I was totally broken.
I gave them another $50,000.
32. As far as leaving staff, I wanted to do it properly per the
policies of the FSO. So I returned in January or February of
1994 to route out. I expected this to take about one week. It
took two months. This organization did a Board of Investigation
on me because I wanted to leave staff. The result of this action
was that I was not qualified for the Sea Org. Therefore, they
now kicked me out. After all of the money I had given them and
all of the auditing I had done and my high training, I was found
not qualified.
33. Also, while I was doing this routing out, I noticed that
there was not one Italian in the Class VIII classroom studying.
This is what I had paid the one million for. I had been told
that my donations were for Italians, yet in the course room were
all kinds of people but Italians. I went to Debbie Cook
and told her she had lied to me. I said right then that I wanted
all of my money back. Debbie responded that they were at that
point in time translating the material into Italian so my money
could be used to "free Italians." Two years later, materials
were still not translated into Italian.
34. When I finally returned to Italy, I found my situation was
terrible. My attorney told me to sell the family villa. All the
money was gone and I could no longer afford it. I sold the villa
and gave some of this money to my granddaughter and about half a
million to my son-in-law.
35. At the end of 1994, I returned to Clearwater to sell a condo
I owned in Island Estates. At that time I went to the Fort
Harrison to visit Chiara. When I walked in, a registrar for the
Super Power project, Charmaigne, and another registrar for
special properties grabbed me and sat me down. They asked me for
money. I said no.but they would not let me leave. I was at this
point completely unable to deal with these demands for money,
even though I knew it was harming me. I gave $20,000 to
Charmaigne for super power project. I then went to Chiara's house
and hid out.
36. After I sold my condo, I went to Amsouth bank to get some
money. When I came out of the bank two officers from Scientology
Special Properties in Los Angeles were waiting for me. They
wanted money to help put LRH materials into titanium so it could
be preserved for eternity. They asked me to come to the top
floor of the Fort Harrison to see the new special properties. I
just wanted to go to Italy, now. I had my ticket in my pocket.
I still had to empty my condo and get out. I asked them to leave
me be. I told them to leave me alone or I would die here in
America. But they said, "Let's go" and
escorted me to the Fort Harrison where they badgered me for the
money. Again, I lost my will and just wrote them a check. I
gave them $25,000 from the condo sale.
37. After this, I went to the bank, emptied the account and I
left for home. While I was at the airport in Miami awaiting my
connecting flight to Milan, I sat in the VIP waiting room having
a coffee. I received a call. I was told there was someone
crying on the phone. Immediately I worried that it
was my granddaughter and something was wrong at home.
38. The person crying on the phone was Chiara at Flag. She told
me that Charmaigne had her locked in a room and was badgering
her, telling her she had to give them $100,000 in my name for the
superpower project. They wouldn't believe Chiara when she told
them I was already gone. They told her to prove it, and thus
Chiara was calling me. I then had to verify for Charmaigne over
the phone that I was indeed in Miami.
39. Charmaigne at once told me to return to Flag. I told her no.
Finally, I was yelling into the phone. I told her I could give
her not one penny more and that if Chiara gave her the $100,000 I
would not pay it back, but Charmaigne would have to repay it
herself.
40. I returned to Italy. My life was very difficult now. I had
little money and again had to sell property to pay my daily
expenses.
41. In early 1995, I called Debbie Cook. I told her that now I
needed help from her. I was an OT VIII class IX auditor who had
given over one million dollars to Scientology. I never spoke to
Debbie. Never once would she come on the phone to speak to me.
42. Now, I started to write to her. I also started writing CLO
and phoning OSA in Italy and asking for my money back. I wrote
and called many times saying I wanted all one million. I was
ignored. I then decided to go to court.
43. My family attorney wrote to the CLO Italy. The response was
for Flag to send Ellen Almquist to me in Italy to audit me. I
refused to be audited. For three days she stayed at my home and
tried to get me into session. I would not go. She finally went
away. Shortly thereafter, they sent another auditor,
one whom I was very fond of and with whom I had previously
worked. I still refused. In fact, when he prepared a room to
audit me, I took a bottle of whisky in with me and said, "Ok. I
am ready to audit." He soon left.
44. In 1994 Debbie Cook bought a new, $40,000 car. She told me
it was her FSM commission as she was the FSM on my cycle. This
is against the policies of Scientology as far as I know. In
fact, everyone who worked on this gathering of the $1 million
took commissions from this.
45. During this time, I started drinking too much, just to forget
all that I had been through. Now, the CLO wrote to my attorney
and said I had to get my money back from Flag, not them. My
attorney then told me I could sue them from Italy. When Flag
found out that I was suing, they started looking into my
financial situation. At this point, I wanted ALL money I had
given to Flag. So, I called their attorney in Rome. They
proposed a meeting with my attorney to come to some form of
agreement.
46. Their attorney set the time of the meeting one day before a
sale at my home to raise money. They had gone to a public
registry and obtained information on my financial situation.
47. At this meeting in Rome in their attorney's office was
myself, a person from CLO Italy, my attorney, the daughter of
their attorney, a woman from OSA Flag and a staff member from
Roma Org. For the whole afternoon we discussed the situation.
In the end, the woman from OSA told me they knew I was in a
terrible financial bind and she offered me a check for 250
million lira ($180,000). She said either I agree or I will get
nothing. She spoke in English and my attorney could not
understand this. I was really at the point of losing the last of
what I had. I asked the woman if I took the money, would I still
be in good standing with the church. She said yes. I didn't
want to go back, but I also didn't want them all against me. I
felt they were dangerous people. I also told her I still had
$29,000 in my account at Flag and I wanted that returned. She
said I would still be able to get that returned per the church
policy.
48. I then accepted the check. We agreed that I would then
receive two more checks in the same amount. I signed an
agreement, which was in English. I asked for a copy. They said
it had to go to Flag and they would send my copy with the second
payment. They never sent it and I have still never received a
copy.
49. When the third payment arrived, it was for 240 million, not
250. I asked where are the other ten million liras. Their
attorney said it had been given to my attorney.
50. Now, after I had received this money for repayment of half of
what I had given for the Class VIII Italian project, I decided to
get the money left on account at Flag. I called FSO and asked to
come back. I was told that I could not return to Flag. I was
not in good standing with the church. I soon
also received a letter from the Ship saying I was a "refund." I
have never yet received a refund from the Ship Org.
51. I have been cheated by this organization. I want my money on
accounts refunded; I want my money donated to the Super Power
project returned to me. I want the other $500,000 returned to
me. I have written them and they are not willing to help me.
They in fact have told me that am trying to extort money from
them. My attorney in Italy did say that the agreement had no
legal standing in Italy.
I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United
States of America and the state of Florida that the foregoing is
true and correct.
Executed in Clearwater, Florida this 19th day of January 2001.
Maria Pia Gardini
3. On January 1, 1992 at twelve thirty in the afternoon I was
sitting at table for lunch with some friends i.e. Franco Baggio,
his wife Marilena and his son Alessandro, Masimo Cavadenti (now
deceased) and Letizia Pizza, when a taxi entered my garden. Four
people emerged. My butler came to table to inform me of the
visitors, as they were quite unexpected. In Italy, you don't
just drop in on people on the first day of the year. It is to be
spent with family and close friends.
4. I went to the window to see who it was. It was Charmaign
(last name unknown), who was the Super Power registrar In Charge
in Flag Service Org in Clearwater, Fl; her husband; a staff
member from CLO Italy named Simonetta; and a public from Los
Angeles, a blond haired woman whom I never seen since.
5. Charmaign stood in my garden yelling for me to come down and
pay for the taxi, as they didn't have a penny. Mr. Baggio went
instead of me. They then came upstairs to the dining room and I
asked why there were there. Were they lost or what? Charmaign
said no, she had come expressly to me to talk to
me about Super Power.
6. All four people then sat at the table and began to eat our
meals. I was shocked by their horrible manners and even smacked
Charmaign's hand when she tried to take food from my plate. This
woman was in full Sea Org uniform with stripes and everything.
My butler was looking quite shocked.
7. This was my first year alone since my daughter and mother had
died and my friends and I were shocked that they had come on this
day to reg me for money. Charmaign told me they were in Italy
and came to "get their stats up." So, they start telling me all
about Super Power project until Franco Baggio
asked them to stop so they could at least eat and they would
discuss it afterward.
8. At this point, Charmaign began drinking wine, lots of wine
until she became totally drunk. We had to put her in bed in the
guest room with her husband. The rest of us went into another
room to talk socially.
9. At 6:00 p.m. Charmaign woke up. She was yelling and
screaming, "Why did you let me sleep!" We told her she was so
drunk she couldn't stand up from the chair. She then started
right in telling me she wanted $35,000 from me for a Cornerstone
donation to the project. She told me she would not leave the
house until I paid. This went on until 8:00 p.m. as I tried to
resist her in every way, even locking myself in the bathroom for
half an hour with her banging on the outside saying she would
never leave.
10. My butler then came in and told us that dinner was ready. I
did not want Charmaign and company to stay for dinner as I had
other family arriving. Franco finally told me to give her
something so she would get out, so I offered her a check for
$10,000 to leave. I told the butler to take one of my cars and
take them to the train station and put her on any train he could
find.
11. I was still a staff member of Flag at this time and Charmaign
was a senior officer to me. This is one thing that made it very
difficult for me to kick her out of my home. I would have been
in very strong ethics problems if I had over stepped my limit in
how I treated an officer.
I declare under penalty of perjury under the laws of the United
States ofAmerica and the state of Florida that the foregoing is
true and correct.
Executed in Clearwater, Florida this 19th day of January 2001.
Maria Pia Gardini
I would have to ask you, how do you handle this for yourself? Do
you say, "She was just PTS to her mother."? Or, "She had overts
on LRH so, she pulled it in."?
7) Despite all the tech on management, the church has a very bad
public image. Those of you on the inside do not necessarily see
this, but once you are out it is very clear. I understand that
PR operations like the Literacy groups and others help to soften
the COS image but once the direct connection to COS is realized,
the public stays away. This is a personal observation. Just SAY
its scientology. If the stuff is so good, just like with Compaq
or Dell or Apple Pie, people will like it and will find it and
will promote it! This doesn't work with scientology. You need
tons of PR, lots of ACCEPTABLE TRUTHS. Kind of like Amway. You
can't SAY its Amway or people run. I find this just another
confirmation that the COS has self-sabotaged.
8) When I discovered an entire sub-culture of underground
auditors to access, I was free. No longer did I have to accept
the tyrannical COS. I could talk. I could say what I felt and
no worry over the consequences. If the tech really works, that's
all that matters. Whether the COS or someone else gets my money,
makes no difference. The TECH is supposed to set you free. Did
you know that there are no longer any LRH personally trained
Class XII auditors in the COS? Guess where they are? They are in
the field, auditing. Many of them left the church in the early
80's when they saw what was happening to the COS. There are
many, many out there. CL 6, 8 and 12, who believe in standard
tech. I know some of them. Many others audit in hiding. They
do not want the harassment from the church so it takes a cloak of
secrecy and trust to be able to hook up with them. I will not
disclose the identity of any of these people to anyone still
connected to hold up my end of the trust. All I can say is that
the tech is there, right now, if you want it. You can do your L'
s for $4500 each, although from Ed's experience, I wouldn't
advise it. You can do your entire bridge, unaltered, for about
20-25K! They have OT levels up to OT15 and beyond(?). Super
power right now. Auditor training using standard, LRH written
checksheets. Unaltered materials. Training to CL 12. I was
gone when I found this out.
9) The alterations in the books are there. I know you have the
old thin books. Just compare them in text. You say that these
alterations are part of the LRH advises. Sounds like a hidden
data line. Where are the hand-written LRH advises or the
recordings or whatever. I know it is hard to swallow a lot of
this because if what I am saying is even partially true, it
threatens many of your core beliefs, your stable datums.
Dear XXXXX- All I can tell you is that we are free now. Free to
think and say what we see and feel. Ask yourself, are you freer
now? I can assure you that we are. And if we want it, our
Bridge is there for us, whenever we want it. I know how the
scientologist mind thinks so I can imagine that you might be
thinking we are in Lower Conditions and cannot see, that we are
PTS to the SPs, that we are trying to be right, etc. I assure
you that we have looked at this very objectively and once we
"wiped the dogma off our shoes" we were both able to see quite
clearly that we wanted no part of the COS.
Your friendship is very real to me by virtue of the fact that you
are willing to communicate to me. I have sent out our video to
the entire field that we knew in the Atlanta area as well as all
over the East US. You are the only one from the Atlanta area
that has even taken the time to contact us. We have been,
strangely enough, contacted by many people from all over the
world who have seen our video on the web. Many of them were like
we were. Broke, but still connected. Our video and other
communication with them has helped them. Many of them did not
realize that others were having similar experiences. Our mission
is not to destroy the COS. We just want to set things right and
get on with our lives.
I will soon be a declared SP, I am quite certain of this. Ed and
I have received a $10,500 refund from the IAS and we are going
after a $70,000 Flag refund at this time.
I have just returned from Clearwater after doing an interview on
a 60 minutes-type program that airs in Spain sometime in May. I
am receiving requests for other US radio and TV interviews at
this time. I think that these media types find our story
fascinating. We just tell our story, the entire truth.
Because of this I know you may never be allowed to speak with us
again. This would be a tragedy, but we understand that you have
your eternity at stake and we would never want to threaten that
for you or XXXX. In the event that this is our last
communication, allow me to say that it was a joy to know you and
your family. Your relationship has meant a great deal to both of
us.
Your Friend, Always,
Tera Hattaway
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