------------------------------------------------------------------- F.A.C.T.Net, Inc. (Fight Against Coercive Tactics Network, Incorporated) a non-profit computer bulletin board and electronic library 601 16th St. #C-217 Golden, Colorado 80401 USA BBS 303 530-1942 FAX 303 530-2950 Office 303 473-0111 This document is part of an electronic lending library and preservational electronic archive. F.A.C.T.Net does not sell documents, it only lends them according to the terms of your library cardholder agreement with F.A.C.T.Net, Inc. ------------------------------------------------------------------- Steven Fishman 8851 Sunrise Lakes Boulevard, Apartment # 116 Sunrise, Florida 33322-1q13 Friday, December 10, 1993 Ms. Jeanne S. Gessay Chief Exempt Organizations Rulings Branch 2 Internal Revenue Service Washington, D. C. 20224 Re: Church of Scientology International Employer Identification Number # 59-2153303 Reference Reply: E: EO: R: 2 Foundation Status Classification 509(a) (1) F, (1 70(b) ( 1 ) (A) (i) Key District: Los Angeles Service Center: Fresno, California 93888 Dear Ms. Gessay, This is a complaint against and a formal notice of petition to revoke the tax exempt status of the Church of Scientology International. The Church of Scientology International, and its branches, are a Church in name only. Contrary to Schedule A Churches, Section 8(b) (Form 1023), the Church does not have worship services. The Church does not profess a faith in God. I invite you or any examiner of the Internal Revenue Service to spontaneously go to your local Church of Scientology at any time, and you will find that no worship services are scheduled or conducted, because they do not occur or exist. The Church conducts a business of auditing, or selfhelp counseling based upon the writings of the founder, L. Ron Hubbard, who was a fugitive from the Justice Department for the last thirteen years of his life; and this auditing has fixed "donation" costs, but there are no worship services held. Please investigate this and you will see that I am right. They lied on Schedule A, Section 8(b). There are no rooms large enough at any Church (except for the Flag Service Organization which is a reconverted hotel) which could accommodate 50-900 worshipers at a time, and no such activity occurs, and it is not scheduled. In Part II, "Activities and General Information", the Church lied in Number 3 when they state "CSI has no fund raising program." By their literature, they constantly send out mailings seeking members to contribute to various operations, projects and programs. They have and operate a Ponzi Scheme called "FSM" or Field Staff Members where members are paid 10% to recruit new members for auditing services. This is fund raising. With regard to Part II, Question 4, Officers, Directors and Trustees, the Church has omitted the very important fact that David Miscavige, Chairman of the Board of the Religious Technology Center, runs the Church of Scientology. This fact is well established and admitted this on the Ted Koppel Show. Yet nowhere does his name show up as either a director or a trustee. This may have something to do with a multitude of bad acts for which he is being investigated, including the murder of his mother-in-law, Mary Florence Barnett in 1985, whose death was ruled a suicide until recently, when the Medical Examiner in Los Angeles gave the opinion that she could not have committed suicide from the ballistics, as she would have had to shoot herself four times with a shotgun. Her death is being referred over to the Sheriff's Office for investigation as a homicide. Several days before her death, she threatened to sue Miscavige and the Church of Scientology International. (See Exhibit B). In many court cases, you will find a plethora of bad acts and crimes committed by officials of the Church of Scientology. I can refer you to Attorney Graham Bel"ry, of the law firm of Lewis, D'Amato, Brisbois & Bisgaard, 221 North Figueroa Street, Suite 1200, Los Angeles, California 90012, telephone (213} 680-5007, who can provide you with hard evidence of the Church's criminal activities. It is a serious act of omission not to list the person most knowledgeable and responsible within the Church of Scientology hierarchy, which is David Miscavige. Essentially, this is a violation of your listing requirements under Part II, Section 4. In Part II, Activities and Operational Information, Question 10, the Church has lied when they claim that they are not a membership organization. Since the Tax Exemption ruling, they have notified all members of the following: "Donations to the International Association of Scientologists: The International association of Scientologists (located in England) has also been recognized as tax exempt. However, donations to it are not tax deductible as it is outside the United States. The IAS has established a fund in the United States that does qualify to receive tax-deductible charitable contributions. Contributions to this fund, called the United States IAS Members' Trust, qualify for tax deductions. These donations will be used by the Trust for the same worthwhile purposes that IAS used the donations and membership dues that it receives. For more information on tax exemption and how it affects your IAS donations, contact your IAS representative or write to: United States IAS Members' Trust, 1311 North New Hampshire, Los An9eles, California 90027." (See Exhibit A). Thus, the Church has lied once more when they claim that they are not a membership organization under Part II, Question 10. With regard to Part II, Question 9a, Facilities Managed by Another Organization, the Church claims to have constructed religious facilities on a portion of the Gilman Hot Springs property. The use of this property in no way constitutes religious facilities. Ordinarily members of public parishioners are not permitted on this property. The property is patrolled with guards armed with sub-machine guns. The property is a concentration camp, or Rehabilitation Project Force, which is used to punish staff members who have gotten in trouble with Church leaders. These staff members are held against their will, and it is fully documented how they are treated as per Church Policy. They are made to eat table scraps, they are denied sleep, they may not be trained or audited (given any counseling), and have to follow a severe ethics formula to be released. Many are held there for an indeterminable sentence. The property is also used as a secret residence of David Miscavige and other top Church officials. But in no way is it a religious facility, purely and simply because Church members and public parishioners are not permitted access to this property. There are no worship services held at the Rehabilitation Project Force either. If your investigator ever, tries to gain admittance to this property, he will no doubt be in for a very rude awakening. In 1991-1992, I was an informant in the criminal investigation conducted by the IRS Tampa Office. As a former Guardian's Agent and Office of Special Affairs Agent of the Church of Scientology, I cooperated with Special Agent Angelo Troncoso of the IRS Tampa Office with regard to the illegal movement of money out of the United States by the Church to avoid paying taxes while it was non-exempt. I also was a cooperating witness for Special Agent Terry C. Kroggel, Civil Division, IRS Tampa. It is an outrage that the Foundation Church of Scientology Flag Ship Service Organization, the Flag Ship Trust, and the Church of Scientology Freewinds Relay Office, Incorporated; all of which have violated United States tax laws by collecting donation fees in the United States and both invoicing and reporting them in the Netherland Antilies, now has the audacity to apply for exemption under 501(c)(3). These three corporations, as well as I~U [illegible] Services, Theta Management, ASSISCO, and the International Association of Scientologists (IAS) have been responsible for the illegal movement of North Korean gold bullion in excess of one hundred million dollars to Renaoiiitation Project Force locations in Katlehong, South Africa, which originated from services sold in the United States and covertly skimmed and sent by a fleet of couriers to private banking firms in San ,~iarino, Andorra, and Liechtenstein. Please have your investigators contact Special Agent Angelo Troncoso of the Tampa I RS Criminal Division at (813) 228-2301 for a debriefing on the criminal activities and money laundering of the very organization you have just given a tax exempt status to. It is thoroughly beyond belief that the Internal Revenue Service has opened the flood gates for tens of millions of dollars per year in allowable tax exemptions for a destructive cult which uses a Ponzi scheme (Field Staff Member System) to sell and recruit new fixed donations for the business of auditing and training. If you only take the time to investigate, you will clearly see that there is nothing of a religious nature about these activities. It is a self-help and personal self-improvement business masquerading under the guise of religion. To expect the American taxpayer to foot the bill for the mammoth tax exemptions that you are about to receive is unconscionable, at a time where concerns over balancing the Federal deficit are so strong. Why is it the responsibility of the average American citizen to finance and subsidize Scientology? It is my understanding that in reaching a settlement with the Internal Revenue Service, the Church of Scientology International had to sign a sealed agreement which admitted the criminal acts of its late founder, L. Ron Hubbard, who died a fugitive from justice and an un-indicted co-conspirator in the case of United States of America v. Mary Sue Hubbard. The secret agreement should be made public, as the American people and Scientology staff and public have the right to read about tl~e crimes of its founder. Furthermore, the Church of Scientology came before you with unclean hands. It has lied on its application for exemption. Since the granting of the exemption, the Church has set up "Bridge Investment Consultants" at the Flag Service Organization, in order to guide its parishioners through tax strategies the very behavior which they agreed not to do when they were negotiating for tax exemption. Finally, the intelligence arm of the Church (which sounds like a contradiction in terms but which is a very formidable threat to its enemies) has issued the following statement: "For Your Information: If you have any question or difficulty regarding existing IRS tax cases or audits, or with the deductibility of donations, you can contact the Tax Compliance Officer, in care of the Office of Special Affairs International, 6331 Hollywood Boulevard, Suite 1200, Los Angeles, California 90028, phone number (213) 960-3500. He is standing by to assist you or your tax advisor." (See Exhibit A) . I ask you, whoever heard of a Tax Compliance Officer in a Church? Please have your investigators look into these abuses. You will find that this behavior is in direct violation of the agreement which the Internal Revenue Service made with the Church. I am filing this complaint and requesting that you issue an immediate suspension of the tax exempt status of the Church of Scientology, International under 501(c)(3) until all of the above facts can be fully investigated and authenticated. In the alternative, I request that you issue an injunction against the use of the tax exemption by the hurch under 501(c)(3) until all of the above facts can be fully investigated and authenticated. Please have your investigators contact Attorney Graham Berry, of the law firm of Lewis, D'Amato, Brisbois & Bisgaard, 221 North Figueroa Street, Suite 1200, Los Angeles, California 90012, telephone (213) 680-5007, who can provide you with hard evidence of the Church's criminal activities, in order to investigate the matter, which would include the entire case file and all pleadings in Church of ScientolocJy International v. Steven Fishman and Dr. Uwe I/. Geertz, Ph.D., United States District Court, Central District of California, Case Number 91-6426-HLH(Tx). Please respond to this letter, and forward me copies of the appropriate forms, if any, which I may complete to institute proceedings for you to review and ultimately revoke the tax exempt status of the Church of Scientology. The Church of Scientology International does not operate for exclusively tax exempt purposes. The Church of Spiritual Technology is being operated for the benefit of the private interests of the Chairman of the Board of Religious Technology Center and leader of the Scientology movement, and successor to L. Ron Hubbard, David t~iscavige. It can also be proven that the Church operates for' the substantial non-exempt purpose of aicling other Scientolocj~/organizations in their marketing of Scientology services and publications. I am confident that once your investigators review this information, as it can easily be proven that the Church has lied on their application as I have indicated, that the agency will consider my request, and avoid having to take the matter before a Federal judge, where I would ask the court to compel the IRS to show cause why such tax exemption was granted, and to produce all documents which resulted in the granting of tax exempt status to the Church. I am filing this complaint and request to revoke the tax exempt status of the Church of Scientology International under the terms and provisions of the National Whistleblower's Act, particularly known as United States Code, Section 18, 3332, 3333, and 3334. Accordingly, I am requesting that as an agency of the Justice Department, you investigate this complaint and forward your findings to a Grand Jury within your District, and identify me, Steven Fishman, as the complainant. I have enclosed some data including court cases provided by Mr. Lawrence Wollersheim, one of my expert witnesses. Please provide these documetns to your Special investigative Unit Chief, Criminal Division and Civil Division. Please feel free to contact me at (305) 454-9444 days or (305 741-000 evenings. If you need a declaration from me or to take my deposition, I am available. I may also qualify as an expert witness in this case, should you need me under those guidelines. Very truly, Steven Fishman ================================================================= If this is a copyrighted work, you are acknowledging by receipt of this document from FACTNet that on the basis of reasonable investigation, you have not been to obtain a copy elsewhere at a fair price, and that you are and will abide by the following copyright warning. 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FACTNet reserves the right to refuse to accept an order for copying or other duplication, or delivery of copied or duplicated material if, in its judgment, fulfillment of the order would involve violation of copyright law. ------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------- DOS FILENAME OF TEXT FILE: IRS1.TXT DOS FILENAME OF IMAGE FILES: IRS1.TIF ADMINISTRATIVE CODE: SECURITY CODE: DISTRIBUTION CODE: NAME FOR BBS: Steven Fishman Requests IRS to Invalidate Scientology's Tax-Exempt Status. SORT TO: CONTRIBUTOR: LOC. OF ORIG: FACT NOTES: The December 10, 1993, request by Mr. Steven Fishman for IRS to revoke tax-exempt status for Scientology. He explains its non-religious character. For additional verification see image files contained in the file with same name and .ZIP extension. UPDATED ON: 4/12/94 UPDATED BY: FrJMc =================================================================