Coyote13
Thought Criminal
http://tonyortega.org/2013/05/06/lawsuit-alleges-church-of-scientology-in-utah-involved-in-ponzi-scheme/
"In Salt Lake City, a retired schoolteacher and her son are suing a group of people they accuse of running a Ponzi scheme involving — and designed to benefit — the Church of Scientology in Utah.
Carol Bee and Brian Bagley are suing a group of investors in a state court action, but also have filed a complaint in the bankruptcy of Barry and Kimberly Hunter, two Scientologists who became insolvent when the financial services company they were trying to get off the ground, Portfolio Manager International, failed in 2011.
The Hunters have responded in detailed court filings denying that PMI was a Ponzi scheme, and they say that Bee and Bagley were harmed not by PMI but by a man named Christopher Hales, who is currently serving 7.5 years in federal prison for bank fraud. The Hunters say that they actually tried to help Bee and Bagley once they realized Hales was acting strangely about the investments that Bee and Bagley had given him.
But since the Hunters made those responses, Bee and Bagley have now filed a beefed-up amended complaint asserting that Barry Hunter and his other partners formed PMI in 2005 as a fraudulent scheme that would in part raise money for a Scientology foundation.
“PMI was never operated as a legitimate business,” says David Scofield, attorney for Bee and Bagley.
Scofield’s court filings include lengthy descriptions of Scientology as an explanation for how its unique ethics make it a cauldron for fraud."
(continued at link)
"In Salt Lake City, a retired schoolteacher and her son are suing a group of people they accuse of running a Ponzi scheme involving — and designed to benefit — the Church of Scientology in Utah.
Carol Bee and Brian Bagley are suing a group of investors in a state court action, but also have filed a complaint in the bankruptcy of Barry and Kimberly Hunter, two Scientologists who became insolvent when the financial services company they were trying to get off the ground, Portfolio Manager International, failed in 2011.
The Hunters have responded in detailed court filings denying that PMI was a Ponzi scheme, and they say that Bee and Bagley were harmed not by PMI but by a man named Christopher Hales, who is currently serving 7.5 years in federal prison for bank fraud. The Hunters say that they actually tried to help Bee and Bagley once they realized Hales was acting strangely about the investments that Bee and Bagley had given him.
But since the Hunters made those responses, Bee and Bagley have now filed a beefed-up amended complaint asserting that Barry Hunter and his other partners formed PMI in 2005 as a fraudulent scheme that would in part raise money for a Scientology foundation.
“PMI was never operated as a legitimate business,” says David Scofield, attorney for Bee and Bagley.
Scofield’s court filings include lengthy descriptions of Scientology as an explanation for how its unique ethics make it a cauldron for fraud."
(continued at link)
