LAWSUIT ACCUSES JUDGES OF TAKING SCIENTOLOGY BRIBES "Tom Cruise and the Church of Scientology are the targets of an amended Florida lawsuit that seeks more than a quarter of a billion dollars, FBLA has learned. Ex-Scientologist Peter Letterese, using the RICO statute against the Church of Scientology, originally sought $250,000,000 in a suit filed in July. In the amended suit, filed Oct. 24, he added another $15 million to the total. In court papers obtained by FBLA, Letterese leveled serious charges against Cruise and the Church. He claimed that Cruise and Scientology bribed and improperly influenced a federal judge, a Florida state judge and a federal bankruptcy trustee to tie up his original law suit in bankruptcy court. Letterese's lawyers are really putting a lot on the line, potentially their careers, accusing federal and state judges of taking pay offs,' said Los Angeles private eye Paul Barresi, who had done some work for Cruise in the past."

LAWSUIT GOES AFTER SCIENTOLOGY, CRUISE "Tom Cruise is named in a $250 million federal lawsuit that is using the RICO statute against the Church of Scientology. Ex-Scientologist Peter Letterese, a longtime critic of the church, filed suit in Southern District Court in Florida on July 15 alleging, among other things, that members of the church harassed him after he left. … Letterese calls the church a 'crime syndicate' and wants it broken up under the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization law, just as the feds have broken up Mafia families. He singles out Cruise, who's made no secret of his religion, saying that Scientology head David Miscavage is 'aided and abetted by the actions of Tom Cruise, his right-hand man for foreign and domestic promotion, as well as for foreign and domestic lobbying. He has assisted the syndicate in acquiring funds and [made] his own donations of money believed to be in the multiple tens of millions of dollars.'"