There have been several lawsuits filed over the decades against the Church of Scientology, but none has ever been successful in putting the church's controversial leader, David Miscavige, on the witness stand.
West Palm Beach attorney Theodore Babbitt says this time it will be different.
A federal lawsuit filed by Luis Garcia and his wife Maria in Tampa today alleges that the Church of Scientology lied to them when it said they would be given refunds for any financial contributions they made to the Church's "Super Power" Project in Clearwater over the course of several years. Scientology began fundraising for the the "Super Power" project in 1995. Seventeen years later, it remains unopened.
"We intend to prove that David Miscavige was the chief architect of these fraudulent claims, and we intend to put Mr. Micavige on as our first deponent in this case. We believe these lawsuits will put an end to this practice," Babbitt said.
Garcia and his wife contributed a total of $340,000 to the church, according to the lawsuit, where they were members for 28 years (1982-2010).
The suit alleges that the Church of Scientology (COS) never intended to open up the "Super Power" building, instead using it as a "shill" to collect donations from naive church members. Babbitt claims that the church has already acquired more than double the amount needed to open the facility.
This article appears in Jan 17-23, 2013.