Peter Letterese, a former member of the Church of Scientology, has filed a $250 million suit against the church and Tom Cruise for harassment using the RICO statute, which has been used previously to break up Mafia families.
A former member of the Church of Scientology is suing the church and Tom Cruise for $250 million and alleges that the organization is a "crime syndicate." Ex-Scientologist Peter Letterese, a long time critic of the church, wants the Church of Scientology broken up using the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization (RICO) statute, which has been used to prosecute and break up Mafia families. The suit was filed in Southern District Court in Florida, alleging that members of the church harassed Letterese after he left. Letterese has specifically singled out Cruise in the suit, saying that David Miscavage, the head of Scientology, 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."
