Did you witness Human Trafficking in Scientology?

[AnonOrange]

Bump because I don't belong in this thread. You guys do !

Please participate and encourage Ex'es from other forums to participate. This thread is extremely important.

 

[Labor Trafficking]

Day 16

Day 16: The employer threatens the employee with throwing out the person who will then be indigent. Most employees have no money, no assets and long since lost contact with their families. They fear being indigent.

 

[BC1]

I haven't posted a lot on this board, but I looked this up in my Accounting textbooks, so maybe I can help clarify some of these questions.

1. Employers are supposed to collect SS payments for the first $94,200 of an employees annual pay, which I would assume nobody in SO made anywhere close to that much money, so they should have deducted SS for all pay.

2. They also should match all payments, so if they collect $1 from you, they also pay $1 to SSA. Annually they are required to send you by Jan 31 a W2 statement that details all pay and taxes they with held the previous year. A normal company you can call up and they will send you a copy if you lost it, but you might need to send a letter through a lawyer or something with COS as they probably aren't going to be as cooperative.

3. They are also required by law to send a copy of the same W2 to the SSA each year, who in turn releases the data to the IRS. So the IRS should have your information (providing COS sent it) regardless of whether you filed taxes for the year.

I also looked on www.irs.gov and there was some information that ministers are allowed to opt out of paying SS taxes, however if they do this for 10 or more years they become inelligible for SS payments later in life. Is it possible that COS considered you a minister?

Also as a side note, you aren't required to file taxes if you make under a certain amount, but I believe the reason for that is because it would result in a refund. So if you haven't passed the time limit to file you may be able to submit a late filing and get a refund, might want to check with a CPA on that though.

 

[Voltaire's Child]

Re: Social Security payments/employer responsibility

I wouldn't make excuses for the cult but I do have a question re the above- does this include any organization registered (USA) as a church or charitable organization?

 

[BC1]

I would recommend double checking with either the SSA, IRS or a CPA, but my understanding is that it applies to all employees, regardless of whether they work for a for-profit, non-profit or religious organization. When I was researching on the IRS website it said that ministers could opt out of paying SS tax, so to me that would imply that the standard rule is for religious employees to pay this tax. The option to opt out that I saw was ONLY for ministers, not just a general church employee. There is an IRS hot line that you could call too that is listed on their website (www.irs.gov).

Telephone Assistance for Individuals:
Toll-Free, 1-800-829-1040
Hours of Operation: Monday – Friday, 7:00 a.m. – 10:00 p.m. your local time (Alaska & Hawaii follow Pacific Time).

Telephone Assistance for Exempt Organizations, Retirement Plan Administrators, and Government Entities:
Toll-Free, 1-877-829-5500
Hours of Operation: Monday – Friday, 7:00 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Central Time.

 

[BC1]

If anyone has good reason to suspect that they aren't complying with the laws, this is how you can report them:

I got copied and pasted this from www.irs.gov

How Do You Report Suspected Tax Fraud Activity?

If you suspect or know of an individual or company that is not complying with the tax laws, you may report this activity by completing Form 3949-A. You may fill out Form 3949-A online, print it and mail it to:

Internal Revenue Service
Fresno, CA 93888

If you do not wish to use Form 3949-A, you may send a letter to the address above. Please include the following information, if available:

* Name and address of the person you are reporting
* The taxpayer identification number (social security number for an individual or employer identification number for a business)
* A brief description of the alleged violation, including how you became aware of or obtained the information
* The years involved
* The estimated dollar amount of any unreported income
* Your name, address and daytime telephone number

Although you are not required to identify yourself, it is helpful to do so. Your identity can be kept confidential.

 

[HolyCow]

If you were alone here, you would require evidence that you were paid a salary (contract, canceled checks, etc.) If enough people come forward with the same story, then you all have a case. That's why it's important to join with BFG, his wife and Laura's lawsuit.

Yesterday at BFG's party I spoke to a couple in that situation. What's worse is they were told by the CoS that the SS taxes were deducted, but in their SS report none shows up. So if you were supposed to get $50/week and you only got $42, the $8 was supposed to go to the govt. Not only that, but they were supposed to match the deduction on your side and pay another $8 to the govt/ If it's not on the report, that's a HUGE problem for the CoS.

Please report it to the SS administration.

Ahha! Well that bit about ministers: Now I know the Real reason why all staff had to drop everything and do the Minister's Course! We were told to keep from getting drafted (also Purif, as guinea pigs). You see, the world was coming to an end via radiation bombing.
I'm working on cutting down on cussing as of late, damn it, and this is not helping. Wondering if currently SO staff required to do Minister's Course? Also, wondering if short course, Volunteer's Minister's Course, would fit the legal bill.
We were That insulated we believed all this. Anyone, it means it would have been legal. And damn it, pay was something like $5 or $10 anyway, Holy Crap (now u know why i go by Holy Cow).

 

[BC1]

It's probably worth someone talking to a CPA that knows something about religious taxes and exemptions. I don't happen to know anyone I can ask about that. I tried to dig around a bit more on both the SSA and IRS sites and there are also conditions of exemption that could apply if the organization has selected the "vow of poverty" role. I know I've heard people mention that they had to take a form when they went for medical care saying that they had taken a vow of poverty, so that could also be part of the reason social security is not getting taken out of pay for certain people.

Unfortunately for people that leave COS the key to qualifying for SS is that you have to pay into it and earn a certain amount of credits to qualify and then your benefit is the average of the highest 35 years of your earnings. You can earn the qualification in 10 years, but if you have a lot of years with $0 pay being averaged into your benefit calculation you won't get much. Just another perk for being a Scientologist I guess.

 

[AnonOrange]

I also looked on www.irs.gov and there was some information that ministers are allowed to opt out of paying SS taxes, however if they do this for 10 or more years they become inelligible for SS payments later in life. Is it possible that COS considered you a minister?

That's the part I'd like to understand better. Imagine someone born in scientology and gets in the sea org at 16. For 10 years there are no SS payments deducted and matched by the CoS. The person is classified as a minister, with a vow of poverty as far as the IRS is concerned.

He/she gets out at 26 and starts a regular wog job. Does that mean that he/she won't be eligible for SS payments once the person retires at 66? 40 years paying into the system and they'll be ineligible?

Holy cow, where are you? Say something about this!

 

[Dulloldfart]

When I was in the SO I transferred to LA from the UK in 1986. Around 1995 the option of being exempted as a minister was offered to us all. I took it, as of course I was going to spend the rest of my life in the SO so the extra $5 a week would come in handy. Hah! As it happened, what with pay cuts and getting taken off post the total amount extra I made was maybe $10 (total, not $10 a week).

I had an official letter from the IRS exempting all income I made AS A MINISTER, but any non-ministerial income I made was not included. So when I left the SO and made income doing regular admin work I paid regular tax and had regular deductions and got regular SS credits.

Paul

 

[Dulloldfart]

Day 16: The employer threatens the employee with throwing out the person who will then be indigent. Most employees have no money, no assets and long since lost contact with their families. They fear being indigent.

I never heard of anyone being threatened with being thrown out. Quite the reverse in that it was hard to leave as long as you were able-bodied and willing to work. However, people were told how hard it was to survive and how "insane" it was "out there."

Paul

 

[clamicide]

I never heard of anyone being threatened with being thrown out. Quite the reverse in that it was hard to leave as long as you were able-bodied and willing to work. However, people were told how hard it was to survive and how "insane" it was "out there."

Paul

Well, I wasn't SO, but as staff I was constantly threatened with being "thrown out" as in being threatened with an SP declare if I fucked up. On the other hand, it was impossible to leave...they'd do anything to recover you and it was impossible to even get an LOA (they hid the routing forms for leaving staff and LOAs)...odd dichotomy.

 

[Dulloldfart]

Well, I wasn't SO, but as staff I was constantly threatened with being "thrown out" as in being threatened with an SP declare if I fucked up.

Yes, I hadn't looked at such a threat as the same thing, but I certainly heard of that one.

Paul

 

[Labor Trafficking]

Day 17

Thanks for contributions from: CornPie, AnonOrange, Ted, Takin Time, alex, Ladybird, BC1, fluffy, HolyCow, Dulloldfart & clamicide.

Day 17: The employees routinely do not have any form of bank account for their assets, and most have no assets because they are paid insufficiently to require a bank account. The employees are usually paid in cash.

 

[Labor Trafficking]

A special reply

Day 17: The employees routinely do not have any form of bank account for their assets, and most have no assets because they are paid insufficiently to require a bank account. The employees are usually paid in cash.

I'm just wondering if not having a bank account is one of the criteria they use to determine evidence for human trafficking.
...and he doesn't have a bank account. That's not a reason to send the cops...

There is no ONE SINGLE item that will cause law enforcement to investigate and charge in with arrests. Certainly, victims having no checking account is not a high-level indicator. And not having a checking account is not a crime, either.

However, it is an indicator of trafficking when you add together all the other items.

Think of it this way:

• Doesn't get paid hardly anything
• Isn't allowed out to go to a bank
• Doesn't have enough cash to go there anyway
• Some are required to "turn in" their cash (RPFers and sometimes EPFers)
• and so on.

You see how that information just helps to substantiate the human trafficking, but doesn't in and of itself indicate human trafficking.

• If the laborers made a lot of money, paid in checks, they would have a bank account.
  
• People who have very little money, bad credit (collection agents after them), or illegal immigrants, often deal solely in cash - but your average worker in the USA has a checking account.
  
• Criminals also often deal in cash.
  
• Traffickers rarely let their people have any cash. If the victims cannot accumulate any cash, they will have a harder time getting away. If they don't have any cash on hand, the harder it will be to GET away.

Busing people to and from work is also "not a crime", but it adds to the rest of the picture, which when painted on a single canvas shows a grand landscape of Labor Trafficking.

 

[Takin Time]

Day 17: The employees routinely do not have any form of bank account for their assets, and most have no assets because they are paid insufficiently to require a bank account. The employees are usually paid in cash.

In the sea org, it was difficult to get off time to run over to the bank. I'm sure the Church of Scientology thought it expedient to their workforce to pay them in cash so they wouldn't have to all run over to the banks to get their checks cashed.

I was often asked by other sea org members to loan them money. One time I was asked by an executive, and I loaned him some money. It wasn't much. Something like $50 or $100 or whatever. It wasn't much TO ME. However, the dude didn't pay me back on time, nor in a reasonable amount of time. So I confronted him and told me to pay me "or else". I don't remember what my "or else" was, but it enraged him. Thereafter, he treated me like scum. [Edit: I think I asked for it back when I was "routing out", so he thought paying a soon-to-be-freeloader would be a bad idea. On the other hand, I was no longer afraid of facing up to the executives who meant nothing to me anymore.]

Oh well. Anyone who doesn't have $50 or $100 after about a month or two IS scum himself.

Hmm... now that I'm "out" of Scientology and reflecting back on the CASH pay...

Many people who get CASH spend it immediately. They never save. So if you have a workforce getting paid cash which is immediately spent, you still have your slaves.

Don't you?

 

[Takin Time]

Day 16: The employer threatens the employee with throwing out the person who will then be indigent. Most employees have no money, no assets and long since lost contact with their families. They fear being indigent.

I recall seeing a lot of really poor people in the sea org.

One of my roomates missed her dad.

One of my fellow EPFers was not allowed to speak with her mother (who was determined to be an SP, though not declared).

One of my fellow workers at CC Int had holes in his shoes. He put cardboard in them to keep the dirt (street) out.

 

[Dulloldfart]

One of my fellow workers at CC Int had holes in his shoes. He put cardboard in them to keep the dirt (street) out.

I used to carefully avoid puddles for literally years. My (free) uniform shoes lasted for about five years of daily wear until I got a new (free) pair. They were good quality leather shoes, but they do wear out eventually.

Paul

 

[Takin Time]

I used to carefully avoid puddles for literally years. My (free) uniform shoes lasted for about five years of daily wear until I got a new (free) pair. They were good quality leather shoes, but they do wear out eventually. Paul

Most of the shoes I saw at CC Int and PAC Base were cheap plastic crap. I was required to purchase my own shoes, simply because they didn't have any my size (crappy unconfortable pumps for the ladies!). I never saw anyone who owned more than one pair of shoes, which is disgusting considering that Sea Org are on their feet the entire day. The only time the shoes get to air out and dry are at night when they sleep (and you know how little sleep that is). And since no one had any air conditioning (and in some cases no fans) there is no way the shoes would dry overnight. Hence the disgusting rotten and fungus feet smell in the dormitories.

 

[Labor Trafficking]

Day 18

Day 18: The employer opens all employee personal mail and reads it and censors it — passing on only those bits the employer deems okay.