Office of Special Affairs - Methods

Methods

Garry Scarff has said that he used to be an OSA operative. He has made a number of statements about the inner workings of OSA, many of which are disputed by the Church. In a sworn deposition taken between July and August 1993 and submitted in Church of Scientology International vs. Steven Fishman and Uwe Geertz, Scarff testified, "...I was directed, one, to go to Chicago, Illinois and to murder Cynthia Kisser, Cynthia Kisser being the Executive Director of the Cult Awareness Network, by a staged car accident." The murder of Kisser did not take place and Scarff said, "I could not bring myself to harm or kill anybody." Scientology attorney Kendrick Moxon has called Scarff "a liar" and Moxon also stated that "Scarff's own father says he's a scumbag." Scarff has also been said to "flip-flop" by a representative of the former Cult Awareness Network.

Attorney Graham E. Berry was repeatedly the target of OSA "fair game" operations. In one case on May 14, 1994, OSA employed private investigator Eugene Ingram to solicit false statements from Robert Cipriano in order to bring phony criminal charges against Berry. The criminal scheme backfired when Cipriano realized that he was bribed by the Church of Scientology and recanted the charges against Berry.

Tory Christman, a former volunteer for OSA has stated that the organization hired private investigators, fabricated criminal charges and harassed their targets, including at their place of employment, as well as their family members.

Bonnie Woods, a former member who began counselling people involved with Scientology and their families, became a target along with her husband in 1993 when the Church of Scientology started a leaflet operation denouncing her as a "hate campaigner" with demonstrators outside their home and around East Grinstead. She and her family were followed by a private investigator, and a creditor of theirs was located and provided free legal assistance to sue them into bankruptcy. After a long battle of libel suits, in 1999 the church agreed to issue an apology and pay £55,000 damages and £100,000 costs to the Woods.

Among the targets of OSA operations are Free Zone groups.

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