Bob Minton
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| Robert Minton | |
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| Born | circa 1947 United States |
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| Occupation | retired banker Founder, Lisa McPherson trust |
Robert Schenk Minton (born circa 1947[1]) is a retired banker who helped Nigeria manage its debt[2] and a former critic of Scientology.
Contents |
[edit] Fought Scientology
Minton spent over $10 million fighting Scientology.[3] He also participated in demonstrations in front of the Boston Headquarters of the Church of Scientology near his Beacon Hill home.
- This included about $2 million he spent on the Lisa McPherson wrongful death case.[3]
- Minton offered a reward of $360,000 to anyone who would leave Scientology with enough information to cause the organization to lose its federal tax exemption. The amount of money was based on the amount of money critics say Scientology charges for courses.[4]
- On November 1997, he spent $260,000 to buy a house for a cat sanctuary for former Scientologists Vaughn and Stacy Young.[4]
- Minton also has given money to a number of other church critics, including three people who Scientology accuses of infringement of its copyrights.[5]
After reports by Scientology alleging fraud in his Nigerian businesses, Minton successfully sued two German Scientology entities and a spokeswoman for a permanent injunction preventing them from repeating the libel.[6][7] The decision was confirmed on appeal.[8][9]
[edit] Founder, Lisa McPherson trust
Minton was the founder of the Lisa McPherson Trust (LMT) an organization which brought a civil suit against The Church of Scientology for the wrongful death of Lisa McPherson and provided help and consolation for ex-Scientologists who had negative experiences of the cult. The trust operated out of Clearwater, Florida (Scientology's "spiritual" headquarters), frequent confrontations between the LMT and Scientology would ensue. [10]
[edit] Ceases criticism
In a testimony Minton spoke against Ken Dandar, the attorney representing Lisa McPherson wrongful death lawsuit against the Church of Scientology.[11] In a 26-page affidavit, Minton stated that Tampa attorney Ken Dandar asked him to lie, drew up false court records for him to sign and urged him to generate bad publicity for the Church of Scientology to prejudice potential jurors in the McPherson wrongful death case as Scientology tries to get the wrongful death case dismissed on grounds of serious misconduct by Ken Dandar and his client.[12] Minton's affidavit gave new details about how involved Minton was in the wrongful death case from the start, stating that he gave Dandar more than $2 million to finance the case and paying witnesses to testify against the church.[12] Dandar took the witness stand to explain the origin of Swiss bank checks totaling $750,000 that Minton allegedly gave him.[12] Minton also testified about two financial arrangements in which $800,000 of his money was transferred from Europe to the Lisa McPherson Trust and that he had kept a portion of that money because he wanted to hide the source of the Trusts funding from the Church of Scientology.[13]
Minton’s turn came after a Scientology probe onto his financial affairs.[3] Minton was repeatedly ordered to attend depositions and grilled by Scientology lawyers about his alleged financial dealings.[3] When Minton didn't show up for a deposition, he faced contempt of court.[3]
It is not exactly clear why Minton suddenly stopped his criticism of Scientology and attempted to stop the Lisa McPherson wrongful death case he had funded.[3] Critics of Scientology believe that Minton was blackmailed by the Church of Scientology.[3] In contrast, Mark Bunker, a former worker of the LMT, wrote "Blackmail didn’t turn Bob to Scientology’s side. The relentless on-going global assault of Scientology wore Bob down, along with attacks from former friends who felt Bob wasn’t doing enough in funding the Lisa case."[14] On March 16 2002 Minton called Mike Rinder and on April 6 of that year they met.[3] At that meeting Minton told Rinder that there were lies told in the case, he feared Scientology would uncover those lies in court and he would be sent to jail for perjury.[3]
| “ | I don't want my life defined by Scientology anymore. I just want some peace. | ” |
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—Bob Minton, [3] |
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Despite the allegations the presiding judge declined to remove attorney Dandar from the case, stating that she did not believe Minton's testimony, and that he had lied in an attempt to escape income taxes.[15] Six months before she had already remarked that it was irrelevant how much money Minton had put into the case. [16]
[edit] Awards
- Minton received the Leo J. Ryan award on October 27, 2001 and was the first one to receive the "Alternative Charlemagne Award" in 2000.[17][18][19]
[edit] References
- ^ A Banker brings his financial means to bear against the sect, Rheinischer Merkur, April 23, 1998
- ^ Senate backs debt buy-back to reduce external debts, The Vanguard (Nigeria), July 2, 2000
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j O'Neil, Deborah (2002-07-07). "How Scientology turned its biggest critic". St. Petersburg Times. http://www.sptimes.com/2002/07/07/TampaBay/How_Scientology_turne.shtml. Retrieved on 2006-08-05.
- ^ a b Millionaire's bizarre feud with Scientology escalates LUCY MORGAN,St. Petersburg Times, Aug 3, 1998
- ^ Scientology sponsored suit against opponent LUCY MORGAN, THOMAS C. TOBIN,St. Petersburg Times, Dec 23, 1997
- ^ Decision of Landgericht Berlin, Gz: 27.O.764/00, March 27, 2001
- ^ Die aktuelle Entwicklung der Rechtsprechung zu neueren Glaubens und Weltanschauungsgemeinschaften, by Prof. Dr. Ralf B. Abel
- ^ Kammergericht Berlin, Gz: 9 U 115/01, May 24, 2002
- ^ Total victory for Bob Minton in Berlin, lermanet.com
- ^ Tobin, Thomas C. (1999-12-04). "Church draws line for critics". St. Petersburg Times. http://www.sptimes.com/News/120499/NorthPinellas/Church_draws_line_for.shtml. Retrieved on 2006-08-13.
- ^ Scientology foes bitterly splitDEBORAH O'NEIL, St. Petersburg Times, Apr 20, 2002
- ^ a b c Scientology foes continue rancorDEBORAH O'NEIL, St. Petersburg Times, May 1, 2002
- ^ Scientology turncoat taken to taskDEBORAH O'NEIL, St. Petersburg Times, Jun 13, 2002
- ^ Bunker, Mark (Feb. 2008). "About Bob Minton and the LMT". XenuTV.com. http://xenutv.wordpress.com/about-bob-minton-and-the-lmt/. Retrieved on 2008-09-25.
- ^ Ruling lets Scientology death lawsuit proceed, St. Petersburg Times, January 14, 2003
- ^ Allegations won't alter church suit, St. Petersburg Times, May 3, 2002
- ^ Article in Leipziger Volkszeitung, 3 June 2000 (English translation)
- ^ Award page
- ^ Bowman, Lisa M. (2003-05-01). "Anti-Scientology site spurs award". CNET. http://news.com.com/2110-1025_3-999351.html. Retrieved on 2007-09-25.
