Scientology fined €600,000

THE appeal court has upheld a €600,000 fine for fraud on the Scientology cult and a two-year suspended jail sentence for French leader Alain Rosenberg.

It confirmed a ruling that the activities of Scientologists - who include actors Tom Cruise and John Travolta - were fraudulent which is a first in France. The ruling also targets the cult as a whole.

Scientology is recognised as a religion in the US but in 2009 it was found guilty in France of fraud by coercing members to pay heavy sums for "purification cures" for problems only found using the cult's "electropsychometer" equipment.

The case stems from a woman's complaint that she was coerced into handing over €20,000 in 1998 to help with problems discovered by the "E-meter".

Scientology's French branch was fined e400,000 and its Paris bookshop fined €200,000 for organised fraud in the 2009 verdict. Rosenberg was also fined €30,000 and five other members given fines from €1,000 to €20,000 over offences including fraud and use of pharmaceutical drugs.

It is thought that the cult is likely to take its case to France's highest tribunal, the Cour de Cassation.