Authorities have arrested a member of the sect for swindling money from Russians in a fraudulent operation and donating some of the proceeds to her Church,according to Thedailybeast.
Ekaterina Zaborskikh allegedly stole $2 million, or 130 million roubles, from prospective buyers for apartments and homes which were never built.
At least some of the money was siphoned off and sent to the Church of Scientology in Moscow, an indictment in St Petersburg has alleged.
Posters advertising the developments promised clients “affordable castles” in green neighborhoods by Zaborskikh’s construction company, Olimp, according to the paper. Instead, the would-be buildings are still holes in the ground. Websites advertising the Olimp projects now warn potential buyers that they will no longer be built, as the company has ceased its operations. (The company’s website is down.)
One woman said she had paid 2.5 million roubles for an apartment and was told construction would start immediately, only to then find the project had never received approval for consttruction, according to NTV.
Prosecutors say Zaborskikh gave the cash into the Moscow Church of Scientology disguised as donations.
The St. Petersburg branch of the church was raided in 2014 over large-scale theft allegations. A local newspaper reported at the time that Zaborskikh was the main subject of the investigation.
"Detectives in St. Petersburg found that some of the stolen funds had been transferred to the account of this religious organization in Moscow," said a spokesman for the Ministry. "The suspect is a member of this organization. The investigation does not exclude possible involvement in this crime on the part of officials and coordinators of this religious organization."
Scientology officials at the Church in Moscow deny that Ms Zaborskikh ever handed them money from fradulent operations disguised as donations. This matter has no connection with the Church of Scientology in Moscow.
Russia has previously banned the Moscow Church, which is the only one in the country, alleging that it was using "commercial partnerships" and US trademarks, rather than religious organisations, to spread its message.
Members of the Church, and the Church itself, have been involved in cases of fraud around the globe at different times.
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