Ex Church of Scientology Members Passport Confiscation Testimonies

There are many testimonies from ex members of the Church of Scientology claiming their passports were confiscated by Scientology while they were under their employ. These testimonies are scattered all over the internet.
It is good to have them all in one place which will make it easier for media, reporters, journalists and hopefully authorities to access and reference this information easily.

Ex members can feel free to post their short story, interview, videos or testimony ect. here or PM someone to do it for you.
If you are an ex and are publically out, it is best if you use your actual name to keep the list more credible.

posted by Podpeople

HCO POLICY LETTER OF 15 AUGUST 1960

Establishment of Dept of Govt Affairs, HCO keeps all legal documents, in a locked safe.

Below is a very small sampling of personal testimony establishing a 20-year historical pattern of both staff And public forced to turn over their passports. It is mandatory scientology policy and the examples are on Freewinds but also landbased scientology organizations in multiple countries. It also clearly demonstrates the scientologists did not have open access to retrieve their passports from the HCO Dept's safe. In some instances, the passports were never turned over; in other examples, outside legal authorities had to intervene.

http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Marc_Headley_speech_at_That_is_Scientology_Reports_from_the_USA

Michael Pattinson- had to pay for auditing (ransom) to get his passport back on Freewinds

http://www.holysmoke.org/cos/scientology-passport-extortion.htm

Maria Pia Gardini- at Flag, OSA had her passport; Maria told for 3 weeks it was missing when she wanted to leave. When she needed it to get ½ Million $ from bank, it arrived in her hands in a minute.

http://www.holysmoke.org/cos/scientology-passport-extortion.htm

Mark Headley- passports confiscated at scientology International headquarters, locked in safe; also, most Sea Org members didn’t even have drivers’ licenses, much less passports.

http://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Marc_Headley_speech_at_That_is_Scientology!_Reports_from_the_USA

Bill Straass- Story of his escape from Freewinds to get medical treatment for AIDS, hindered because he had no access to his passport.

http://www.scientology-cult.com/bill-straass/480-human-trafficking-on-the-freewinds.html

“Nefertiti” story of escape from Flag, how she got her passport from HCO Dept, locked in a safe.

http://www.xenu-directory.net/accounts/nefertiti199705.html

W. Coutts- Australia org, passport confiscated, had to go to Australian Consulate and the Consulate General to retrieve it.

http://www.suburbia.net/~fun/scn/pers/wcoutts.html

Don Jason- escaped Freewinds without his passport; had secretly kept Drivers ID and checks

http://www.tampabay.com/news/scientology/article1048124.ece

Nowell Matandirotya- Zimbwabe citizen, refused passport trying to leave Saint Hill, Scientology org in UK; police had to intervene.

http://cosmedia.freewinds.be/media/articles/arg290394.html

Monica Pignotti- "I arrived in Oporto in the afternoon and was taken to the ship, which was at anchor at the time. Upon boarding the ship, someone took my passport away from me, which was to be locked up in a safe that I had no access to. I was so excited about being on Flag, I didn't even question this action, assuming there must have been a good reason. There was: taking our passports made it very hard for us to leave, but that was not a reason I thought of at the time."
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shelf/pignotti/

Odhran Fortune- St Hill UK
"In a statement Mr Fortune said: "For the past five months I have
been kept under constant guard by family members and friends. They took my
passport away. I have been physically restrained and they used blackmail
when I wished to leave."

http://cosmedia.freewinds.be/media/articles/egc120697.html

Chris Guider- Australia
"Chris Guider says he did two and a half years at the RPF in Dundas. He says the church seized his passport and his credit card and paid him as little as $2 a week. He has made a formal complaint to the Fair Work Ombudsman."
Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Broadcast: 22/09/2011, Reporter: Steve Cannane
http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2011/s3323979.htm

Valeska Paris Guider- Australia- ABC Lateline Interview, aboard the Freewinds
http://www.abc.net.au/lateline/content/2011/s3378641.htm
Youtube video
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XWJlEWWLvLM&feature=player_embedded

It's good to have all these in one place. Thanks!

Robert Kaufman- Uk,
Inside Scientology/Dianetics, by RobertKaufman
"I went to Reception to start lines. The portable nature of the Sea Org was in evidence. The AOUK had been in operation only a week or two, yet all of the Scientology machinery was there: bookstore, offices, and lines. I signed up for the Clearing Course with Registrar, and gave Accounts $760 in pounds. Then I registered with Housing, who took my passport as "security."
and
"I had been in Great Britain close to three months and my visa was up for renewal. My passport was to be sent to the British Home Office in London, but the Sea Org had it locked up in a drawer at Housing and I was able to obtain it only in exchange for my return air ticket."

http://www.naderlibrary.com/cult.insidescientologykauf. 3.htm

Hadyn James- Aka T. Paine
"So Lucy and I returned to route out of the Sea Org, we had tried every other possible way to solve the problem — it was the only option available to us. The next few months were spent in what I termed “management prison”. My passport was held, our drivers licenses were taken along with our credit cards. We were guarded 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Most of the time was spent in a windowless room in the basement of the management building. But I’ll say little more on that subject because our story was not any more horrific than any of the others you may have heard already."
http://www.scientology-cult.com/hadyn-james.html

Nice RO. You're quite the little list maker aren't you? Well we love ya for it.

Mr. Tampa- ESMB post
"One more thing if you come from a foreign country the first thing they do when you arrive they will take your passport away so you won't be able to blow from the org. An other thing you might or might not be able to get a green card - if not you might get forced into a marriage to stay in the country (I have seen the cases of 50 individuals on this!!!! ) They won't let you to leave - I have seen people on leaving line sometimes for 2 yrs before they were let to leave"
http://exscientologykids.com/eskforums/viewtopic.php?t=6082

Samantha Domingo- California PAC base, comment on blog
"Hmm.
What’s the excuse for holding the passports of staff not under maritime regulations? Mine was held at Celebrity Centre International while I was on staff there and wasn’t returned to me until after I finally managed to escape (err I mean ‘route out’) from the PAC RPF. Can’t recall having taken any cruises during that time."

http://markrathbun.wordpress.com/2011/11/29/village-voice-interviews-valeska-paris-guider/

Yes, thank you for taking it up, RO. That stands for Rock On, also, right?

The U.S. media hasn't picked up on this yet. Let's give them so many resources, links, first-hand accounts and testimonies that their Legal Departments might not be such, such, ...what's the word?

Gary Hart- The Apollo-
"The Org had taken my passport and put it in a lockable filing cabinet the day I arrived. I decided to go to the U.S. Embassy and tell them I lost my passport and see if they would give me a temporary one."
http://community.freezone-tech.info/times/2009/03/06/aboard-the-apollo-1973-epf/

Good thread.

Bruce Hines- Gold Base Golden Era Productions, Hemet CA
"Once on the programme however, there was little chance of quitting. “From that point on I was under close, full-time supervision. I had to surrender my passport and my driver’s license.”
At the Hemet base, they were kept in a special compound fenced off from the other staff, he recalled."
http://infinitecomplacency.blogspot.com/2008/12/7-rpf-scientologys-gulag.html

Janette Vonthehoff- Australia
''Australian taxpayers should not be funding systematic, organised abuse,'' said Janette Vonthehoff, who said her passport was taken from her and she was forcibly prevented from returning to Australia from the US when eight weeks' pregnant because the organisation ordered she must finish ''training. Ms Vonthehoff said she resigned from the organisation in 2007 because of bullying, two coerced abortions and Scientology justice proceedings which included its own court hearings.
''.

http://anti-scientologie.ch/testimony-Scarlett-Hanna.htm

Gerry Armstrong-
"However, Gerry was unable to attend the F.E.C.R.I.S. conference. He had submitted his passport for visa purposes and the passport had disappeared"
had to use this link
http://forums.whyweprotest.net/thre...us-cults-fecris-conference-2009-russia.40458/
the link to the comment is dead

Valshifter- story ar "Through the Door" Survey speaks of another person from Venezula-
"I saw that was not going to happen and started to get very disappointed I kept it in and did not tell anybody exept a guy from Venezuela because he did not spoke english and I knew he would not tell anybody even if I told him, to my surprise he stated he was having the same feelings and wanted to get out and go back to his country but did not have the means to get back to his country plus they had confiscated his passport so if he asked for it they would know he wanted to leave so he was stuck. I left the church after that and never came back Im not sure what ever happened to him."
http://alley.ethercat.com/cgi-bin/door/door.cgi?280

From Freezone site:
"You see what happens when you start the program, you have to turn in all your IDs; drivers' licence, passport, VISAs, credit cards, cash etc. My credit cards are probably expired anyway and I can get new ones. I can always figure out how to get some new valid ID. All RPFers' valuable documents are kept in a file cabinet locked up so that you cannot take off with your own documents.
You are also not allowed to have more than $20 in cash in your pocket, and if you manage to save up more, instead of spending it in the canteen, you are supposed to turn it in for safe keeping. I guess another freak-control-mechanism, making it really hard to blow. If the RPFer is not from the US, a passport is obviously needed to get home, and it would take some time and money to report it stolen and get a new one."
http://scientologistsfreezone.com/rpf6.shtml

Martin- Gold Base Golden Era Productions, Hemet CA
Comment on Leaving Scientology blog
"By now we had berthing at Happy Valley, and the coach journeys to and fro were a welcome break, sometimes one could even get a (cold) shower after work if you rushed. Once I started walking into the moutains and got out of sight of the buildings. The only things that stopped me continuing to walk was the fear of rattlesnakes, lack of water and recapture, knowing I had no passport, ID etc"
http://leavingscientology.wordpress.com/2011/01/25/operation-rpf-restoring-people’s-freedom/

fify

When I went to the Failwinds they took my passport right away. Claiming it was safer than leaving it in my room. After a few days of crush regging I wanted to GTFO but couldn't.

The RPF Insider writes to Collin Powell- Dec 2004
"People assigned to Scientology's RPF have their passports, visa, IDs, credit cards and other documents confiscated and locked up so that full control can be enforced on the member, in an attempt to prevent him from leaving without permission."
http://exposescientology.com/visaresearchstories.html

John Lindstein- Gold Base, Golden Era Productions, Hemet, CA
"You can compare the above list with my previous posting on Life at the Base. In addition, a number of former members have said that foreign workers had their passports confiscated when they arrived in the U.S. to work for Scientology."
http://infinitecomplacency.blogspot.com/2009/11/16-john-lindsteins-lawsuit.html

Mike Rinder- St Petersburg Times Article 2/8/11
"FBI investigating Scientology, defectors say"
"He said he related that Sea Org members assigned to the international base did not have easy access to telephones, that their passports were confiscated and that they were not free to leave the base, which is guarded and bordered by a chain-link fence topped with razor wire."
http://www.rickross.com/reference/scientology/history/history246.html

Don Carlo- blog comment OCB
"Typically, these persons have had their passports confiscated, are severely restricted from seeing their families, and are threatened with disconnection from their families if they quit the RPF. Their names are listed below, by country."
http://ocmb.xenu.net/ocmb/viewtopic.php?p=131663

Been There;The Second Decade- Through the Door Survey
"I arrived to the Freewinds full of hope and anticipation. As soon as they confiscated my passport, my doubts about the wisdom of my action began. Being on the Freewinds is VERY expensive. And furthermore, there is no where to run, no where to hide. And they have your passport. Prisoner comes close to describing how I felt, but a prisoner that had to pay for imprisonment. "
http://alley.ethercat.com/cgi-bin/door/door.cgi?249

I put a heads-up for exes on OCMB:
http://ocmb.xenu.net/ocmb/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=44651

Great list. Thanks, OP.

Michael Pattinson- had to pay for auditing (ransom) to get his passport back on Freewinds
http://www.lermanet.com/michaelpattinson/index.htm

• For some Scientologists, pilgrimage has been fatal December 7, 1997, Lucy Morgan, St. Petersburg Times

http://www.skeptictank.org/treasure/SCIENTO/index.htm

new dox here???

thanks sponge!

maybe someone can post it on ESMB too

Death , Mike is already listed in post #2

From the parallel OCMB thread:

Karen de la Carriere - ex-church scientologist and ex-wife of former President of the Church of Scientology International, Heber Jentzsch (who's current whereabouts, status in the organisation and his general wellbeing are unknown)
http://ocmb.xenu.net/ocmb/viewtopic.php?p=418734#p418734

edit: part two + clarification of approximate dates....

Neil C. (from Manchester, UK) - When in Sea Org in LA, USA
Avoided getting his passport confiscated, but says that it was standard practice.
"I pretended it was just money for vitamins, I didn't say it was for a plane fare home. 'cause they wouldn't have let me go home - they would have standardly taken my passport off me to keep me there. But luckily I didn't tell them I was leaving and I kept my passport on me at all times, I had a back pocket and I never took it out 'cause I knew they would take it off me."
-transcribed from this interview: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OKrcjDKuuN0

Yes, but more coherently than the holysmoke link.

I like Karen. She's a lady with balls of steel.

She doesn't afraid of anything.

There must be hundreds more stories, attests and tesimonials on this subject, if not thousands.

Huh.
Scientologists spend as much money on vitamins
as normal people would spend on a plane ticket?

That's wack.

I'm not sure if you want anonymous accounts.
Here's a brief one from "lambear" on the parallel OCMB thread.
http://ocmb.xenu.net/ocmb/viewtopic.php?p=418778#p418778

John Duignan- Sea Org, wrote The Complex,

"I used to take whatever directives or LRH policy that I was shown or read at face value. There was not scope for analysis, just how to apply the letter of said policies exactingly. So, I would obey them unquestioningly.

In July 1985 I landed in LAX on my flight from Frankfurt via Newark. I was picked by a fellow that looked like he had walked straight out of 1975, paisly shirt, big collar a mad comb-over and a mustash. I was driven to that Big Blue former hospital there on Fountain Ave, I was told to hand over my passport, and I did. I was a bit nervouse about doing that, but then, I had only been in a couple of months. I spent something like 18 months there without ever seeing my passport. The pattern continued.

When I arrived in UK a year or later, the exact same procedure was followed. And on through my whole career in the SO, a career that was spent on Land bases, not ships.

Toward the end of my time with the cult, I did complain about them holding a document that was legally mine in an are out of bounds to me, I was show the LRH policy. It clearly stated that HCO holds ALL SO staff passports, in a locked safe with the secured HCO Office. It provided an additional disincentive to anyone planning on blowing the Sea Org. It worked."

sent to me in PM via John himself .. thanks John!

Does anyone want to help me plow throw the Ex list and go through stories?
This way there is no double work going on.

I will take A-L
can someone take M-Z?
let me know
here is the wiki link to the ex list
http://wiki.whyweprotest.net/List_of_ex-Scientology_members_who_have_spoken_out#D

We are 10 away from hitting 1700 by the way!!! GO GO GO!!!!

^^^^ chirp chirp chirp
alls I hear iz cricketz

Bumper...