FROM THE FILES OF THE FBI #130
1826 R St. NW
Washington, D.C.
July 11, 1955
TO THE FEDERAL BUREAU OF INVESTIGATION
COMMUNIST ACTIVITIES
FROM L. R. HUBBARD
SUBJECT Further information on attack on Hubbard Assn of Scientologists of
Phoenix, Arizona
Ref. First report of last week.
Information has just been received here that one of the major contributing
factors in the attack upon and collapse of the Hubbard Assn. of
Scientologists in Phoenix Arizona was an accountant.
Named "Jerry" Rahn this accountant first came to the organization in March
volunteering to assist in accounting and income tax matters. A tax return
was given him for filing with the IRS. This tax return was then reported
by the IRS as never having been filed and was then filed again by
registered mail.
His presence insisted upon by Wm. Burke Belknap as Assn president, this
Rahn proceeded, in the absence of the treasurer and without her
permission, to delve into the books of the Assn. On the pretext that they
were in serious error. He pretended to discover many omissions and cast a
serious shadow on the organization directors except Balknap [sic]. Many
rumors were started by this Rahn which had no foundation in fact.
Finally Rahn brought into the picture a Mr. Brewer reputed to be from the
IRS. Before employees in several visits Mr. Brewer alleged that I, while
a director, was actually engaged in some dark and underhanded activity and
had used the organization as a blind and that I was in serious trouble
with the IRS which, in consulting the main office, is apparently not the
case, there being no reason for it.
Panicked by this Rahn and Brewer the organization directors, Belknap, and
one Carol Hadley spent little time on their actual duties and spent some
six weeks involving themselves with this Rahn and Brewer, which by reason
of such inattention, cut the organization off from immediate income and
stopped all outgoing correspondence and activity, quite sufficient in this
case to destroy it which is what happened.
I have had to act to preserve what few assets and activities the
organization had for with its local credit destroyed and without activity
to its membership
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its finances, already involved in the Humphrey suit collapsed.
As no reports were due to the government until October 10th, 1955 and as
adequate time remained and is being used to make these reports, the
introduction of a strange accountant against the wishes of the absent
treasurer and the interjection of a supposed IRS agent - who may very well
be an IRS agent in Phoenix - and the rumors and threats made by these men,
it can be seen that this contributing factor was important.
The attack made by psychiatrists using evidently Communist connected
personnel on the Elizabeth NJ Foundation in 1950 and 51 and the attack
made on the Wichita Foundation in 1952 all ended on the same note of
reports to IRS and much rumor concerning what the IRS would do. However,
so far as anyone knows, the IRS itself took no real notice of the 1950, 51
and 52 attacks and when contacted by myself did not seem to know anything
about the matter. The current attacks on these organizations however is
known to the IRS for the IRS has mildly interviewed me concerning matters.
However the panic caused by the wild accusations and insinuations of this
Brewer, prompted evidently by Rahn (pronounced, I think, "Ran") are new
and strange to my experience with the IRS.
However, the accountant at the Elizabeth N.J. Foundation in 1950 was
continued in employment by one John Maloney and D.G. Purcell until
mid-1951 when I, demanding better security and demanding a review of the
books as Chairman of the Board, the post I occupied in 1951 with the
Wichita Foundation, was refused. I insisted on, then, a lie detector
check being made on personnel of whom I was not sure. One D.H. Rogers, an
officer of the Elizabeth and the Wichita Foundation registered positive on
Communist leanings. The registrar (a Cole Alyneck (Sp?)) refused the test
and disappeared. The accountant whose service had extended over both
Foundations became very nervous, refused the test and disappeared. His
name is not now known to me.
Thus we have a continued parallelism in these attacks on Dianetics and
Scientology in accountancy. Accountancy was a target in 1950, 1951 and
1955 by accountants strange to the organization or of suspicious
circumstance. There might have been some parallelism in the public
relations department if the organization now maintained one for the 1950
and 51 public relations man, Charles Leonard, registered positive on
Communism in the police check
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at Wichita in or around April of 1951, possibly May.
In 1952 and A.E. van Vogt, a writer from Canada naturalised in the US and
living in Los Angeles and a heavy foe of Dianetics and Scientology for
years although pretending to be involved with it and an associate of Gene
Benton, Sara Hollister and others of stated Communistic leanings, made the
statement in writing many times that the IRS was after me and the
organization, a thing which a call to the IRS failed to disclose. Thus
the pattern of reporting to the IRS or spreading rumors about the
intention of the Internal Revenue Service has been continued and confirmed
and is at this time evidently the contributing factor in ending the life
of the Hubbard Association of Scientologists.
To the best of my recollection the accountant "Jerry" Rahn appeared in the
organization about three days after the first despatch [sic] was sent to
the Department of Defense, by wire, concerning a solution to brain
washing. I can establish this more accurately when I obtain, if I can,
possession of my files and accounts.
[signed] L. Ron Hubbard
L. Ron Hubbard
Note: To the best of my knowledge and belief and having seen lately copies
of its accounts and seeing to an audit of them at this time, there is
nothing whatever in error about or suspicious about these accounts. They
are the ordinary routine accounts of a business of the type the
Association is engaged in. LRH
