The most interesting person from this point of view is the Dane Birta Heldt, one of the top leaders of the Church of Scientology in Russia, who managed to work for several years in Scientology organizations in Africa, Japan and some other countries. Heldt is a member of the Sea Organization, named in memory of the years Scientologists spent in the seas, the core of the entire Scientology empire [43,44].

There is every reason to suspect that after the scandalous case of 1977 about the uncovered massive theft of government documents of the Army, Navy, Customs Department, the Department of Justice and the Trial Chamber in the United States by Scientology agents, the US intelligence services entered into a number of secret agreements with the leadership of the "Church of Scientology" (including all its subsidiaries) on cooperation. Hubbard was not imprisoned, the Scientologists were given a limited field of activity in the United States, they received state support in the person of a number of congressmen and some human rights organizations regarding the activities of Scientologists in other countries, for example, in the event of attempts to ban and suppress the activities of the "Church of Scientology" in any country. For their part, the U.S. intelligence services have at their disposal a powerful system for collecting intelligence information and an additional effective tool for conducting subversive operations in Western Europe and around the world. Later, Scientologists were oriented to work in the Russian Federation. This assumption is confirmed by the following facts [42,44,45]:

* against the background of a fierce struggle against restrictions on the activities of Scientologists in other countries (the most striking examples are Germany and Russia) - numerous facts of refusal to register subsidiaries of the "Church of Scientology" in the United States itself, for example, in the state of Oklahoma in 1991, numerous decisions of the judicial bodies of this country on the fairness of most of the accusations made against the "Church of Scientology" in the media (US Court of Appeals - April 1996, The Supreme Court of the State of California - May 1996, the trial in Virginia in 1996 and a number of others), that is, those facts when the judicial authorities are more concerned with the observance of the laws of their country, and not with freedom of conscience in relation to Scientologists at any cost; thus, the US authorities impose a number of serious restrictions on the activities of Scientologists in their country, in every possible way contributing to the development and strengthening of their activities abroad;

• The fact that in response to the barriers to the uncontrolled spread of Scientologists in Germany and other countries, protest campaigns are regularly inspired by American cultural figures, famous artists, etc., who, however, are little concerned about similar measures taken in some states of the United States;

• the recent discovery of serious procedural irregularities in the United States by Tax Analysts Inc. before the Internal Revenue Service granted tax exemption to the cult in November 1993; Internal Revenue officials admitted under oath that the files and materials on the cult had not been examined, and the exemption had been granted on a directive from above;

• The object of close attention of Scientology organizations in Russia has been and remains strategic enterprises of the defense industry, facilities of military departments, including the Military Space Forces of the Russian Federation and facilities of the nuclear fuel cycle (Dubna, Obninsk, Korolev, Yubileyny); The increased interest of "just a religious organization" in such objects is strange to say the least, and given the notoriety of Scientologists around the world, it is extremely clear.

A former high-ranking member of the Church of Scientology, John Atak, who later became its main whistleblower, in his book "Scientology: Hubbard's Intelligence Agency" directly pointed to the existence of active ties of this religious organization with the US CIA. Moreover, he wrote about joint projects between the two organizations, suggesting that the CIA was somewhat involved in the formation of the Church of Scientology as it is today.

There is another opinion. "So far, no one has been able to prove that the Church of Scientology, or even a significant part of it, is not affiliated with the CIA. Moreover, it looks very plausible, writes Françoise d'Eaubonne in his book "With... as sects" [47]. - From the very beginning, the "Church of Scientology" differed from other numerous American sects not only in its prosperity from the first days of its existence, but also in its realism. She immediately stated that the goal of her members was to "manipulate others." An ideal cover for those who, according to their duty, have to "manipulate" people. In addition, the very personality of L. Ron Hubbard was very suitable for the stencil of the CIA figures of the old formation" [29].

For the time being, Scientologists were a good cover for the "quiet Americans" from Langley. When the wave of scandals associated with the sect began, Scientologists turned into the prodigal children of America for them [29]. And the scandals around Hubbard and his associates arose loudly. But more on that later...

The Belgian intelligence services are seriously concerned about the involvement of the Church of Scientology in intelligence activities. A Belgian parliamentary commission entrusted the case to investigator Bülte. He is sure that the methods, philosophy and rapid growth of the ranks of "Scientologists" cannot but worry democratic regimes. Therefore, the detectives subordinate to him bit by bit collect in a computerized center all the information about those who are suspected of having connections with the sect. The most dangerous is the activities of the group headed by the American Martin Weitman. He is considered the head of the "central intelligence agency" of the "Scientology" sect, and in Brussels he organized a powerful lobby that puts pressure on the governing bodies of the European Union, including through the European Parliament. According to the investigator, "Scientologists" always operate on the very edge of the law [8].

In Russia, the Church of Scientology has recently been distributing among its adepts, especially newcomers, a very interesting questionnaire from this point of view, in which question No19 reads: "Are you connected with intelligence organizations in the present or in the past or through close relatives?", question No22: "Have you served or worked in Army units or government organizations with high secrecy?" (There are at least two people in the Moscow Committee for the Rescue of Youth who are willing to give written testimony that they were given this particular questionnaire at the Hubbard Humanitarian Center.) If the respondent answered "yes" to these questions and a few others, no less interesting, then he is asked to write about this in more detail on the back of the sheet. According to one former adept, Scientologists are later urged to write even more extensive answers to these two questions. Additional information on these matters is obtained from the information carrier during sessions of a Scientology procedure called "auditing," which is a kind of repeated and complete confession of a person to the probiter, who records the answers received in detail. The answers are collected in a single database, according to some reports, this is done by the 20th department of the Church of Scientology in Moscow. The processed and systematized data is sent by courier to the headquarters of the Church of Scientology in the United States.

How can this be qualified otherwise, if not espionage?! Throughout the democratic world, this is exactly what such actions would be called. And this is how they are called in Greece, Germany and some other countries [44]. Undoubtedly, the activities of this organization should be taken under the control of the FSB of the Russian Federation and the operational units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Russian Federation. At the same time, the presence or absence of ties between the leadership of the "Church of Scientology" and the US CIA must be checked by the Foreign Intelligence Service of the Russian Federation.