Scientology founder L Ron Hubbard exposed as a 'fraud' by British diplomats 30 years ago



British diplomats investigating the qualifications of L Ron Hubbard exposed the Scientology founder as a fraud 30 years ago.

The science-fiction writer, who invented the religion now followed by celebrities including Tom Cruise and John Travolta, awarded himself a PhD from a sham 'diploma mill' college he had acquired in California.

British consulate workers in Los Angeles secretly gathered information on behalf of the government.

Whitehall officials launched the covert investigation after Scientologists threatened to sue over the government's 1968 decision to ban followers from entering the UK to visit the sect's headquarters in East Grinstead, West Sussex.

Fraud: Scientology founder L Ron Hubbard awarded himself a PhD from a sham 'diploma mill' college he had acquired in California

Britain needed to establish whether Hubbard was a charalatan to defend itself against any libel action.

The evidence was gathered during the 1970s and included the claim by a US official that the sect had sent bogus doctors to hypnotise a legal investigator, forcing him to retire 'due to his mental health'.



The Department of Health files, many of which were classified until 2019, were released to The Times by the National Archive following a Freedom of Information request.



Devotees: Hollywood stars Tom Cruise, pictured with wife Katie Holmes, and John Travolta, seen here with his wife Kelly Preston, are Scientologists



The dossier includes a signed statement by former senior Scientologist John McMaster, who said Hubbard and others faked ‘qualifications’ in Dianetics, the spiritual ‘science’ founded by Hubbard to provide spiritual healing.

He said: 'I understand it is asserted that L Ron Hubbard was awarded the degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Sequoia University on February 10 1953, in recognition of his outstanding work in the fields of Dianetics and Scientology and that the said degree was recorded with the Department of Education of the State of California.

'The position is L Ron Hubbard [and others] acquired premises somewhere in Los Angeles which they had registered as a university called Sequoia and immediately awarded each other doctorates.'



The Scientology headquarters in Los Angeles: British officials in California secretly gathered information on the sect during the 1970s

The British government had sent an urgent telegram to its consulate in Los Angeles asking officials there to find out as much information about Hubbard and Scientology as possible.



A reply on April 26 1977 said: 'After exhaustive enquiries we have now tracked down organisation named which was closed down by state authorities in 1971 and all documents impounded.

'The facts are that it neither has nor ever had approval and its status is not recognised in California...

'It is a "will of the wisp" organisation which has no premises and does not really exist. It has not and never had any authority whatsoever to issue diplomas or degrees and the dean is sought by the authorities "for questioning".'

American officials were also investigating the origins of Hubbard’s qualifications, the records show.

A letter from the California bureau of school approvals about the Sequoia university said: 'This institution has never been approved or recognised by this office. Repeated attempts have been made to obtain compliance with the legal requirements. None of these attempts have proved successful.'

Another telegram was dated May 18 1977 and written by Louis Sherbourne of the British Consulate-General in Los Angeles.

It shows that US officials were becoming nervous in their dealings with the sect.



It read: 'We have now come up against the usual brick wall of missing files and silence, each and every person and organisation treading very warily for fear of a libel or slander action.'

Mr Sherbourne added: 'United States Internal Revenue Services tried hard to obtain firmer evidence but appear to have failed. A recent attempt to resurrect the enquiry resulted in all the papers from 1939 to 1963 being sent to Sacramento to the office of the State Attorney General.

'By 'an amazing coincidence' the Deputy Attorney General dealing with them was taken ill and after seeing some 'doctors' was retired "due to his mental health".

'My very incensed informant in the California Department of Education is convinced that the "doctors" were scientologists who hypnotised him into mental ill-health and he feels very bitter but can do nothing about it'

A spokeswoman for the Church of Scientology dismissed the suggestion Scientologists had hypnotised a deputy attorney general.

She told The Times it is 'simply reflective of how astronomically paranoid they were'.