Former Scientology donor sentenced to 5.5 years on accusations by Trish Duggan
One of the strangest criminal prosecutions we’ve ever seen, involving accusations between two of Scientology’s most wealthy donors, concluded yesterday when a trial in Lugano, Switzerland resulted in Ivan Gaspari being sentenced to 5.5 years in prison.
Public prosecutor Veronica Lipari had asked for 7 years, and on the third day of trial when it had become obvious that Judge Amos Pagnamenta was convinced of Gaspari’s guilt, Gaspari’s own attorney requested a sentence of 3.5 years.
A defense attorney suggesting a penalty before a trial had concluded was only one of the things that made this proceeding so different than the kind of jurisprudence that we’re more used to here in the U.S.
There was Gaspari’s initial jailing in June 2023, for example. At that point, he was not being charged either by police or the prosecutor, but instead he was put into custody on a Swiss custom that allowed him to be held on the accusations of a private third party. And it wasn’t even a fellow Swiss accuser: Gaspari was put in jail based on the accusations by Trish Duggan, the richest Scientologist in the world, and Scientology’s most prolific donor (at least $360 million that was acknowledged publicly), and a resident of Clearwater, Florida.
In calls from the jail in Lugano, which is in the Italian-speaking part of Switzerland, Gaspari had explained to us that he had been approached by Duggan, who wanted to invest in his steel trading business by creating a new company with a large infusion of cash from her, about $10 million. Gaspari, who by that time was himself a “Diamond Meritorious” donor to Scientology, having given more than $5 million to its membership organization the IAS, said that the new company was intended to make huge profits that would go to Scientology.
But after it was up and running, Gaspari was accused by Duggan and her attorney, Scientologist Stephen Hayes, of self-dealing and making off with about $7 million.
We obtained the interrogation of Hayes by the Swiss prosecutors, during which Hayes made at least one obvious lie: He claimed that Duggan would not have set up a company to send profits to Scientology, that this was not something a Scientologist would do. But just a few years earlier, we had reported on Duggan doing that exact thing when she and her then husband Bob Duggan set up a foundation with Abbvie stock in order to send profits, about $3 million a year, to Scientology and only to Scientology, as spelled out in corporate documents.
In an American court, we would have expected a defense attorney to make a lot out of that obfuscation by Hayes to Swiss prosecutors. But the trial that unfolded this week was very much not like an American trial.
On Tuesday, the first full day of the trial, for example, Judge Pagnamenta questioned Gaspari directly about the case, and it gave Gaspari a chance to speak about Scientology and the incredible pressure he was under to donate money. According to a local news report, Gaspari said that in all he had given Scientology about $9 million.
Wednesday, it was prosecutor Lipari’s turn, and she acknowledged that it was fellow Scientologists who had approached Gaspari about creating a new company. But she denied that the money that was missing had gone to Scientology. Instead, she accused Gaspari of creating false invoices and other methods to take the money for himself.
One of Gaspari’s attorneys, Damiano Salvani, then had the chance to speak, and we think it’s worth quoting what he said, as recorded by journalist Nico Nonella of Corriere del Ticino.
"He was approached by a prominent member of the movement, in charge of finding wealthy donors, who attached himself to him like a tick," he said. "Since my client's company was working well, this person proposed that he climb to the top of the organization." How? Through donations. And how to find the money? By increasing the turnover of his business. Hence, as mentioned, the huge financing.
According to Salvini, "the defendant acted while he was part of a totalitarian sect that controlled every aspect: how could he have acted without the knowledge of his American financiers? It is difficult that he committed the acts charged to him in a situation in which his personal freedom was greatly reduced if not absent." In essence, the money that had been given to him would have been used for donations, which he did on the order of $9 million. In addition, the defense contested the aggravated form of unfaithful administration, effectively downplaying the extent of the embezzlement and the charge of fraud. "The prosecution lumped together all the operations carried out by the defendant, but should have established a threshold beyond which a transfer of money is a crime and below which it was a lawful business operation."
At that point, Gaspari’s lawyers, apparently realizing that they weren’t getting far with Judge Pagnamenta, suggested a sentence of 3.5 years.
Yesterday, the judge sentenced Gaspari to 5.5 years, and then expulsion from Switzerland for an additional 7 years.
Also yesterday, we gave an interview to Swiss radio, which asked a very good question: Aren’t Scientologists supposed to refrain from suing each other or turning each other in to law enforcement?
That’s true, we said. And we added that it seems to us that Trish Duggan would have checked with Scientology leader David Miscavige before proceeding to have her fellow church donor jailed.
And it’s kind of amazing that Gaspari’s own huge donations didn’t protect him.
Trish Duggan is the Kha-Khan of donors, apparently.
Scientology asks for more time in Whitney Mills lawsuit after storms
The Scientology institutional defendants in the Whitney Mills wrongful-death lawsuit have still not provided an answer to its gruesome claims that the 40-year-old woman was driven to suicide by Scientology’s quack aversion to psychiatry.
Initially, those defendants (FSO, FSSO, CSI, Tampa Org, Belleair Mission, and IASA) had asked for more time because they knew that Whitney’s mother, Leila Mills, would be amending her lawsuit to add Dr. David Minkoff and his LifeWorks Wellness Clinic in Clearwater, Florida.
Now that Minkoff has been added as a defendant, Scientology is still asking for a little more time, pointing to the local damage caused by hurricanes Helene and Milton to the Tampa Bay area.
Well, we can’t really argue with that. So they will now have until October 31 to submit their answer to the lawsuit.
Talk about trick or treat.
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Where was the evidence on the fake invoices and other thefts?
"In addition, the defense contested the aggravated form of unfaithful administration, effectively downplaying the extent of the embezzlement and the charge of fraud."
It looks like Gaspari's lawyers ceded or plead out to the charges laid out. Now, why would a successful steel trader risk everything for a few million? He had much more in the bank, or did he? $cientologists at Gaspari's level often use bluster and obfuscation to run their businesses. Was Gaspari about to crash and burn before latching on to Duggan? There are some background questions that should be answered.
Gasparti would not have contacted the Underground Bunker if he was in good standing. Whatever the elephant in the room is, it has nothing to do with the trial. Based on the little he said here is my total speculation about what happened.
My guess is that after Trish got her claws in him, the pressure to donate more than he made increased. At some point, he balked and chose to put enough of his money back in his business to make it profitable. He may have even continued to pay himself the salary he had become accustomed to before Trish got her claws in his business. Anything less than all is never enough in the high pressure donation world of Scientology these days.
I do not know how much he owed Trish, but I bet she expected a huge return if he left Scientology. When he stepped back, he became fair game. She has done what she set out to do. I would be willing to bet his company is destroyed. It was never about money.
I won’t even pretend to understand how the Swiss courts managed to even assume jurisdiction over this case. Perhaps now that Gasparti is in jail, he will speak out. I don’t think I’d be brave enough to fight Trish Duggan. She is the kind of person you get when you think you have a friend in Scientology. Caveat emptor.