Uncovering Scientology schemers: A tale of journalistic perseverance

[From Libération’s illustration by Xavier Lissillour]

Jonny Jacobsen, the British reporter in Paris who keeps us up on what’s going on over there, wanted us to know that French journalist Emmanuel Fansten has another fascinating piece about Scientology in the latest Libération, and that it intersects with a number of things Jonny himself has written for us or at his own website in the past.

It appears that the first time Jonny came across the name Cyrille Pincanon, it was in 2009 while he was covering a trial in Paris in which two Scientology institutions and six individual Scientologists were charged with organized fraud. Jonny’s day-by-day coverage of the trial was amazing, and on one particular day, September 7, 2009, he described how Scientology brought in several character witnesses, Scientologists who spoke up for the defendants and countered the accusations that we’re all so familiar with — high pressure sales techniques and environmental control.

Cyrille Pincanon appeared as a character witness for Didier Michaux, one of Scientology’s salesmen, who was facing a charge of organised fraud.

Pincanon, 30, who described himself as a commercial director with a construction firm, said he had been a Scientologist for three years, which was also how long he had known Michaux.

“He is someone who is always ready to listen,” he said. “He gives me advice. He knows the writings of Hubbard.”

Pincanon said he had heard about Scientology through a client, and after having watched a DVD on Dianetics he had decided to come up to Paris and find out more.

“I have progressed spiritually,” he said. I am very proud to be in this church.”

He appreciated Scientology’s emphasis on human rights and its anti-drug message, he said: “Scientology has given me a lot of answers.”

Judge Château once again asked about the personality test, and he replied that yes, he had done it three of four times and found it useful, interesting. “I asked to do it. I was interested,” he said.

He had also enjoyed the Purification Rundown, he said. And he and his wife had both owned an e-meter.

He confirmed too that he had paid for his courses in advance, though exactly how much he was not sure. “I can’t tell you in detail but I think I am OK for this year.” That was nearly seven months’ worth, at least.

But why had he chosen to come from the south of France to study Scientology in Paris, asked the judge? Because of Michaux, said Pincanon: “He is a very good adviser.”

And he dismissed any suggestion that Michaux might have harassed him to buy courses.

“I call M. Michaux more often than he calls me,” he said. If ever he came across something in Hubbard’s writings he did not understand, he would call Michaux.

Pincanon said he was earning a good living with Genibat, a company that renovated buildings: enough to be able to come to Paris every weekend to study at the centre.

He had no problem spending money on Scientology because before that he had spent it on racing cars and motorbikes.

“I stopped because I couldn’t do both,” he said: “It was more a question of time.”

Despite testimony from Pincanon and others, Michaux was convicted along with the other defendants. (As we like to point out whenever we can, Scientology is officially a fraud in France.)

The next time we heard about Pincanon, he was involved in a land deal gone bad.

It was March 2014, and Jonny reported that a municipality suddenly backed out of a major land development plan once they realized that the people behind it, including Pincanon, were Scientologists.

The local council decided on the U-turn at a crisis meeting on Thursday night called by local mayor Michel Villard specifically to discuss the question.

Local paper L’Echo du Centre broke the news of the Scientology connection only last Saturday, and since then the issue has dominated the local political agenda. Now, less than a week on, the sale has been cancelled and the future of the whole project is uncertain.

Cyrille Pincanon, the Scientologist and entrepreneur promoting the development, insisted his church had nothing to do with the project. Such is the movement’s reputation in France, however, the simple fact that he and others involved in the project are Scientologists was enough to kill the deal.

The affair has also caused considerable political embarrassment to the local politicians who initially backed the scheme, not the least the mayor, Villard.

Just a few months later, in July 2014, Pincanon showed up yet again in a story that Jonny wrote for us. This time, about how Scientologists had taken over a building firm, Arcadia, installed Scientology “admin tech,” and compelled employees to take Scientology courses that they had no interest in. About 20 others were let go. A dozen of the employees filed a formal complaint to prosecutors, and the story was broken by French outlet 20Minutes.

[Boss Frederic] Langlois brought in Scientologists to help run the company, including Cyrille Pincanon, who worked as a consultant there, said [lawyer Olivier] Morice.

Pincanon, who is also named in the complaint, told 20minutes that his consultancy there had been extremely successful. He denied that he had spread Scientology beliefs in the workplace but refused to discuss his methods.

Libération journalist Emmanuel Fansten then dug into the story and found that it was much worse than just forcing Scientology on workers.

Far from turning around the company, which had been prosperous, the influence of Scientology executives led to its compulsory liquidation in August 2014. Over the previous eighteen months, Cyrille Pincanon’s company had billed nearly 690,000 euros, more than four times what was stipulated in the initial consulting contract. A final transfer of 44,000 euros to Pincanon’s account was made even when Arcadia was already in default of payments. These facts could be considered concealment of bankruptcy according to the courts.

Force Scientology on employees, bleed the company dry, and leave it for dead. What a program.

Pincanon said he wasn’t to blame for the company’s demise, that it was the result of a conflict between the owner and his son.

As the company was cratering, Pincanon brought in another Scientologist, Pascal Maffre, to do a financial audit of the company, even though Maffre had no accounting training or formal qualifications for that kind of work.

In April, Pincanon and Maffre were indicted, and will face charges of “moral harassment,” “misuse of corporate assets,” and “concealment of bankruptcy.”

But that’s not why Fansten came out with a new piece in Libération yesterday.

He had found that Pincanon and Maffre, while trying to keep a low profile, had started up a new venture that was just as questionable. They were the secret backers of a company called “Capability,” run by another Scientologist, a former nurse named Carine Simon, which was selling training to become addiction counselors to help people quit smoking, for example. No previous experience was necessary.

And based on Fansten’s description, Capability was run like an MLM, with participants told they could make a living becoming “closers” for the company, recruiting other potential counselors and taking a 10 percent commission on training packages that ran 4,800 and 12,900 euros.

But participants in the scheme told Fansten that there was something odd about the company. Closers were required to attend a weekly meeting when Simon would hand things over to a mysterious person named simply “Cyrille” who seemed to be making all the most important decisions. And they also noted that this Cyrille would make odd promises to them.

“If you succeed, I will give you personalized coaching like I did with my previous salespeople,” he promises. “It will transport you to a state of power that you have never known before.”

In April, around the time Pincanon and Maffre were indicted over the Arcadia debacle, an anonymous email was sent to the Capability closers that the mysterious Cyrille running their company was, in fact, Cyrille Pincanon. A police search of Maffre’s home, meanwhile, turned up documents showing that he had started the firm with Carine Simon. Maffre told Libération that he was no longer associated with Capability. Pincanon couldn’t be reached for comment.

The Capability closers who spoke with Fansten, meanwhile, say they are now denouncing the company’s high-pressure environment.

We want to thank Jonny for keeping us up on these odd things happening in France, and we’re impressed by a couple of things: Cyrille Pincanon’s dedication to questionable business schemes, and Emmanuel Fansten’s perseverance while reporting on him for more than a decade.

It’s almost like Scientologists are drawn to predatory business schemes, isn’t it.

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Linkin Park fans outraged about Emily Armstrong news

Looking back, it appears we first mentioned Dead Sara singer Emily Armstrong in 2018, when we first talked to Mars Volta singer Cedric Bixler-Zavala about the harassment that he and his wife were going through after she and two other women went to the LAPD with allegations about being attacked by actor and Scientology celebrity Danny Masterson.

Cedric talked to us about the horrific experience of finding their dog poisoned, and having to put the animal down.

We went over Cedric’s involvement in Scientology with him for that piece, and he mentioned that one of the other musicians he saw taking the Purif — Scientology’s quack sauna-and-vitamins routine — was Armstrong. The two were also photographed together at the 2013 Celebrity Centre Gala.

Then, in 2020, for Danny Masterson’s arraignment, we reported that because of the pandemic protocols going on at the time there were restrictions on who could come into the courtroom.

And so it appeared to be a bit of a power move when Masterson showed up with a large entourage in order to keep others from getting in. The victims told us at the time that they were very angry about it.

One of the people in that entourage was Emily Armstrong, but she was unable to get inside when the court insisted that Masterson could only bring in six people with him. Still, she was there to support her fellow Scientologist.

So when Linkin Park announced this week that it was returning after a seven-year hiatus following the death of Chester Bennington, and that Armstrong would be a part of the new lineup, there has been a vocal backlash from fans who haven’t forgotten that Armstrong is a Scientologist and that she showed up to court in support of Masterson, who one year ago tomorrow was sentenced to 30 years to life in prison after being convicted for two counts of forcible rape.

We can certainly understand their outrage.

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Source Code: Actual things founder L. Ron Hubbard said on this date in history

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