An incomplete history of Scientology's criminal activities, 1980 to 1986

Police Investigations

1980

In March 1980 the Chief prosecutor of Sweden, Erik Östberg led a series of police raids of the Scientology church of Malmö, because of suspected tax evasion. The "Treasury Secretary", B. Wiberg, was arrested. During a conversation within the GO it was said that he confessed some things to the police and that he was shaken. Daily reports from his confessions made their way to the GO in Malmö. A few days later the media reported that a security guard within the police department, P. Duttlinger, was a Scientologist.

In response to the confessions of Wiberg, the GO created false receipts of incoming money, showing religious services". The GO Offices in Malmö and Stockholm had "safe rooms" for collecting sensitive files that could potentially get into the hands of the police. As a result of the tax evasion investigation, the "Church of Scientology of Sweden" filed bankruptcy in 1986, after that the Tax Office demanded back taxes for three consecutive years.

In 1980, during a raid of Stockholm Org, the GO managed to copy the Police search warrant orders! A GO staff member noticed that the Chief Inspector forgot to carry with him his suitcase while running around in the org trying a stop the GO (Boo Jonsson, Bo Strandman, Rolf Sjogren and others) from distracting the investigation. The Police was busy trying to locate Treasury financial records. A "chain" of people handed documents from the suitcase (in AG SWE's office) to the copy machine, and the copies ended up in a hidden stack of documents in the ceiling of B1...

Hyttinen, bomb assaults

1981

In 1981, Hannu Hyttinen sought help from the CCHR?chapter in Stockholm. Hyttinen and his wife had earlier immigrated to Sweden from S:t Mickelstad (Mikkeli ?) in Finland. Hyttinen's wife suffered from a mental illness, and one day she was found with cigarette burns all over her chest. Hyttinen was suspected of maltreatment of her and apprehended by the Police, but he himself claimed the burns to be caused by drug pushers she was in contact with.

A friend of his contacted CCHR during a radio talk show and despite being sentenced to psychiatric care, Hyttinen with the assistance of CCHR got out of Beckomberga Mental Hospital in Stockholm after just a week! Prior to Beckomberga, Hyttinen was kept at Huddinge Forensic Psychiatric Clinic (RPK Huddinge) for mental evaluation. A certain Professor Lars Lidberg headed RPK Huddinge. He discovered Hyttinen's particular knowledge of psychiatry (mainly CCHR indoctrination) and at every occasion Medical Doctors in training visited the RPK, Hyttinen was allowed to take care of them for an hour or so, telling about psychiatry in general and his own experience in particular! After the release from the Beckomberga Hospital, Hyttinen assisted CCHR in many actions. During an event at Karsudden Mental Hospital for the Criminally Insane, the Police arrested Hyttinen when he refused to leave the premises.

1981/1982

Hyttinen told Birgitta that 1981/1982 he had bugged a chair during a meeting in Karsudden. He did it while being present as a CCHR agent, doing an official investigation. During the time Birgitta knew Hyttinen, he was very hostile towards any kind of psychology, psychiatry, social work or any type of government institution.

At that time Rolf Sjogren was the head of the CCHR?chapter. He was posted within the GO Stockholm, PRbranch.

Sjogren considered Hyttinen dangerous, and he once warned Birgitta to stay at his place, when Hyttinen offered her his apartment to stay overnight. During that time he had another man living there. Sjogren didn't say why he considered Hyttinen as dangerous to Birgitta.

Lars Tingström was an old friend and employee of Hyttinen, who had a small repair company. It is possible that he was the man, who stayed with him in the apartment. The CCHR?Stockholm was mainly composed of Sjogren and M. Nyman, who is OSA?staff today. They recruited interested people like Hyttinen and R. Wersocki?Lind, who had been Scientologist for a long time before. He had a locksmith?company, worked for the Flag Service Consultant Office as well as for the GO. Before be joined Scientology he had been convicted for bank robbery. In a statement to Birgitta, he meant, that be was sentenced for probation in the trial, because he had said he had changed through Scientology.

1982

In July 1982 the villa of the Swedish prosecutor Denckert was bombed and his son?in?law got killed. Lars Tingström, friend and former employee of Hyttinen, was suspected of the assault. The motif was apparently Tingström's hatred against Swedish authorities (several bankruptcies) and Denckert. During the investigation, Tingström bugged and tape recorded the phone of his ex?fiancée and discovered that Denckert had a sex affair with her. Since she was Denckert's witness, this constituted an unheard of violation of Police impartialness!

In 1982 Tingström came to CCHR (Sjogren) but failed to supply the recording tapes, so Sjogren called off a planned media exposé. Later (in 1992) the scandal did blow up in Swedish newspapers. Tingström was an electronic genius and in 1983 actually worked for a Damascus situated terrorist group, Black September. However, he was convicted for this and other bomb assaults and received a life sentence.

As a side comment, Tingström met and befriended Christer Pettersson, later to become main suspect of the murder of the Swedish prime minister Olof Palme.

1983

In February 1983, a bomb placed inside the Stockholm Tax Office exploded and killed an employee. Three hours before the explosion an ex?Scientologist, Tore Hedström, was seen kneeing before the building. Hedström, who left the C of S in 1969, was weirdly dressed in a Muslim like skirt. He was soon excluded from the suspect list, as being crazy. After a thorough technical investigation Hyttinen, however, was connected to the assault. In August the building of the Nacka District Court (south of Stockholm) was bombed.

Shortly after, on September 13th, Hyttinen got arrested for the bombings. Since the police suspected Hyttinen for two of the bombings, Sjogren took the arrest seriously and was concerned about a possible threat for Scientology. Approximately two weeks after his arrest Hyttinen was set free, as the police couldn't prove his involvement in the bombings.

In December 23rd, a bomb in his apartment in Stockholm killed Hannu Hyttinen. In a letter sent to his mother few days before he died, he mentioned that he "was part of the Scientology terror group". He also said that he feared about his life, as the Swedish Police was corrupt. Shortly after his death, Lars Tingström was arrested and stayed in jail until summer 1984.

OSA, CCHR

1981

Sjogren, while responsible for CCHR activities in Stockholm area, wanted to know what patients were involuntary committed to Ulleråker Mental Hospital in Uppsala. He ordered a GAS, KJ, to go there to pull whatever files he could. He managed to "borrow" the main keys of the hospital, and after having impersonated an M.D. got a few patients medical records...

1983

Leif Nordström and B Strandman opened a private investigators office in Stockholm, "Detecta Info Consult. Both were kicked out off the Guardian's Office in 1982, but continued their work for the GO, and later for OSA from their company. The company is still operating today. They also opened a company "Inventor Trading", specializing in electronic equipment.

Late 1983, while Sjogren headed OSA Sweden, he, Nordström and Strandman emptied an external files basement, located at Wallingatan in Stockholm (between Drottninggatan and Upplandsgatan). Around ten filing cabinets and huge piles of documents were investigated and some 1,500 kilos of documents with poor present value were thrown in a truck, transported to a dump and burned. The docs contained information about private individuals, suspected or proven hostile to the C of S (government officials, defectors, priests, etc), debriefs from events, and various other things.

At some prior point in time, as response to an official investigation, Sjogren ascertained that the C of S did not keep any records of private individuals...

The main activities of CCHR concentrated towards the closing of psychiatric hospitals, doing investigations and exposing abuses done by the psychiatrists. The GO program's name was "Psychs Behind Bars". While Birgitta was doing other PR?actions, Sjogren concentrated mainly on his CCHR?campaigns.

During that year, the Swedish Prime Minister Olof Palme elected a committee composed of scientific experts that was supposed to look into the usage of high dosages of vitamins and the "Purification Rundown".

Treatment of Church staff and defectors

1982

In December 1982 it happened that many staff of the Guardian's Office in Stockholm, Malmö and Gothenburg were thrown out by an "ethics"?mission. Before that a meeting in the Hotel Nordland in Copenhagen took place, where all the GO?staff had been ordered to attend. Guillaume Lesevre, Jesse Prince and Ray Mithoff were some of the missionaries. The GO bad been told that they were out?ethics and that most of the GO?staff had to leave their positions. After this meeting just four staff were left in the GO's of Sweden: Sjogren (Stockholm), Birgitta (Malmö), A. Dysholm (Gothenburg) and M. Persson (Narconon Malmö). During that time CMO missions closed down the Guardian's Offices in Europe.

82 of the GO?staff members were put on the DPF in Copenhagen. Birgitta graduated in March and was assigned to the new "Office of External Affairs" for Europe in Malmö, after she had signed the Sea Org contract. As she refused to be responsible for all Europe matters of the new office, Birthe Held was soon elected to be the new chief of Europe. Birgitta was now mainly concemed with re?establishing the Swedish org in Malmö, which had been nearly collapsed, after an "ethics"? mission was sent to the org and had driven out the staff and public Scientologists.

Also around that time the tax office sent two agents to Malmö org to look into the finance records. Sjogren came from Stockholm to assist them.

In April Birgitta was sent to Los Angeles to brief the "Special Unit" composed of Scientology?executives. Present were also lawyers of the Church. Among them were Alan Cartwright and Henning Heldt. Birgitta briefed them about the Palme?Committee and opponents to Scientologists in Sweden. After doing some PR work in the Guardian's Office and for the lawyers she was then sent back to Malmö.

1983

In 1983, Kerry Gleason, the resigned former International Executive Director of Church of Scientology was in Stockholm. Birgitta was supposed to "handle" him, but not to get in direct contact with him. Despite the order she met with him in a café and had a conversation with him, about an alleged ethics program he was on, and about the new management and the new "squirrel groups" in the United States. Due to the unauthorized meeting with Gleason, Birgitta got an ethics hearing, was suspended from post and had later a Board of Investigation on her.

Birgitta didn't appear in the org at that time, but was forced to appear on nightlong ethics hearings at the "FOLO" in Copenhagen. She became ill, returned to Malmö and moved to the hospital for three days. Missionaries from the Sea Org were sent to their horne, demanding her to return to the FOLO. Birgitta refused. When her husband was pressured to separate from her, she finally gave in and went back to the FOLO on December 18th. She had hearings during the nights, was constantly guarded and all her possessions was confiscated. At 4 am on December 22 , the hearings were finished and after she was pressured to sign an affidavit, in which she stated, "that she was warning about squirrel groups". She was also ordered to stay away from the Church.

1984

In April Sjogren, who was working for OSA in Stockholm and for the RTC, asked Birgitta for an appointment. That took place at the Main Railway Station in Stockholm on 3rd and 4th of April. Sjogren said that various agents were placed within the "squirrel"?groups, and that the GO?actions were nothing in comparison with the OSA?activities. Someone had visited him from RTC, who urged him to report squirrels and cooperate with the police. He asked Birgitta to become one of his agents, so he could tell RTC she would cooperate with the Church. Birgitta refused the offer.

On April 10th, the police at the Arlanda Airport in Stockholm arrested a so?called "squirrel" Stefan Sahlvall, when he returned from the US. This took place on behalf of Sjogren, who made a deal with a policeman, to whom he delivered pieces of the pc?folder of Sahlvall as evidence for laundering money in exchange for allegedly stolen OT?material, which hadn't been found at him at the arrest.

One day later, Todde Sahlen of Gothenburg, another "squirrel" starts to write a series of letters to the police and various newspapers, stating that he feels threatened by Sjogren.

During another meeting with Birgitta, Sjogren stated that he could kill Sahlen and that the end justifies the means. He told her not to tell anybody anything.

Due to a rumor of being the target of a tax investigation, Birgitta contacted the police in May 1984 and at a meeting was shown a letter where A. Dysholm of Gothenburg alleges her to be responsible for the finances of the Malmö organization, due to an annual meeting. At that time the organization was threatened to get bankrupt if 96.000 SEK (9.600 USD) weren't paid within a few days to the Tax Office. Birgitta was found to be not guilty of the false accusations and that the record of the annual meeting was falsified.

June 12th, Sjogren, Wersocki?Lind, Nyman and Dysholm, who placed their cars in front of his, prohibited Todde Sahlen to go to work. When the Gothenburg police was called, Sjogren alarmed the police of Stockholm with his walkie?talkie. They arrived within minutes and took over. Without authorization they moved into the house, searched the place and took belongings. Sahlen was taken to his company, where the police confiscated all his money and different papers. Later he got arrested on behalf of District Attorney Stettler from Stockholm.

During the night of the same day OSA Stockholm searched Britt?Marie Mossberg. For that purpose they went to her mother, and found out that she is visiting Marie?Louise Krusell.

Sjogren, Wersocki?Lind and Nyman went to Krusell's place and tried to get into the apartment. After calling the Gothenburg police, the three men and other Scientologists from the org were forced to leave the place. They returned at 1 or 2 am, screaming on the street with Wersocki?Lind holding a gun. The police was again called and they made certain that they left the city. Sjogren (now Palmgren), who headed the operation, can't recall ever having seen a gun, much less a Magnum revolver, in the hands of Wersocki?Lind. Sjogren can confirm that Wersocki?Lind owned one of the earlier mobile phones, by which he called Krusell's apartment from his car. It's beyond Sjogren's judgment whether this phone was mistakenly confused with a gun.

During the next day, Sahlen's wife, Renee, was called for a police interview. Together with her friend Chia she appeared at the police station in Gothenburg. Prosecutor Stettler and policeman Öberg led the interview. During the interview Öberg was heard to call Sjogren, who had returned to Stockholm, and saying to him in a mild and friendly tone, that he should stop the harassment while the police investigation was on going. After he hang up, he told Renee, that she shouldn't suspect, he would act on behalf of the church or would cooperate with them. The next day Todde Sahlen was set free. He later was found not guilty regarding the accusations.

Birgitta never returned to the org after December 1983 and in July 1984 Birgitta received her SP?declare.

On August 23rd a journalist told Birgitta that he knew about two Scientologists who were involved in drug trafficking. One of them was Julek Wersocki, the brother of Roger Wersocki?Lind. They would use a Scientology?company called "Pro?Life" for it. A few days later he mentioned that a member of the Palmecommission, Jan?Ove Hansen was also involved in this.

On August 30, while being at her mother in Stockholm, Birgitta called her daughter in Helsingborg to find out how she was doing. Her daughter told her that Sjogren had previously called her. Birgitta phoned back to Sjogren in his office. He denied calling her daughter and said it was Leif Nordström from the private agency "Detecta". Sjogren gave the telephone number of Nordström to Birgitta, who called then the agency. Nordström explained to Birgitta, that it was easy to get her secret number and address, also due to the fact that he had contacts within the phone company. He asked her twice, if she didn't care about her life. Birgitta felt threatened and reported the matter to the police.

A police investigation into the infiltration of the Scientology agents began in September. It became known that the cooperation between the police and the Scientologists started in the year 1980, after the raid. The policeman Öberg was fired from the police.

On February 28th, 1986 Prime Minister Olof Palme was shot to death with a Magnum 357 in Stockholm, after he had gone to a movie together with his wife and his son.

In July 1987 Sjogren stated to Birgitta that he had changed his last name to Palmgren (maiden name of his mother).

In April 1986 Marie?Louise Krusell stated to Birgitta that she knew who had killed Palme. 12 years later Birgitta learned that Krusell had died. Date of death is unknown.

In November of 1986 Lars Tingström's attorney Pelle Svensson was the subject of repeated harassment from OSA International, who reported him on several legal abuses to the bar of lawyers. He was designed as a program "to be handled", and due to his sayings there is a connection between the bombings, the Palme murder and Scientology.

In July 1987 Sjogren contacted and told Birgitta that he had left Scientology and the Sea Org in March 1987, due to "out?ethics" (financial irregularities and out?2D). He had been posted in Italy, and prior to that he was sent from his office in Stockholm to RTC, Los Angeles/Hemet CA.

Prior to Tingström's death of liver cancer in 1993, he confessed to Pelle Svensson that not only was he responsible for the four assault bombs, but he claimed to have forced Christer Pettersson to shoot Prime Minister Palme. The Attorney General took the confession seriously and appealed to the Supreme Court to reopen the case against Pettersson. The attempt failed however.

Special Mission work

1985

Sjogren lead a six months "squirrel handling" mission to Switzerland. He brought in 25,000 Danish Kronor for "investigatory purposes" without reporting it to neither Swiss nor Danish authorities.

At a get together in 1985, Sjogren met Gavino Idda, who headed a similar mission in Italy at the time. Idda boasted that he hired a PI who bribed a head of the dreaded Guardia di Finanza (The Finance Police) in Milano with an expensive gold watch and some thousands of dollars. The result was a raid of the premises of a "squirrel group", accompanied with bad media for the group.

1986

Sjogren got files from the Milano District Court by bribing an official (less than $100).

The name "Narconon"® is trademarked to the Scientology organization through one of their many front groups. The name "Scientology"® is also trademarked to the "Church" of Scientology. Neither this web page, nor this web site, nor any of the individuals mentioned herein assisting to educate the public about the dangers of the Narconon scam are members of or representitives of the Scientology organization.

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