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Here's a new story from the St Pete Times (tommorrows paper):
Scientology benefits when Miami dentist runs up patient bills
By Joe Childs and Thomas C. Tobin, Times Staff Writers
In Print: Sunday, November 21, 2010
Rosa Hernandez remembers this about her dentist: He sure could close a deal.
She and her husband, Mauricio, had gone to Dr. Rene Piedra with a host of concerns. She had sensitive gums and a paralyzing fear of dentists. He needed bonding.
Piedra, dressed in a business suit instead of a dental coat, showed them computerized models of how he would fix their teeth. He offered them a discount because they came in together, and helped them with a loan application.
"He made you feel like he was part of your family," recalled Mrs. Hernandez, 52, a schoolteacher. "It was like, 'Oh my God, you're going to be okay. Don't worry about it. We are going to take care of you with love.' "
The couple walked out with a "treatment plan" covering several months.
Cost: $17,189 charged to the Capital One account the doctor set up for them. They had no idea, going in, that they would spend that kind of money.
Piedra closed hundreds of patients this way, signing them up for extensive treatment packages that generated millions. When patients wanted out and asked for a refund, many got the runaround.
But Piedra always seemed to have money for his favorite cause: the Church of Scientology.
From 2005 to 2008, court records show, Piedra's practice transferred $715,364 to several Scientology entities, including the church's spiritual headquarters in Clearwater.
A partial tally:
• Nearly $150,000 to the Scientology church in Kansas City.
• $121,500 to the International Association of Scientologists, which funds the church's social campaigns and legal actions.
• $55,000 to the Scientology entity raising money to complete the mammoth "Super Power" building in downtown Clearwater.
• $83,000 to the World Institute of Scientology Enterprises, a nonprofit corporation that helps businesses put Scientology principles to work.
Piedra's contributions helped land him in bankruptcy, owing $3.9 million to a long list of creditors. A lawsuit in Miami alleges that Scientology groups played a key role in his downfall.
Bankruptcy trustee Barry Mukamal contends Piedra schemed "to defraud patients in order to transfer large sums of money" to the Church of Scientology and related groups.
Involved, Mukamal alleges, were nine Scientology-related entities, three church members and a Pinellas County management training firm run by Scientologists. He sued them all, seeking to recover the thousands they got from Piedra.
Scientology denies any involvement.
The Scientology defendants "are innocent third parties drawn into a controversy they did not create," church spokesman Tommy Davis said. He said the church didn't manage Piedra's practice and isn't responsible for how he handled his creditors.
Piedra, 41, declined to be interviewed or answer written questions, citing advice from his lawyer.
In a hard-fought settlement expected to be approved this month, the church will pay $350,000 to make the case go away for the Scientology defendants. It has agreed to do so on the condition that the judge bar Piedra's creditors or other parties to the suit from suing the Scientology entities.
Read Full Story Here:
http://www.tampabay.com/specials/2009/reports/project/
Scientology benefits when Miami dentist runs up patient bills
By Joe Childs and Thomas C. Tobin, Times Staff Writers
In Print: Sunday, November 21, 2010
Rosa Hernandez remembers this about her dentist: He sure could close a deal.
She and her husband, Mauricio, had gone to Dr. Rene Piedra with a host of concerns. She had sensitive gums and a paralyzing fear of dentists. He needed bonding.
Piedra, dressed in a business suit instead of a dental coat, showed them computerized models of how he would fix their teeth. He offered them a discount because they came in together, and helped them with a loan application.
"He made you feel like he was part of your family," recalled Mrs. Hernandez, 52, a schoolteacher. "It was like, 'Oh my God, you're going to be okay. Don't worry about it. We are going to take care of you with love.' "
The couple walked out with a "treatment plan" covering several months.
Cost: $17,189 charged to the Capital One account the doctor set up for them. They had no idea, going in, that they would spend that kind of money.
Piedra closed hundreds of patients this way, signing them up for extensive treatment packages that generated millions. When patients wanted out and asked for a refund, many got the runaround.
But Piedra always seemed to have money for his favorite cause: the Church of Scientology.
From 2005 to 2008, court records show, Piedra's practice transferred $715,364 to several Scientology entities, including the church's spiritual headquarters in Clearwater.
A partial tally:
• Nearly $150,000 to the Scientology church in Kansas City.
• $121,500 to the International Association of Scientologists, which funds the church's social campaigns and legal actions.
• $55,000 to the Scientology entity raising money to complete the mammoth "Super Power" building in downtown Clearwater.
• $83,000 to the World Institute of Scientology Enterprises, a nonprofit corporation that helps businesses put Scientology principles to work.
Piedra's contributions helped land him in bankruptcy, owing $3.9 million to a long list of creditors. A lawsuit in Miami alleges that Scientology groups played a key role in his downfall.
Bankruptcy trustee Barry Mukamal contends Piedra schemed "to defraud patients in order to transfer large sums of money" to the Church of Scientology and related groups.
Involved, Mukamal alleges, were nine Scientology-related entities, three church members and a Pinellas County management training firm run by Scientologists. He sued them all, seeking to recover the thousands they got from Piedra.
Scientology denies any involvement.
The Scientology defendants "are innocent third parties drawn into a controversy they did not create," church spokesman Tommy Davis said. He said the church didn't manage Piedra's practice and isn't responsible for how he handled his creditors.
Piedra, 41, declined to be interviewed or answer written questions, citing advice from his lawyer.
In a hard-fought settlement expected to be approved this month, the church will pay $350,000 to make the case go away for the Scientology defendants. It has agreed to do so on the condition that the judge bar Piedra's creditors or other parties to the suit from suing the Scientology entities.
Read Full Story Here:
http://www.tampabay.com/specials/2009/reports/project/
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