He’s a self-described bodybuilder who sued a televangelist over a diet shake and is accused of threatening the president and calling in fake bomb threats to two airports.

She’s a former software company sales executive who got 28 votes last year in the Addison mayor’s race.

Phillip Francis Busch, 46, and Tamara Whitman, 47, are the husband-and-wife team accused by federal authorities of trying to collect more than $18 million in bogus income tax refunds.

Prosecutors say that after Busch was labeled a frivolous lawsuit filer by the courts, he and his wife duped the Internal Revenue Service into paying them nearly $190,000. They were arrested in February.

Between 2003 and 2005, Busch used a diet shake formula evangelist Pat Robertson was hawking on his TV show, The 700 Club, to drop 200 pounds and help him fulfill a dream of becoming a competitive bodybuilder.

Busch shared his story on Robertson’s show. When Busch’s attempts to get a paid endorsement deal were rebuffed, he sued.

Busch also sued Comedy Central’s Jon Stewart after footage of his 700 Club appearance was used in a skit lampooning Robertson’s diet shakes.

Both suits were dismissed. Attorneys for Robertson and Stewart told the courts that Busch’s suits were harassing and frivolous.

French judges said they did not order the church offices closed because they did not want to drive Scientologists underground, where they could not be monitored.

At least five other cases involving complaints against the church are under investigation by courts around France, according to press reports. [video]

A French court on Tuesday convicted the Church of Scientology and six of its members of organized fraud, but stopped short of banning the church.

As part of the penalties, the church was ordered to publish the results of the verdict in several national and international magazines to warn people, the judge said, about what Scientology offers and what was discovered at trial. [video]

A doctor who is also an ordained minister was charged by federal prosecutors after claiming that her ‘C-Extract’ was an alternative to traditional cancer treatments.

Using her influence as an ordained Pentecostal minister, Christine Daniel tapped into the vessel of faith to entice people from across the nation to try her regimen.

A Portland, Oregon clergyman faces possible prison time for helping the owner of a mail-order divorce business evade $220,345 in taxes, a scheme that put an illegal tithe in the pastor’s pockets.

Maximo Garza, the 46-year-old pastor of Victory Outreach Church of Portland, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court to aiding the preparation of a false tax return, a felony that carries a penalty of up to three years in prison. His sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 11.

Between 2001 and 2003, business owner William C. Thompson — who ran a mail-order divorce service called Hallwood, Inc. — gave checks totaling $735,441 to Garza for public relations and other services that were supposedly performed by the nonprofit Victory Outreach Church. In fact, the church performed no such work.

IRS investigators later found that neither the church nor its board of directors knew of the scheme.

A new French law means the Church of Scientology cannot be dissolved in France even if it is convicted of fraud, it has emerged during a trial of the organisation.

A prosecutor has recommended that a Paris court dissolve the church’s French branch, which has been charged with fraud after complaints by former members who say they gave huge sums to the church for spiritual classes and “purification packs.”

A court in Belgium that was to decide whether to prosecute the Church of Scientology as a criminal organization has postponed its decision indefinitely.

Lawyers for the cult filed requests for additional research to be performed.

These requests must first be evaluated on their merit before a decision to prosecute can be made.

Benjamin J. Seigler claimed to have earned $40 million as a solo investor. He told clients he had “more gold chains than Mr. T,” bought mansions and owned 10 cars.

But the truth was that Seigler lived in a small apartment, had no income and himself had been swindled by the same scheme he had perpetrated on others – 5,600 others. In a span of just six months, Seigler collected more than $1.4 million.

A California pastor and another man were convicted Friday in federal court of bilking more than 500 people out of more than $32 million in a fraudulent investment scheme.

Three religion-related fraud schemes that didn’t have a prayer.

‘Televangelist’ Peter Popoff’s ministry has reimbursed a Nanaimo woman after she went public with concerns about the fundraising techniques used by the California-based church.Tip: Don’t send him money in the first place. Popoff was exposed years ago for his fraudulent ‘ministry’.

Scientologists — and Scientology front groups — have an (understanable) tendency to hide their connections to the cult.

But when they list charlatan and Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard as one of five famous human rights leaders they are quickly exposed.

During the events, which regularly attracted crowds of over 400 people, a number of associates would “pretend to be possessed by demons” and Fr Bazzoffi would allegedly exorcise them using ancient and obscure rites.

Churches have become a prime breeding ground for multi-million dollar affinity frauds, in which con artists convince others to invest in scams.

Lindani Mangena, 24, posed as a top City trader to con more than 1,000 Seventh Day Adventists.

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