Updated A French appeals court on Thursday upheld the Church of Scientology’s 2009 fraud conviction on charges it pressured members into paying large sums for questionable remedies.

The case centered on the complaints of several people who spent huge amounts of money for the cult’s ‘purification packs’ and other alleged ‘cures.’

The appeal for the Church of Scientology’s conviction on fraud has opened in a Paris court.

The cult’s defense lawyersh plan to argue during the appeal that the conviction curtails freedom of religion and association.

A doctor and evangelical minister who used bogus herbal medications to offer false hope to dozens of people suffering from diseases such as cancer and Alzheimer’s was found guilty of nearly a dozen federal charges.

Twenty-eight victims or family members of victims who died while taking the products testified against Christine Daniel.

The Australian Independent Senator Nick Xenophon has used a speech in Parliament to raise allegations of widespread criminal conduct within the Church of Scientology.

Senator Xenophon says he’s received letters from former followers of the religion detailing claims of crimes and abuses. [video]

The family of Winston Churchill has asked the Church of Scientology to stop using images of the former prime minister in its recruitment literature, The Times reports.

The controversial religious organisation has been circulating promotional material to recruit staff in the UK which includes photographs of Churchill along with quotes from some of his most famous speeches.

It has also used Churchill’s image to promote speaking engagements by its members and campaigns to raise money to create new Scientology facilities in Britain.

The church defended its use of Churchill in its materials and accused detractors of “trying to stir up mischief”.

The cult apparently sees aligning itself with respected causes (e.g. human rights), celebrities or respected personalties (e.g Einstein as an effective recruitment tactic.

Another favorite ploy is the use of the impressive sounding — but basically useless — Oxford Capacity Analysis test.

The St. Petersburg Times is continuing to expose the Church of Scientology to daylight — by reporting on the destructive cult‘s unethical tactics.

Billed as The Truth Rundown, its series of special reports highlights the alleged abusive behavior of current Scientology leader David Miscavige, as well as other criticism leveled at Scientology by a number of high-level defectors. [video]

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.

U.S. Treasury bonds with a face value of $116 billion seized in Italy in August are fake and were destined for U.S. investors, according to the prosecutor running the probe.

A woman from the Philippines, who was to receive the bonds taken in August, and the sender, her brother, who later traveled to Italy, were arrested by local police, the prosecutor said.

Had the notes been genuine, the pair would have been the U.S. government’s sixth-biggest creditor, behind Russia, which is owed $118 billion.

The Philippine nationals claimed to be Jehovah’s Witnesses and wanted to sell the bonds to finance their religious missions, the prosecutor said.

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.”

Benny Hinn preaches a version of the prosperity gospel, which holds that God wants his followers to have financial wealth. To become prosperous, one must give money to God, who returns it multiplied.

If this scam worked as advertised, Benny Hinn and others like him would be giving you money…

Cult leader Grigory Grabovoi, who among others things promised grieving mothers to resurrect their children for a fee, is jailed in Russia.

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

Cynthia Setser was arrested in Florida in December, 11 months after she skipped a hearing in Dallas where she was to be sentenced for her role in a multimillion-dollar pyramid scheme spearheaded by her husband, Gregory Setser.