Web site a trove of Slatkin material, shots at Scientology
Santa Barbara News-Press
4/26/02
By SCOTT HADLY
http://news.newspress.com/topsports/042602slatkinweb.htm

Why are a computer scientist at Carnegie Mellon University, a Canadian journalist and a New York Web site designer so interested in Reed Slatkin?

The answer is Scientology.

David Touretzky, the Carnegie Mellon scientist and specialist in computer modeling of the brain, is an outspoken critic of the church. The staunch advocate for First Amendment protections on Internet content has knocked heads with the church for posting Scientology texts and the church's training secrets on various sites.

Mr. Slatkin has been excommunicated from the church, according to Linda Simmons Hight, a spokesperson for the Church of Scientology International.

She noted that church members were also victims of Mr. Slatkin's Ponzi scheme.

In the past, the church has said it is unfair to hold it somehow accountable for the actions of an individual, and that the church did not benefit from the scam.

While the church may have benefited indirectly because Mr. Slatkin and many of his investors were generous donors, the U.S. Bankruptcy Trustee concluded that so far there is no evidence that the church was a large beneficiary. In addition, Mr. Slatkin was as likely to take money from Scientologists as non-Scientologists.

As for the Web site, http://www.Slatkinfraud.com, it has evolved from its focus on Scientology, posting reams of financial documents and court records.

However, last September the church sent a letter to Mr. Touretzky's Internet service provider warning it that he was using their trademark Excalibur-like cross without permission. After a series of letters from the church's attorneys, the owners of the small company asked Mr.

Touretzky to move his Web site. He picked EarthLink as the new provider.

And he has since removed the Excalibur image from the Web site's opening page.

Mr. Touretzky described the move to the bigger Internet service provider as a "deliciously ironic" twist, because EarthLink was founded by prominent Scientologist Sky Dayton, and Mr. Slatkin was one of the initial investors. His $75,000 investment in the fledgling company in 1994 turned into a $200 million share, helping to cement his image as an investor and attract more people to his private investment club.

Mr. Touretzky figured EarthLink would be hesitant to tamper with his site for fear of appearing beholden to the church.

It's evident from the name itself what the Slatkinfraud.com creators think of his investment club.

But Mr. Touretzky, journalist Kady O'Malley of Ottawa, and New York Web designer Scott Pilutik have amassed an impressive amount of documents to support their assertions.

There are more than 60 megabytes of information on the site. The documents include dozens of newspaper articles, court documents, exhibits and depositions, as well as lists of hundreds of investors and businesses caught up in the bankruptcy. In only one case so far has the Web site had to make a correction. An investor was confused with a woman unrelated to the club who had the same name, and that information was quickly removed, Mr. Touretzky said. The site has become a resource for many journalists, as well as investors, he added.

Digging up the documents and tracking down investors has been a reporting challenge, said Ms. O'Malley, who also covers politics in Canada. While she believes that well over half the investors are Scientologists, she said it does not appear that a disproportionate number of Scientologists made profits.

"It appears Reed decided who benefited based on those who were close to him or who could either hurt him or help him," she said.

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