Larry Wollersheim

Larry Wollersheim has involved himself continuously in anti-Scientology campaigns since his expulsion from the Church in 1979.

In 1993 he formed the anti-religious hate group, FACTNet. Despite his efforts to gain support from other like-minded fanatics, the group is no longer operational except for the occasional internet posting by Wollersheim himself. In his zeal to harass his former Church, Wollersheim loaded onto FACTNet’s computers more than 2,000 unlawfully published copies of Scientology writings by L. Ron Hubbard. This earned Wollersheim and FACTNet a suit for copyright infringement and, on March 26, 1999, both defendants stipulated to the entry of a judgment against them for $1,000,000. This judgment included a permanent injunction barring Wollersheim and FACTNet from committing future copyright infringements. FACTNet disbanded shortly thereafter, leaving Larry Wollersheim as its sole member.

Although Wollersheim’s years in the Church were marred by unethical business practices – practices which ultimately led to his expulsion – they were virtually the only years in which Wollersheim was drug-free and maintained somewhat steady employment. Wollersheim has admitted to taking large amounts of LSD prior to Scientology; since at least 1985, he has been treated by psychologist Margaret Singer for bipolar disorder, and has been on and off the drug Lithium, a strong medication which at the very least impairs judgment.

After he was expelled, Wollersheim ran a string of failed businesses in Colorado. A former B.F. Goodrich research chemist, who lost more than $35,000 in one of Wollersheim’s scams, testified that:

“I have never in my business dealings been associated with any person who has created so much stress and caused so much harm to me personally.”

One county sheriff from Colorado stated, based on his own observations, that he felt Wollersheim:

“basically…was a con man.”