Ford Greene

In an article published by the Marin Independent Journal, Ford Greene admits having been involved in deprogramming people including his own sister.

The article makes reference to www.friendsofsananselmo.org which is a website that documents Ford Greene’s bizarre activities and run-ins with the law.

Ford Greene is an attorney with a psychiatric history stretching back to his youth when he was committed to an institution by his family. The unaccomplished son of a wealthy San Francisco attorney, it was perhaps in an effort to finally win his parent’s favor that Greene took up “deprogramming” – the violent abduction and imprisonment of parishioners in an effort to force them to give up their faith. Greene’s parents had hired deprogrammers to abduct their daughter, Catherine, a member of the Unification Church, and Ford participated in the kidnapping and restraint of his then 20 year-old sister.

It was an extremely ugly, life-threatening two days for Catherine Greene who had been looking forward to a visit at home with her mother, only to find herself violently attacked within minutes of having walked through the front door. First she was jumped from behind by two men, then thrown to the floor, hands cuffed behind her back, feet bound together, blindfolded, then carried to a van and made to lie face down while her abductors drove her to a remote location. There, in a boarded-up room, her brother, Ford, and several accomplices held Catherine prisoner, subjecting her to constant verbal abuse and mind manipulation techniques in an attempt to break her religious beliefs. Finally Catherine was left with no choice but to cut herself severely with a broken bottle in order to force her captives to take her to a hospital. It cost her 19 stitches but she was able to contact friends and tell them of her plight. To prevent her escape, Catherine’s abductors arranged to have her transferred to a psychiatric hospital – the same hospital that Ford Greene had been committed to after threatening suicide years before. Eventually Catherine was able to contact an attorney who helped her to freedom.

Catherine later brought suit, and in a detailed statement accused her brother and his accomplices of having deprived her of numerous constitutional rights. But none of this seemed to phase Ford Greene. He believed he had found a “calling.”

Along with other opportunists like jewel-thief-turned-deprogrammer, Rick Ross, Greene became a member of the old Cult Awareness Network, an anti-religious organization that specialized in promoting the violent abduction and abuse of parishioners. Now a self-anointed “expert” on religion, Ford set out to breed as much fear and hatred as possible in an effort to frighten parents, husbands or wives into paying to have their family member “deprogrammed.” Among his victims was Rick Schnorr.

Schnorr, also a member of the Unification Church, was 27 years old and enroute to a business meeting when he was ambushed by Ford Greene and several others and physically restrained with a leather belt, handcuffs and leg bracelets. Schnorr was held captive for several days while Greene and his kidnapping team attempted to break Schnorr and force him to renounce his faith.

Greene “interrogated” his prisoner by screaming insults and obscenities at him and threatened to stuff a towel down Schnorr’s throat. Schnorr was forced to sleep with his hands and feet cuffed and chained to the belt around his waist – the type of restraint used by police for violent criminals. The kidnappers made veiled threats about breaking Schnorr’s bones if he did not cooperate. Greene physically intimidated Schnorr while he was bound and defenseless.

Rick Schnorr was eventually able to escape his kidnappers and later made a detailed statement for the court about the abuses perpetrated by Ford Greene and his accomplices.

Greene shows no remorse for the kidnapping and remains an advisor to a company that Rick Ross formed after the demise of the old Cult Awareness Network (CAN). Ross’s attempted deprogramming of a United Pentecostal parishioner resulted in a lawsuit that bankrupted the old CAN in 1996. C.A.N. is now under new, benevolent management.

Ford Greene followed in his family tradition and became a lawyer, but not having the skills or credibility of his father and grandfather, Ford decided to stick with shaking down religious groups rather than establish an honest practice. This became evident when Greene was reprimanded by the California Bar Association for lying to a California court. His clients also soon found him out and lodged complaints against him alleging incompetence. One client alleged that Greene made sexual advances toward her, another that Greene attempted to have her committed to a psychiatric ward in order to allow himself time to prepare a defense.

Greene’s police records list numerous arrests: Kidnapping, Trespassing, Battery of a Police Officer, Stalking and Burglary. The latter two charges resulted from his harassment of a young woman he was dating who was forced to obtain a restraining order against Greene.

In 2001, Ford Greene informed a Superior Court that he has an “inability to act with competence” due to a “head injury.” Regardless – or perhaps because of – his continuing mental problems, Ford Greene continues to foment hatred against religions.