In Fall 2001, Deanna Holmes and several other people were busy annoying Bob Minton by publicly deriding him on the alt.religion.scientology news group. This annoyed Minton, and he complained about it to several people. One of those he complained to was Ken Dandar, lawyer for the Lisa McPherson estate in a wrongful death lawsuit against Scientology. Dandar, in turn, told the news group posters that they were annoying Minton, and the negative postings subsequently stopped. This was adequate proof for the Mintons that Dandar had control over the annoying postings. Mintons, as in two of them. Another person Minton told about this was a woman by the name of Therese Minton, his wife.
Years ago, Minton gave Scientology what it needed to stop him from funding anti-Scientology litigation. As long as his wife continued to give him her support, he would continue. Despite many difficulties, Therese stuck with Bob, just so long as he remained a man of principle.
The principles fell apart in February 2002. Dandar told Minton the McPherson case needed more money if it was to continue. Minton hesitated, but finally relented with a check for $300,000. As it turned out, that was the straw that broke the camel's back. The Mintons, and others by now, suspected that Dandar both had control over those who were disparaging the McPherson estate's benefactor, and that Dandar was mismanaging the McPherson case.
In short, by giving people who publicly reviled him that much money, Minton was both supporting unprincipled behavior and exercising poor judgment in handling the Mintons' money. Therese gave the ultimatum: get the money back or stop the fight. Minton argued but lost. He asked Dandar to return the money, but the lawyer said it had already been spent. That left Bob one path to saving his married life. Seek settlement. He approached Scientology leader Mike Rinder with a heavy heart but was fully resigned to the task at hand.
As a matter of fact, Rinder already had a precondition. Minton would have to make a clean breast of the Lisa McPherson case. Minton was shocked that Rinder knew enough to make this allusion. It turned out Minton had falsified a statement he made for the McPherson case. Minton was to later assert that not only was Ken Dandar privy to his misconduct, but had encouraged him. Rinder, Minton was convinced, had to have had an inside informant and who else, Minton wandered out loud in his testimony, but Patricia Greenway would have means, motive and opportunity to do so.
This brought the millionaire to a realization. If he had not approached Rinder to settle his differences with Scientology, then Scientology would have had the equivalent of blackmail material on him. This would have been especially significant after Scientology settled the McPherson case. Besides the millions he had already given Dandar, the anti-Scientology crusader would have been liable to the cult for millions more. In reality, whatever the McPherson case was settled for would likely have come from Minton's own pocket via Scientology.
Minton breathed a heavy sigh of relief and let Dandar know that he was going to testify against him for Scientology. The suspicions that Dandar was an unprincipled man were soon confirmed. The slanderous campaign against Minton was renewed within days. It started with malicious speculation, and eventually transcended the bounds of common sense almost completely into the realm of the fantastic. When the legal situation demanded the fantastic accusations against Minton come to an end in the United States, responsibility for the false accusations was merely shifted overseas. Within weeks Martin Ottmann came up with an unbelievably distorted list of wrongoing that easily competed with Scientology's earlier allegations against Minton of moneylaundering.
Background on "The Betrayal of Bob Minton"
Every single detail of "The Betrayal of Bob Minton" is not guaranteed fact. It is the best reconstruction that can be made with the facts at hand concerning events surrounding Bob Minton's attempt to settle with Scientology.
The reason this was not published sooner is that there was some doubt as to whether Minton was actually sympathetic with Scientology. Time has shown this doubt to be unfounded. Minton has not endorsed Scientology in any way. Nor did Minton betray critics en masse to the cult. Although Minton betrayed Ken Dandar, he was no harsher on Dandar than he was on himself.
Minton was not blackmailed. More than one person was very interested in nailing the cult on this. As a result several people who were very close to Minton went to extraordinary lengths to find out if foul play was involved. The result was unanimous that Minton was not the victim of blackmail.
Certain people who Minton had aided financially betrayed him. This was done to their own advantage, so that Minton ended up paying twice, once in cash and again in repute.
Minton was not in danger of being convicted for perjury or money laundering; one of his betrayers was in danger of being convicted for corruption. Minton was not publicly aiding Scientology's propaganda war against critics; his betrayers were. Minton did not throw news group alt.religion.scientology into such an uproar that Scientology's anti-psych-bots could take a vacation, again it was his betrayers. Minton did not post unauthorized documents that had not been released by the court to the Internet; that was his betrayers.
Most importantly, Minton did not run to the press to betray his betrayers, but did what any civic-minded citizen should do; he went to court. Whether we agree with him or not, in this respect at least, he did the right thing.