Another case has been filed by a family defrauded by the Legion, this time by the family of a convert, a distinguished graduate of Yale and previously a Mechanical Engineering professor at Brown. Mr James Chu died in 2009, and his son Paul is suing for fraud, undue influence, the Legion taking advantage of his father's reduced capacity, and punative damages.
Since the groundwork has been laid by the Mee case (and this man was evidently groomed to be "consecrated" in RC late in life as well, and the only obstacle to the previous lawsuit being sucessful was the "lack of standing" by Mrs Mee's niece, this son stands a great chance of prevailing in court.
He has demanded a jury trial, which is now the Legion's argument against releasing the documentation from the Mee case, since they posit that it will prejudice the jury.
[Trying to figure out how to put the PDF files up; the story is found online here.]
I really hope we will see "Suing the Legion 3.0" and "Suing the Legion 4.0" and so on and so on. As one more lawsuit comes to light, I hope it gives courage to others to pursue legal action. I wish all the best to the family of Mr. Chu. I also hope we have not heard the last of the action with respect to Mrs. Mee and her estate. Taking advantage of a sweet and naive old lady is just shocking. How do these LC PTB look themselves in the mirror?
Posted by: les | February 04, 2013 at 06:23 PM
I don´t know how good his lawyer is. Step 1 before the lawsuit should have been to get a court order to view the entire LC file on the deceased donor and the database records including phone calls, visits, personal information kept on him, etc. They can still get the files, but now when the court order comes they can conveniently delete things before saving to file.
Plan B is to raid the offices using the FBI and take all files. I can tell that they have a lot of the information backed up so it shouldn´t be that hard to find out.
Then Plan C is to get a court order to interview Fr. Bannnon. They can´t qualify him as a flight risk since he already left... but they can use the wheel to justice to get the information they need.
If they don´t get the FRO docs and the interviews with those who visited him, this case might die an early death.
Plus if the lawyer is some corner lawyer the Chu fellow found in the phone book or while driving around, he might become overwhelmed by the high class army of LC lawyers.
Chu could wind up losing his shirt so he better think his strategy through before he gets buried alive, ie, he might be convnced there was impropriety in what the LC did but he has to prove it.
The burden of proof is on Chu so hopefully he doesn´t make any dumb mistakes...which the LC is counting on.
My next move would be to get the FBI to raid the facility or at least get a court order to gain access to all FRO docs regarding Chu.
Posted by: Little Light | February 05, 2013 at 12:50 PM
I'm pretty sure that Fr Bannon was deposed for the first case, as was Fr Garza.
Posted by: giselle | February 05, 2013 at 01:02 PM
I think the Legionary priests (at least the old one's) are like vipers, keeping their fangs in you until either blood or money are drawn from your body. Have they no moral compass? they need to read the bible.
Posted by: Dingledore | February 06, 2013 at 10:36 AM
unrelated question......is anyone aware of CRHP being used as a recruiting tool? My husband was just invited to an RC retreat....all of the CRHP men were invited. They are calling it a CRHP retreat, but it is a traditional RC retreat on their website. UGH!!!!!!! I am so frustrated!!!
Posted by: UGH! | February 07, 2013 at 04:12 PM
And does Catholic World Mission have any ties to LC/RC?
Posted by: UGH! | February 07, 2013 at 04:18 PM
Little Light, Might I suggest you speak with a lawyer? The FBI does not handle estate disputes. And you can't just order an 'interview' (do you mean deposition?) of anybody you want, especially if they're not in the country (my guess). Even if they are, the court only has so much power, especially if the person is located elsewhere.
Posted by: Cephas | February 07, 2013 at 05:26 PM
Ok. Just let me know your address to send you the bill. Should be about $500.
Posted by: Little Light | February 07, 2013 at 09:49 PM
Yes, Catholic World Mission is definitely an RC apostolate.
Posted by: No Longer Brainwashed | February 07, 2013 at 10:16 PM
Speaking of CRHP, who started this? I went to one (I actually asked one reluctant RCer to join me). It followed the EST/Landmark forum weekend retreat format almost to the t. Did somebody say, hey, lets copy these methods to “bolster” our parish team spirit? How does that sort of crap get incorporated into Catholic life?
Posted by: Tom | February 08, 2013 at 05:17 AM
CRHP is not LC/RC, but there is often an opportunist recruiting event with another program that IS theirs afterwards. Catholic World Mission AND Food for the Poor are BOTH definitely LC/RC-fronts.
Posted by: MariGold | February 08, 2013 at 10:40 PM
Anybody have an opinion about why there are so many programs these days with the "fire" motif in it? Seems that "blazing" and "afire" and similar are the element du jour with the Legion.
Posted by: MariGold | February 08, 2013 at 10:44 PM
MariGold February 8 at 10:40 p.m.:
I'm really trying to steer clear of all things LC/RC. How can we know which organizations are fronts for LC/RC? The two organizations you listed as being LC/RC fronts surprised me. If either of these organizations came up in conversation, I'd like to have a reference for how we know they're LC/RC fronts.
Respectfully,
Maria G.
Posted by: Maria G. | February 11, 2013 at 05:08 PM
See LC's CWM reference, 6th paragraph down
http://www.legionariesofchrist.org/eng/articulos/categoria.phtml?lc=se-239_ca-649_ci-715
Posted by: anon | February 12, 2013 at 12:06 PM
When did Food for the Poor become a "front"? I remember back when the founder was involved in major financial scandal, and haven't given since. Again, there was no transparency with that scandal, just assurances of something or other. I had no idea that they had become LC, but their high-end media campaign has made me leery of them since the founder left.
Posted by: Mary Ann | February 12, 2013 at 12:18 PM
Let’s keep eyes peeled: LCRC pulled fast ones during two Papal transition periods already…Let’s pray for the Church during this period (I am personally grateful for the courageous gesture by Pope Benedict).
Posted by: Tom | February 12, 2013 at 02:20 PM
Let's hope it is someone who is just, wise and pure. I think Pope Benedict did the best he could to clean up the priest sex scandal and corruption. I applaud him. Let's hope we don't replace him with someone who will go the other way.
Posted by: No Longer Brainwashed | February 12, 2013 at 04:18 PM
anon at 12:06 PM:
Thank you for the link about CWM.
Posted by: Maria G. | February 12, 2013 at 04:25 PM
MariGold,
"Blazing" and "afire"?
Check Dante's "Inferno."
Posted by: HonestyPlease | February 12, 2013 at 06:51 PM
My overall assessment is the same as you, Longer Brainwashed. After the news came out about Benedict, I read all kinds of news sources and comments to get an idea of people's reactions. Reading through the NY Times alone, there was such a variety of comments. Unfortunately, more than one blamed the whole pedophilia scandal on Benedict...now maybe if they changed his name to Sodano. It was so ironic that in the same article they would just mention Sodano being the dean of the college of cardinals and mention that Mahoney is voting and be all annoyed with that and not pay any attention to Sodano...anyway, it just tells you too, how sensational news is and quickly they forgot the facts or don't investigate properly.
Posted by: happy in diocesan life | February 13, 2013 at 07:34 AM
Two great questions:
Since he is the delegate of Pope Benedict XVI, does his authority over the Legion end on February 28?
...how they will conduct themselves during this period of Sede Vacante.
http://leavinglc.blogspot.ca/2013/02/pope-benedicts-resignation-and-legion.html
Posted by: nat | February 13, 2013 at 05:05 PM
No doubt the PTB have had a plan in mind for just this kind of eventuality for quite some time. They probably started executing the plan the minute B16 made the announcement.....
I have every confidence that the Legion will make "excellent" use of the Papal transition time, just as they always have.
The Legion priests in our area were so damn somber the day B16 was elected. They PTB are probably throwing a party right about now, especially if they think they have managed to sway the upcoming election through their usual tactics of unctuous flattery, palm-greasing, and blackmail.
Posted by: Gems | February 13, 2013 at 08:33 PM
Food for the Poor is a front? News to me. Where's the proof? I really liked this charity up until now, and I thought it was clean. I do see that there have been lots of
Mission Youth trips to Haiti, but they claim to work mostly with the Missionaries of Charity, Mother Teresa's order.
Posted by: Miriam | February 14, 2013 at 12:09 AM
Not one call, Giselle, for prayers for the Pope and the bark of Peter... (shomething wrong, shurly?)
Posted by: luis_a | February 14, 2013 at 02:11 AM
This is a test, to see if my old log in and password work. They do. My prayers and thoughts have continued with all of you here at LARC and I have missed you. In light of the momentous events of recent days, I thought it better to reconnect. Sorry this is off-topic. But I'm interested in a conversation about the intersection of the LC/RC and the resignation of Benedictus from the Papacy. I suggest no connection between the two, in any direct way. But am wondering if others feel, as I do, that events in the Providential design are meant to further our wisdom about, well, . . . everything.
Posted by: gregorbo | February 14, 2013 at 02:43 AM