Tom DeVocht: Consummate Crook

A self-admitted, compulsive liar, Tom DeVocht was removed and kicked out of the Church in 2005 after it was uncovered that he had wasted parishioner funds due to his gross mismanagement, lies and coverups of a renovation project he was in charge of.

Still bitter that his con was discovered more than a decade ago, DeVocht now lives a deadbeat life using his ample spare time to spread hate about the Church on the fringe of the internet. He also is a primary bottom-of-the-barrel source Leah Remini scraped to use in her “reality” TV show as part of her tired campaign of religious hate and bigotry. DeVocht even once dismissed those he hangs out with now as “crazy ex-Scientologists” in court testimony.

Dishonesty is his way of life

After a laundry list of lies, larceny, violence, wife-beating, construction screw ups to the tune of millions and general destructive behavior for which he had no remorse, Tom DeVocht was officially expelled from the Scientology religion in 2005.

In a rare moment of honest self-examination, DeVocht summed up his ethical philosophy:

“Lying to the most important people on earth was not an overt [transgression] unless I was caught out and couldn’t lie my way out of it.”

“Lying to the most important people on earth was not an overt [transgression] unless I was caught out and couldn’t lie my way out of it.”

So duplicitous and dishonest is Tom DeVocht, he once engaged in a covert conspiracy with Remini’s co-host Mike Rinder, to secretly suborn perjury and obstruct justice by pressuring and coaching witnesses to lie to police, which was not uncovered until after they were expelled years later when the facts were revealed by another.

Financial Malfeasance

A former Church construction manager, DeVocht’s lies and mismanagement of projects culminated in unmitigated disaster. During an investigation into his financial malfeasance, DeVocht, by his own estimate, admitted covering up $10 million in Church losses prior to his removal in disgrace.

As he later admitted, DeVocht’s morals were so warped that his only regret was that his scheme was discovered. Said DeVocht: “I would never even consider I was doing wrong unless I was caught out and then my only sorrow was for being caught….”

The list of financial misconduct by DeVocht is extensive, including:

• To gain favor with a real estate broker to obtain football tickets, DeVocht enlisted a convicted felon to broker a Church property acquisition. DeVocht allowed himself to be conned into helping the felon secretly acquire a sister building he then defaulted on—losing both the building and $1 million when the broker walked away from it.
• Violating Church policy, DeVocht secretly committed the Church to a multimillion-dollar loan guarantee with an energy company. DeVocht’s deal blew up in his face when the company defaulted. Thanks to DeVocht’s mismanagement and coverup, the Church was stuck with paying off the loan.
• In still another construction project DeVocht requested “change orders” without clearing them with financial authorities. De Vocht’s scheme was discovered when a contractor sent his invoice. DeVocht late voluntarily admitted in writing that he “committed financial crimes by signing work orders and committing expenses without any authority.…”
• Yet another project went over budget as a result of DeVocht’s ineptness.

In virtually every case, DeVocht compounded his damage by covering up his malfeasance. As a result, DeVocht was removed in disgrace by the leader of the Church because there is zero tolerance for such corruption. In admitting he had cost the Church $10 million, DeVocht made the disingenuous promise that he would work to pay it back. To no one’s surprise, he never even tried.

DeVocht was removed in disgrace by the leader of the Church because there is zero tolerance for such corruption.

DeVocht’s thievery even extended to his own family. He sold two of his wife’s cars without her knowledge at different times while she was out of town, then spent the money. He squandered over $100,000 of her inheritance. Shortly before he left the Church admitted to having stolen cash from his now ex-wife’s grandmother on their wedding day.

After he was kicked out by the Church, he laughably claimed to the tabloids with no evidence that he was beaten up. In a declaration signed under penalty of perjury, DeVocht’s former wife, Jennifer Linson, said his “characterizations are nothing short of scathing lies, which are pure sensationalism and absolutely not true.” Ms. Linson refuted those lies again when she appeared on CNN on March 30, 2010, telling Anderson Cooper:

“I slept with Tom DeVocht for almost 20 years. I knew every inch of him. I never saw one scratch. I never saw one bruise. I never saw one black eye. Nothing. Nor did he complain about anything personally.”

First Stealing, then Destroying Families

Still seething that his con game was discovered, DeVocht after being kicked out of the Church worked to break up his own and other families, including a stint as a self-styled “deprogrammer” engaged in human rights violations and criminal activities. Some examples:

• In 2009, DeVocht teamed up with his then-girlfriend in an effort to harass her father, a Scientologist and staff member, into leaving the Church. His girlfriend had deserted her family 20 years earlier, run off with a married man, cut all ties and attacked her father. She and DeVocht appeared without notice outside her father’s workplace, demanding to see him. Her father saw it for what it was—a sham performance—and told the couple to get lost.
• In an effort to cause even more trouble that he could exploit in the media, DeVocht called the police, claiming the father was being held against his will; however, when law officers arrived at his work, they found the father fit, happy and cheerful. Case closed.
• In a 2013 incident, a young Scientologist was literally kidnapped by her brother and ex-boyfriend and brought to a home in the Hollywood Hills where she was held against her will and verbally abused by DeVocht, Michael Fairman and six other anti-Scientologists. The woman was forced to remove her shoes and held in a locked room while the group encircled her, verbally attacking her and haranguing her with lies about her religion. At one point, DeVocht tried to physically block her from leaving and told her, “If you were my sister I would tie you up right now.” They harassed her for two hours until she finally escaped.

DeVocht told her, “If you were my sister I would tie you up right now.” They harassed her for two hours until she finally escaped.

• Frightened for her life and in tears, the young woman ultimately managed to escape. She remains an active Scientologist to this day and has repaired her relations with her family that had been soured by the lies of DeVocht and these anti-Scientology bigots.
• And indeed, DeVocht did treat his own sister in the same abusive fashion. DeVocht recently tried to insinuate himself between his sister and her daughter—someone he barely knew—to turn the girl against her mother. His vicious attack against his own sister fell flat on its face. 

Violence is his calling card

Like other anti-Scientologists cast for Leah Remini’s “reality" TV show, DeVocht has left a long trail of violent behavior. Here are just a few examples:

• Physically assaulting two religious workers-throwing one into an oleander bush and kicking the other in his ribs, breaking several of them.
• Dragging his wife down a hallway by her hair until someone else forced him to stop.
• His own description of his formula for dealing with and relating to others was, “I drove fear into people with my physical handling of people.”

Tom DeVocht’s ‘Aftermath’: Descent into Tabloid Trash

Once dressed in Armani suits with a beautiful wife from a prominent family, DeVocht today lives hand to mouth, barely eking out an existence and in personal debt for tens of thousands of dollars, money loaned to him by family, friends and lovers which he never paid back. Bitter at his expulsion from the religion, and having to face the reality that his lying and incompetence keeps him from holding a decent job, he turned to getting high. Desperate for money, he has now resorted to trolling online crowd funding to beg for money.

Having to face the reality that his lying and incompetence keeps him from holding a decent job, DeVocht turned to
getting high.

DeVocht continues to dig himself into deeper and deeper holes. He had a fling that led him to impregnating a pills and cocaine-addicted alcoholic who gave birth to his child. This same woman then physically attacked DeVocht while he was holding the baby requiring DeVocht to call the police. By DeVocht’s account, it was all her fault, which resulted in her being placed under a 500-foot restraining order from her own daughter.

Now DeVocht has joined up with Remini and other disgruntled liars to make up outrageous claims—lies about the Church and its leader. All are motivated by revenge for their expulsion, their desire to make money from their lies, attention they hope to get. In DeVocht’s case, it’s all three.