“As far back as I can recall, certainly from the time I was a little boy wondering what I might become, I was interested in religion and the hope it held forth for happiness and a better life for all,” Duggan said.
By 1983, Duggan had completed other Scientology courses, including Happiness Rundown, Grade V and Grade VA Power Plus, according to Wachter’s data. The latter course claims to “restore previously hidden powers,” according to Scientology’s website.
By the mid-1980s, Duggan’s reputation for investing had spread throughout Scientology, according to Reed Slatkin in a January 2000 deposition to the SEC. Slatkin had administered Scientology counseling to Duggan and his wife, and began assisting Duggan with investment research around 1983.
Slatkin said in his deposition that Duggan’s approach to investing was inspired by Benjamin Graham. Duggan would visit companies such as floppy disk makers Tandon Corp. and Dysan Corp. to learn about their businesses from executives before buying stock.
Boardroom Coup
During his time assisting Duggan, Slatkin said he made a couple hundred thousand dollars on his original investment over a year and a half, according to the deposition.
By the time Slatkin sold his stakes, the initial $200,000 he made with Duggan had grown into $13 million.
Slatkin was convicted in 2003 of defrauding investors of about $590 million, funds that were mostly from other Scientologists. He is imprisoned in a federal facility in Lompoc, California, and didn’t respond to an interview request made through his attorney, Brian A. Sun of Jones & Day. Slatkin will be released in May and is no longer a Scientologist, said Sun. Duggan wasn’t involved in the fraud, and said he had just a brief association with Slatkin in the 1980s.
“I unsuccessfully attempted to instruct Mr. Slatkin in a fundamental, thorough, research oriented, approach to stock market investing. It did not catch on with him and thus he was of no help to what I was doing. That fast we parted ways, it was my call. You can lead a horse to water but you can not make him drink,” said Duggan in his e-mail.
Cancer Drugs