A former Scientologist has filed a lawsuit against the Church of Scientology for a quarter of a billion dollars, naming Tom Cruise church head David Miscavage’s “right-hand man” in the papers.

Using the RICO statute, Peter Letterese filed a lawsuit in the Southern District Court in Florida on July 15 against the Church of Scientology, claiming to have been harassed, report the New York Daily News’ Rush & Molloy gossip columnists.

Letterese says in court papers that several members of the church harassed him after he left and recounts one incident when a member of the church allegedly called his lawyer’s home and when the lawyer’s wife answered, claimed that he was her husband’s homosexual lover.

Letterese describes the church in the papers as a “crime syndicate” and invokes the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization act (RICO) to have it broken up.

Letterese mentions Tom Cruise in his lawsuit, calling him the “right-hand man” of David Miscavage, the Church of Scientology’s leader. The former member says Miscavage is “aided and abetted by the actions of Tom Cruise, his right-hand man for foreign and domestic promotion, as well as for foreign and domestic lobbying,” as quoted by the Daily News.

Cruise has also allegedly “assisted the syndicate in acquiring funds and [made] his own donations of money believed to be in the multiple tens of millions of dollars.”

Cruise’s lawyer, Bert Fields, could not be reached for comment when contacted by the Daily News.

The Church of Scientology did respond though, through a representative who called the lawsuit “frivolous” and based on “falsehoods.”

Elliot J. Abelson, general counsel for Church of Scientology International, has issued the following statement: “The case filed by Peter Letterese and his company Creative Desperation is frivolous and obviously designed to generate publicity for himself. In this case, he is suing more than 60 people and entities, including Google, Yahoo! and the American Arbitration Association. In July 2008, the Federal Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit rejected similar claims and affirmed that the Church's use of the book in question is fair use.”

”Letterese's company was penalized $266,000 by a California Court stating that his company has "filed numerous, repetitive and frivolous motions" and "refused to comply with [court] orders, even though its counsel was warned several times that serious [penalties] would result from such failure."  The lawsuit is as meritless as his other filings,” Abelson added.

Earlier this year, British author Andrew Morton published an unauthorized biography of the Hollywood star, claiming among other things that he was second in command in the Church of Scientology and that daughter Suri with wife Katie Holmes had actually been conceived by deceased Scientologist founder L. Ron Hubbard.

Bert Fields was not at a loss for words, saying the book was filled with “a rehash of tired old lies about Tom and his religion, some new grotesque lies, like the sick comparison of his child to ‘Rosemary’s Baby’ and the nutty assertion that he's the No. 2 head of the Church of Scientology.”