All language subtitles for True.Believers.S01E03.720p.WEBRip.x264-BAE[eztv.re].en

-I'm Judith McIntyre.

The first diagnosis
was breast cancer.

Yeah.

I began to see Serge Benhayon.

-Is it possible to eventually
heal everything?

And the answer is yes.

-This is Serge Benhayon, the
leader of Universal Medicine,

a controversial group selling
unproven healing treatments

to desperate people.

-Universal Medicine
advertises that

they're all about helping people

make healthy,
self-loving choices.

-We've got more qualified health
people in the world per capita

than we would have ever had,

and yet we are sicker.

Something is not making sense.

-I feel so alive...

and clear and well.

-These promotional videos
give us a rare glimpse

inside the group's
ultra-secretive world.

To its thousands
of devoted followers,

it's a world that must seem
harmless.

But behind the wellness seminars
and dance parties...

-You re a cult leader,

and Universal Medicine
is a money-making cult.

Let me ask you a few questions.

- lies a story of deception,
devotion, and control...

-I've spoken to lots of people

that wouldn't go on the record
with me.

He must have something
over them.

He's got some sort of fear
over them.

- created by
a master of manipulation

and self-declared
messiah figure...

-Have you ever said

that you were the reincarnation
of Leonardo da Vinci?

- Yes, I did.
- Serge claims

he's the chosen one of God,

the latest in a long line of
great thinkers.

-All of the great figures,

people like Zoroaster,

Plato, Buddha, Jesus,

are all sort of crystallized
into Serge Benhayon.

- whose promise of healing
comes at a price.

-Serge supported me.

-I specifically predicted
the rise of breast cancer

and actually gave
the reason why.

-I've learned a great deal.

I had created the disease

by all my self-neglect,
my choices.

♪♪

-I was referred
to Serge Benhayon

by a friend
who practiced acupuncture.

I was on holidays.
I'd just completed a degree.

I was building my acupuncture
business at the time.

And, yeah, I was just a little
bit tired and rundown,

probably a bit grumpy.

-Esther Rockett is at a
vulnerable moment in her life

when she first encounters

Universal Medicine
and its leader.

-He was very friendly,
and he was cheerful.

I lay on the table,
and he just did this

very simple
hands-on healing method

where he would stand near me,

and he put two hands
on my shoulders,

and he kept them there
for quite a long time.

♪♪

I was fully clothed.

There was nothing to be
concerned about.

He deliberately gave me
a false sense of security.

That was his grooming process.

It was the third session,

that's when everything changed
in an instant.

♪♪

-Serge Benhayon is a

bankrupt former tennis coach
turned new age guru

whom Esther's worked for years

to expose
as a sham and cult leader.

But sounding the alarm
hasn't halted

the spread of Universal
Medicine's wellness centers,

where so-called healers use
Serge's unusual ideas

to treat ailments ranging from
back pain to cancer.

♪♪

-I'll just go ahead
and talk about

some of his mad ideas,
if you like.

Okay, look.

Serge believes...

...that he can heal
any sickness.

-Fundamentally,
he denies completely

that there could be germs that
could cause disease,

genetic factors
that could cause disease,

environmental factors
that cause disease.

Universal Medicine suggests that
their leader, Serge Benhayon,

is the most knowledgeable person
that has ever existed,

that he knows everything about
everything,

can answer any questions about
any mysteries in the world

and indeed the universe.

-Under occult astrology,
you could say,

Serge, I've been stuck in Gemini
for 400 years.

That would be superbly
scientific.

-I'd seen Serge
on various news broadcasts.

-He has no medical
qualifications at all.

- touting unproven treatments.

-I thought, "Ah, he's an
interesting character."

He believes that he holds
the salvation of the world.

-When you go
into evolutionary energy,

you realize
the world's not human anymore.

That's when you see spirits.

-One of Serge's core beliefs

is that evil spirits are leading
humanity astray.

-That spirit has been exposed.

-Serge claims that
he is both man and woman,

a being who has moved
beyond gender

because his soul
has been reincarnated

more than 2,000 times.

-I orgasm like a woman
every time I orgasm,

as much as I do as a man,

and often more as a woman
than I do as a man.

♪♪

-He also teaches that people
with disabilities

are being punished for bad
behavior in a previous life.

-If he tries one of his healing
modalities and it doesn't work,

the fault is not his.

The fault is the person

who doesn't receive it
or believe it.

And if people follow what he
suggests and what he teaches,

he will be able to address
all the issues of hunger,

violence, mendacity.

All of the evil behavior
of human beings will disappear.

-Followers of Universal Medicine

are told that eating and
drinking certain things

allows evil spirits to invade
the body.

Alcohol, dairy, coffee,

even carrots and potatoes
are off limits.

-People in the future
will understand that...

we may not be needing
three meals a day,

and they'll be understanding
that there are some foods

that are not designed
to be eaten.

-He'll say things like,

"Can anybody
who eats dairy products

or chocolate really love you?"

And he said,
"Carrots are as bad as heroin."

-But there is a way to fight
back against the evil spirits...

Intimate, hands-on treatment,

ideally performed by
Serge himself.

-At the third session,
I laid down on the table,

and the first thing that Serge
said to me was,

"Today, I think we'll do
an ovarian reading."

I said to him, "No.

No, I don't want that."

He said, "I think it'll be
good for you.

"It's not invasive.

"I'm just going to feel

any information that your
ovaries can give me."

He kept on with this pressure.

Until I gave in eventually
and just said, "Oh, alright."

I lay there, clothes on.

He put his hands on
my lower abdomen,

just above my pubic bone,
and the first thing he said was,

"When you were 5 years old,

a man in your life
let you down."

And he said, "A man in your life
tortured you."

I just lay there and waited
for him to finish.

I didn't say anything,
but he got impatient.

He said, "So, am I right?"

And I said, "No, not really."

But as soon as I left,

it occurred to me that
the majority of his clientele

were women,
and I became very concerned.

♪♪

-Anecdotally, we have the proof

that many people have improved
their health exponentially

through the modalities that
we're using.

-Serge has been in and out of
controversy for 20 years.

-The whole thing is just based
on stuff that's made up,

that Serge apparently got
impressed upon him

when he was sitting on
the toilet.

-I just gave myself a time to
sit and feel that moment,

and I could feel something
really, really beautiful.

-In the 1990s, Serge is a humble
tennis coach in Australia

until he has an epiphany one day

telling him to go forth
and heal the world.

-And from there, he started
his healing business,

Universal Medicine.

-To a certain type of
spiritual seeker,

Serge is magnetic,

and his healing classes
are an immediate success.

Within five years,

he's opening his own wellness
center in the city of Lismore

and treating people
with serious problems.

-The first diagnosis
was in June 2011,

breast cancer.

And initially they thought,

"Oh, that's fine. We'll just
remove the lump."

And then they came back
and said,

"We're going to have to take
the breast."

-Reeling from her diagnosis,

Judith meets Serge Benhayon
at a book festival.

He invites her to join
a healing workshop

to complement her medical
treatment.

-And when I went to see him,
from the very first session,

my fear levels
just went like that.

And I told him I didn't want to
lose my breast,

and I'm always optimistic that

I'm not going to have to lose
my breast.

And he said to me, "The soul

doesn't need the breast."

And it just opened up
my perspective.

Every treatment that came up
they suggested,

I don't want to do that.

Each time, Serge supported me.

♪♪

-After her brush with Serge,

Esther decides to infiltrate one
of Universal Medicine's

secretive group healing rituals.

The healing workshop I went to

was very, very creepy
and disturbing.

♪♪

There were about
60 people there.

We had enough treatment tables
for the group to pair up.

One person would be the healer,

and the other person in the pair

would lie on the table
as the patient.

Serge closed all
of the curtains in the room

and turned out
all of the lights.

The longer the practitioners
held their hands on a person,

the more people
would start to react

get the shakes and tremors
and move around on the tables.

Some people started
hyperventilating,

crying, screaming.

♪♪

Serge said that this was
because of bad energy

leaving their bodies
and evil spirits.

♪♪

He was telling people that
they were angels,

archangels and angels
in a past life,

that they'd been persecuted,

burnt at the stake,

that people had come along
with swords

and hacked their wings off
and disemboweled them

and cut them to pieces
and raped them

and all sorts of horrible stuff.

It was at that point
where I was thinking,

There's something really not
right here.

This could be a cult.

-At these workshops,

we get an opportunity to really
connect with each other

and feel that oneness.

-Their care and dedication
is second to none.

-No brainwashing.

It's about empowering people
so they can be discerning.

-I've got very little time.

And... the truth is,
I feel excited.

♪♪

-By the spring of 2014,

conventional medicine
has failed to stop

Judith McIntyre's cancer.

-I'll die very soon.
The body will die.

And I feel so alive.

-But Universal Medicine's

regimen of chakra-puncture
treatments

isn't working either.

Neither for Judith

nor the other patients seeking
help at the wellness center

in Lismore.

-My name's Jane Hansen.

I'm a journalist with
the "Sunday Telegraph" newspaper

in Australia.

I started talking to people
who had complained about

Universal Medicine.

I wrote about a woman
who'd had a cough,

and she'd gone to
a lung specialist

or respiratory specialist

who was in the same Universal
Medicine compound in Lismore.

And she was unaware of
Universal Medicine before this.

She just was going to see
a lung specialist.

She was misdiagnosed,

and not only misdiagnosed,

she was sent off to do all these
esoteric treatments,

like a lung massage,

which had no efficacy
whatsoever.

-One of Serge's strategies
for taking his philosophy into

the mainstream
is to recruit new believers...

who also happen to be qualified
medical doctors.

-It's surprising
and disturbing that

Serge Benhayon has been able to
attract numerous doctors,

medically qualified doctors,
into the cult

and have them change the way
they practice medicine

to come into line with
the philosophies

and the suggestions
that Benhayon propagates.

-Modern medicine cannot detect
every disease early.

We have to do that.
We are the medicine.

-Dr. Samuel Kim,

who is a well-trained
respiratory physician,

would treat patients

and tell patients that he was
able to offer them

the best of both worlds
because he could offer them

the benefits of
conventional medicine

but as perfected through
the adherence to the concepts

being put forward by
Universal Medicine.

Off you'd go for a lung massage.

This consisted of the person
from Universal Medicine

telling you about the principles
of Universal Medicine

while they simply stroked
your back up and down

and then, $70, please.

The treatment
they're getting is cruel,

dangerous, ignorant nonsense.

-She thought it was very weird
and also a conflict of interest

because it turned out that
the doctor was a member of

Universal Medicine.

She complained to the Health
Care Complaints Commission.

-And he was severely reprimanded
by the medical board,

but not deregistered.

He was able to continue
to practice.

-Though Dr. Kim continues his
work for Universal Medicine,

the complaint raises some
eyebrows in the local press,

prompting Serge to fight back.

-He announced that he was going

to refute all the claims of
the press.

-Though Universal Medicine is
notoriously secretive,

David Millikan sees
an opportunity.

-So I said, "Serge, my name is
David Millikan.

I write and I make television
programs about cults."

You've got to come out
in the open

and you have got to
declare your case.

And he said,
"I know who you are, David.

Am I a cult leader?"

I said, "If you let me talk
to you

"and have access to your
movement,

I'll tell you in three weeks."

-David is the only outsider ever
permitted to observe the group

and its leader at close
quarters.

-I attended several of
his big meetings,

up to 700 people

in some large premises.

Inside his group,

he bestrides those people
like a colossus.

They believe everything he says.

They watch him
with adoring eyes.

He dictates what they read,

what they eat, what they wear,

who they have sex with,

how they have sex,

who they talk with outside
the group.

If he can exercise that sort of
control over people,

then he does it always

at the loss of autonomy
for that person themselves.

♪♪

I want to get in there and go
face-to-face with Serge

because I want to get up
on that stage

and tell his group
and him the truth.

♪♪

There, in front of 700
of his people,

he invited me up on the stage.

I turned to Serge, and I said,

I'm answering the question you
put to me when we first met.

I said, "I don't know you,"

and I said,
"Ask me in a couple of weeks."

Well, I'm giving you the answer.

You asked me,
"Am I a cult leader?"

Serge, you are.

This is a cult.

And that man is a cult leader.

At which stage, Serge's hands
went up to his face like this,

he squealed,
and he ran off the stage.

♪♪

Why won't you address
these issues?

This man claims that he is

a lord of the cosmos.

I said, "Look at him.
He's a frightened schoolboy."

I was able to say that
in his own group.

Mind you, I was lucky to get out
of the hall that night.

I've just been thrown
out of there.

Look, what's happening in there
is actually quite tragic.

I mean, they're good people,
you know?

They are well-intentioned.

And what I see on their faces

is hunger to grasp

some sort of salvation
in this world,

and they believe that Serge
will give it.

But what I see is
that is a cult,

and Serge is a cult leader.

I'm answering the question
you put to me when we first met.

-When Reverend
Dr. David Millikan

calls out Universal Medicine
in 2012...

-You asked me, "Am I a cult
leader?" Serge, you are.

- the controversy does little
to stop its growth.

-I've seen over 10,000 people
in the last 16 years,

well over 10,000 people.

-Universal Medicine's seminars
don't seem too cult-like.

There are no ceremonial robes
or chanting,

just a guy who looks like
he bounced in off

the nearest golf course.

But this unassuming front
is no accident.

Serge wants to insinuate his
ideas into the mainstream

and recruit more people
into his flock.

♪♪

-The more that you looked at
Universal Medicine,

the more that you could see

that they were spreading their
tentacles everywhere.

-My name's Jenny Dowell.

I was mayor of Lismore
from 2008 to 2016.

There were adherents
and followers

in virtually every sector
of our community,

and it was obvious that it was
gaining some traction,

say, in the Lismore Chamber of
Commerce and Industry.

-Followers of Universal Medicine

start embedding themselves into
local civic groups.

It's a tactic to win power,
credibility,

and public funding
for its services.

-I also have had contact
from parents

whose children were involved
in Universal Medicine.

A number of
Universal Medicine devotees

have worked in this office.

The ABCs been told of efforts to
recruit staff on the inside.

A post on the group's website

says its practitioners have
attended staff meetings

and run staff development
workshops.

-In 2018, a bombshell report

reveals that a surprising
new demographic

is being targeted by
Serge's recruiters.

-A child protection worker was

promoting Universal Medicine
events to vulnerable children.

The ABC has obtained documents
from FACS in 2016

which endorsed
Universal Medicine

in parenting plans for two girls
in its care.

-Some staff were being
influenced,

and that was actually
influencing

the decisions made about
the children.

-The documents instruct that
each girl needs to be supported

to maintain her connection with

the teachings of
Universal Medicine.

One will listen to her music
and meditations,

while the other will have access

to readings and meditations from
the Universal Medicine website.

-Universal Medicine has nothing
to offer children.

It's just harm

because of the diet, because of
the belief system,

because of the restrictions.

It was very concerning that

the local Child Protection
office has UM members in it,

and they're still there.

-The Universal Medicine
therapies touted by

the CPS employees
aren't just for children.

They're specifically aimed at
young girls.

-Both girls will participate in
Universal Medicine activities

as deemed suitable,

such as the Girl to Woman
Festival.

-In 2014,
Universal Medicine also launched

what it called its Girl to Woman
Festival,

which was marketed to families,
marketed to children.

And the idea was celebrating
girls and women,

trying to bring the younger
generation into the group.

♪♪

-It all seemed very
user-friendly

and very female-friendly.

And to no surprise,
a lot of women were actually

part of the cult.

♪♪

-There were these retreats
for teenage girls,

seminars for tracking
your menstrual cycle.

-They were also trying to
bring in mothers

and introduce them to
Universal Medicine therapies,

these esoteric healings,
like esoteric breast massage.

So to me,
it was a recruitment event

and also, in some senses,
a grooming event.

-This is the resurrection
of women.

That's why in 2000,

I was the first champion of
introducing energetic integrity,

energetic responsibility,

but mainly aimed at women.

-Serge Benhayon has a pretty
unhealthy fixation

with women's health.

He is obsessed with women's
health disorders and diseases

and the female anatomy.

-Look down.

Have you got a vagina? Yeah.
Have you got breasts? Yeah.

You have the particles
that are rejuvenated

thanks to the periods.

-The breasts apparently attract
lots of negative energy.

-He sees the female body
as a site for disease.

He sees women as victims,

people who should submit to him.

-Universal Medicine's
unconventional ideas about women

and children are mirrored in
Serge's private life.

-Serge first met Miranda
when she was 13.

She was one of
his tennis pupils.

She moved into his home
when she was about 14

to take part in what he called
his elite coaching program.

That was a live-in program.

She moved in with him
and his family.

-At the time, Serge is married
with four children.

He divorces shortly after.

-And then some years later,
he began dating Miranda,

and they married in about 2009.

-I have an amazing connection
with my four adult children,

three grandchildren,

with my wife, with my ex-wife.

They're best friends.

-Ever since Miranda moved into
his home when she was 13,

there's been a series of girls
go and stay in his home.

We've never really had
a satisfactory reason

for all of these girls going to
stay in his house.

♪♪

-There are no proven allegations
of abuse against Serge,

but there are complaints about

the unusual devotion he inspires
in his female followers.

-There are men out there who are

throwing these accusations
at you

that you're a homewrecker,
effectively.

Why do you think these men are
throwing that out at you?

-It's outrageous, and it's just
simply not fair.

-She came home one day,

and she was burping
all over the place.

[Makes belching noises]

What on Earth are you doing?

And she said she was getting
rid of evil spirits.

Okay. Well, if you must.

-By 2012, the fringe beliefs of
Universal Medicine

are quietly infiltrating
families across the globe.

-We'd been together, my wife
and I, for a number of years.

We had two young children.

I thought it was just getting
better and better.

-Robin's wife, Anita,

is one of the first to join
a new chapter of the group

in Frome, England.

-She was extremely vulnerable.

Her parents died within
two years of each other.

I think it had
a profound effect on her.

It was a gradual decline
in our relationship.

It got to a point where I was
not allowed to cuddle her

or give her a hug.

I thought to myself, okay,
we've got to sort this out.

We've got to straighten it out.

And I said to her,
"Do you really believe

"that Serge Benhayon
is the reincarnation of

Leonardo da Vinci?"

I never had a reply.

All I got was this sort of
smug smile.

That was my epiphany, actually,
because I suddenly realized

that I was dealing with
something

that I could not handle.

♪♪

-Some families have told us that
they've lost loved ones

to a bizarre cult called
Universal Medicine.

It began in Australia,

but it has its European
headquarters in a village

in the West Country.

-Nestled near the picturesque
town of Frome,

a hotel with a conference center
and swimming pool

acts as Universal Medicine's
European headquarters.

Members can stay here

until they are able to get
a foothold

on some choice property

in the neighboring town
of Upper Vobster.

-They are slowly but surely
building a retreat

for the followers
of Universal Medicine

that's expanding

and slowly expanding
across our village.

-That's the beginning of
Upper Vobster Farm.

And then all the other houses,
which you can see some of them,

meeting rooms, dormitories,
are all behind that tree.

And then that house there
belongs to them.

Four of the houses up there on
the skyline belong to them.

And another one down there.

-We live close to some thing
that is growing around us

that is connected
to an abusive cult.

It's a thing that makes all of
this really sinister.

♪♪

-If you have a family member

or someone close to you has got
caught up in a group like this,

you've got to be careful the way
you treat that situation.

They will have been taught that
the family and their friends

are probably the most seductive
agents of Satan to woo them away

from the prize of belief.

♪♪

-You're in this situation where
you're trying desperately to be

loving and looking after
the family and what have you,

but nothing was right.

-By 2014, Robin and Anita
are divorced,

as she leaves to devote more
time to Serge's group.

-When I think back
to those times

and how desperately I was trying
to avoid any problems

with the kids,

I don't think they really
understood what was happening.

When she left,

they had the opportunity to go
with their mother.

They both chose to stay with me.

♪♪

-For every member of
Universal Medicine,

there are loved ones,
husbands, wives, sons,

daughters, friends,
who are left behind.

-So these are the cottages that

they're trying to take
one by one.

This is a house that
they've just bought,

and this has got lots of
planning applications

in at the moment
that the village is fighting.

-In Somerset, Universal Medicine
is winning hearts and minds...

and taking over a town.

-It feels like bindweed going
over your flowers,

like, slowly, just really slowly

moving its way
through the space.

There aren't many houses left.
He wants all of them.

I know he's approached pretty
much everybody in those houses.

There's a sense of that they
just have limitless cash.

-Universal Medicine's
deep pockets come largely from

wealthy members
paying as much as $140

for a single lecture by Serge.

♪♪

-I've learned a great deal about
how disease is actually

a form of healing.

-As Judith's disease progressed

and she continued to have
esoteric healings,

in the final stages of
her cancer,

in the months before she died,

Serge organized palliative care
at her home,

and it was delivered by
Universal Medicine members.

And he treated her for free.

She couldn't believe
his generosity.

She made a final will.

That will was prepared by
Benhayon's own lawyer.

Even her financial adviser

was a long-term follower of
Serge Benhayon.

-In her will, Judith bequeaths
the majority of her estate,

1.4 million Australian dollars

to Universal Medicine,

to the shock of her children.

-He teaches that if you leave
assets to your children

in your will

and your children are not
leading an esoteric life,

then that inheritance will

damage you
in your next lifetime,

and it will also damage
the beneficiaries of

that inheritance.

-So, the only way to ensure you
have an improved reincarnation

is to leave your money to Serge.

-Hello, I'm Esther.

I'm going to be talking about
Universal Medicine. What is it?

Serge Benhayon has
a very low opinion of me

and has for a very long time,

ever since I started blogging
about him.

In my blogs, I published a lot
of allegations about Serge.

I didn't hold back.

I published that this is
inappropriate touching,

that this is not healing.

It's molestation...

putting his hands on their
genital areas, their backsides,

even their breasts.

And I raised all sorts of
concerns about his behavior

with children.

I called him a cult leader from
the outset.

They were never going to let me
get away with it.

-By 2015, Universal Medicine is
embedded on two continents

but exists almost entirely
under the radar.

♪♪

-I'd just done a couple of
stories

about Universal Medicine,

questioning are these people
legit or not?

I'd given Serge every right of
reply that any journalist would.

-For the few who dare to speak
out against Serge Benhayon,

retribution is swift.

-All of a sudden,
there was this hate blog that

was written about me,

and it was a dirt file,
basically.

And the headline was,

"Jane Hansen has a murky past."

And you think,
"Oh, well, it's just a blog.

"It's just a blog, and these
people, you know, in my opinion,

"are kind of crazy.

What harm could it do?"

They also targeted my child,

who died at eight months of age.

They basically said,

"Oh, well, she's been through
this terrible, terrible loss.

How does she not have the heart
to see what we're about?"

And I found that
so manipulative,

and for anybody to use
somebody's deceased child

as ammunition against them,

it just told me that, one,
they're not normal people,

two, no moral compass
whatsoever.

And it was designed as payback.

It was designed to hurt me
and to undermine my reputation.

♪♪

-I published hundreds of
articles

exposing Universal Medicine.

Serge Benhayon and his followers

attempted various forms of
intimidation.

They tried to get me
deregistered from my profession.

They tried to have me prosecuted
for harassment.

None of that deterred me from
continuing the exposure.

-Serge had enough,

and he tried to bludgeon her
into submission by suing her.

Esther was persistent.

She went through his writings,
and she kept at him.

-Universal Medicine has a number
of professionals

inside the group,
including lawyers, so...

And they're prepared to use
those people

to advance their interests.

-The defamation suit goes to
trial in October of 2018.

-If I didn't win that case,

I was going to be in a lot of
trouble.

In a sense, Universal Medicine
would own me.

-But the trial brings
Universal Medicine

into the light.

Serge's testimony publicly
reveals the bizarre world

he's created for the first time.

-At that court case,

I was asked to be
the expert witness.

♪♪

We went through many of the more
dangerous things

that Benhayon put forward
to his advocates.

♪♪

The basic tenet he preaches

is that all illness
is related to emotions,

and the fact that
psychiatric illness

is caused by the infiltration of
evil spirits,

that he has a conversation with
a woman's ovaries,

and in particular, the technique
that he was using

with women who were suffering

from sexual attack or rape,
even.

The techniques that
he was using,

which were quite shocking

in terms of the fact
they couldn't possibly help.

♪♪

-My assets were all gone within
a few months,

just trying to fund the legal
services that I got,

and eventually I was bankrupted.

♪♪

-He used a very expensive
legal firm

to put all manner of expensive
processes in front of her,

which in the end sent her broke.

She ended up homeless,
but she never gave up.

♪♪

-I'm just a simple man.
I'm a simple man

presenting the wisdom that
we already have inside us.

It's been smeared by a small
group of detractors.

-It was readily obvious
to the jury

that the claims being made

could not possibly be accurate
and supported.

-At the defamation trial,

Serge Benhayon attempts to
silence one of

his most vocal critics,
Esther Rockett.

But this plan backfires
in a big way.

-I watched Benhayon and his wife

burying their heads further
into their papers.

I think they must have realized

that the jury's reaction was
certainly not favorable

in terms of their hopes that

they were going to win a lot
of money

from Esther Rockett
for daring to defame him.

-Serge lost the case.

-The jury's verdict was
unanimous.

[ Cameras clicking ]

-It's a winner.

-The most damaging thing
about the case was

that the imputations that Serge
said had defamed him,

they were held by the New South
Wales Supreme Court to be true.

-Mr Benhayon is a cult leader
and charlatan

who exploits cancer patients

by targeting them to leave him
bequests.

-In the end, I proved 36
very damaging allegations

about Serge.

-Serge Benhayon

has an indecent interest in
young girls as young as 10.

Serge Benhayon engages in
bizarre sexual manipulation

to make money for his business.

Serge Benhayon engages in
bizarre sexual practices

to finance his business.

It goes on and on.

-Benhayon's core group of
followers,

it galvanized them in a sense.

-What do you make of
the allegations

that Universal Medicine
is a cult?

-Oh, well, I find it
patently ridiculous.

It's a little bit ignorant.

-But some members are beginning
to express private concerns

about Serge's motives.

♪♪

-Although we were very involved

and invested in being
part of the group,

it became more and more obvious

that there were many
double standards

set for the leaders of
the group,

mainly involving Serge
and his family.

-Though they are too afraid to
appear on camera,

two senior ex-members of
Universal Medicine

share this statement.

-We became aware of Serge's
never-ending hunger for money.

Any donations, wills left to him

were encouraged with the promise
of a better life or status.

-A flood of media attention

reveals the explosive details of
one such donation.

-Two months before
Judith McIntyre's death,

Mr. Benhayon wrote her children
were trying to destabilize her

and trying to evoke her
sympathy.

This was all an attack on
the funds

that will help the hierarchy's
work on Earth.

-Judith's children discover
emails sent to

their dying mother by Serge.

They show how,
in her final days,

he was attempting to separate
Judith from her family

and her money.

-She looked like
a perfectly nice lady

who was a real searcher
after truth

and after a sort of holy way
of life, really.

And the tragedy is that for
a while, just before she died,

she thought she'd found that
in Serge,

and he played mercilessly
upon that.

-Back in Somerset,
construction is now complete

on a brand-new Universal
Medicine wellness complex.

Universal Medicine remains
highly secretive.

It's impossible to know for sure

what goes on inside
its UK facilities.

But building plans submitted by
the group in 2011

indicate the complex is intended
as a cancer sanctuary,

a place to treat more seriously

ill patients like
Judith McIntyre.

-The big change was 2011,

when they put in this
planning application

to attract people suffering
from cancer

so that they could offer
them sanctuary.

Well, it's their sort of
business model, really.

♪♪

-For the few who manage to sever
ties with Universal Medicine,

reconciliation with the outside
world does not come easy.

-Serge's magnetic presence
and our seeking further guidance

and teachings to discover
our own inner knowing

drew us into his world.

We still find ourselves amazed
by how it was possible

to blindly follow and accept
these imposed rules,

offer up our way of being,
and lock out the outside world.

♪♪

-For Serge, it's all about
control and power.

And that's when all
organizations go bad,

is when they try and capture
a person

and refuse to allow them
to examine

the nature of what it is that
they believe.

♪♪

-Three years after that
court case,

Universal Medicine continues
its work in Australia,

its damage in Australia,

and Serge Benhayon is not
the slightest bit repentant,

hasn't changed any of his
concepts,

still has this unbelievable
self-belief.

-Universal Medicine is not liked
in this community

because we have standards
they cannot meet,

and they hate the fact that
we are reflecting true charity,

true social services,
true family, a true community.

♪♪

-If Serge Benhayon sees this
film, he'll be hopping mad.

I'm sure of it.

He takes everything personally,
so he won't be happy.

But I'm very happy that
the exposure continues

and to see him being criticized
for what he really is.

-He may strike you as
smooth-talking and somehow wise,

but let me tell you,
he's a terrible person,

and he's driven.

He's a true believer with
a bunch of followers around him

who believe that he is
the savior of the world.

And men like him are dangerous.