HRWF/ CAP Liberté de conscience (18.06.2025) – Since January 2024, UNADFI (National Union of Associations for the Defense of Families and Individuals Victims of Cults) has been benefiting from a state grant of 150,000 EUR that MIVILUDES (Interministerial Mission for Vigilance and the Fight Against Cultic Deviances) drew from the State’s tax manna, i.e. from the pockets of the French taxpayers, according to the French association CAP/ Liberté de conscience.
What for? To scan documents, upload them to a secure digital platform accessible to only 150 people (See evidence on page 5 of the application for the grant). This project is enormously expensive as it costs 1000 EUR per user allowed to consult PDF documents. Moreover, the “lucky” users will be selected according to “rigorous” criteria which UNADFI has not defined…
Details of the use of the taxpayers’ money
The forecast budget is very challenging: 142 746 EUR for the salaries of 2.2 full-time staff, just for scanning papers. After deduction of charges, the net monthly salary per staff will be 3,651 EUR. Not bad, just for scanning paper. Cherry on the cake : 13,923 EUR are requested for travel expenses while the documents to be scanned are all stored at the same place in the premises themselves of UNADFI.
In addition, UNADFI requests 11,355 EUR to buy 4 computers, 2 scanners, a specific software and a secure digital platform. However, its annual accounts show that 92,000 EUR have already been allocated to IT equipment. Why should UNADFI buy more? Maybe to feed the next line of the requested budget: 8,484 EUR for maintenance and repair of brand new equipment not yet purchased? There is always a guarantee at the time of the purchase…
In addition, a budget of 13,878 EUR is requested for “external services” and 11,965 EUR for “fees” the real need of which is not documented. One could imagine that the “fees” are for lawyers in charge of the defence of UNADFI which is currently entangled in legal problems, CAP/ Liberté de conscience says.
Last but not least, UNADFI announces that the grant would only represent 42.8% of the total cost of the project. A flattering but biased presentation. Their own contribution would be 121,654 EUR for volunteers’ work, donated time that nobody finances.
An additional amount of 5,221 EUR is provided for UNADFI’s own taxes to the State.
When this makeup is removed, it shows that the state grant is supposed to cover 65.5% of the effective budget and not 42.8%.
UNADFI in deficit in 2022 and 2023
In 2022, UNADFI had an official deficit of 315 706 EUR and again in 2023, for an amount of 79,624 EUR. It means UNADFI almost exclusively survives thanks to the grants of MIVILUDES and French tax-payers, CAP/ Liberté de conscience says.
The conclusion of CAP Liberté de conscience is that the digitalization project looks like a way for UNADFI to inject money into its bank account and mask a predictable bankrupcy.
UNADFI under investigation
Since 2021, French justice has been investigating the suspicious awarding conditions of some public grants.
UNADFI is currently under a preliminary inquiry by the National Financial Prosecutor’s Office. At this stage it must benefit from the presumption of innocence but in the past the association lost a number of cases. Examples:
2017
- FRANCE: Eglise de Scientologie and Others v. UNADFI/ Court of Cassation (Available on request in French)
2015
- FRANCE: Eglise de Scientologie and Others v. UNADFI/ Court of Appeal Paris (Available on request in French)
2007
2003
- FRANCE: Danièle Gounord v. Jeanine Tavernier & UNADFI – Court of Appeal Paris (Available on request in French)
Quite recently, MIVILUDES, the state agency distributing grants for projects related to “cultic deviations”, has been condemned by the Administrative Court of Paris, twice in 2025 and once in 2024:
2025
2024
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