On Monday, a case against the Church of Scientology went to trial in Belgium, where the Agence France-Presse reports the international celebrity church faces a possible ban for fraud and extortion.

According to the AFP, Belgian authorities opened an investigation into the church’s financing in 1997 after a number of former members came forward to complain. In 2008, a second inquiry was launched into whether the church was offering fake job offers as a form of recruitment.

11 members of the Belgian branch of the Church of Scientology have been charged with fraud, extortion, running a criminal organization, and violating the right to privacy. If they are convicted, the church could be banned in Belgium.

The Belga news agency quoted the group’s former treasurer as testifying that, “The church’s revenues were roughly €5,000 a week; €2,000 came from the sale of books and videos and €3,000 from courses and training.” The treasurer worked for the church until 2005 and said that while she was not paid for her work, she also did not have to pay the Scientology fees; her husband, however, paid around €10,000 for training.

“The Church of Scientology goes to court with the firm intention of seeing the fundamental rights of its Belgian members finally recognized,” a spokesperson said last week.

“Not only does the church contest the charges against it, which affect the fundamental rights of all Scientologists, it also intends to denounce the serious judicial abuses against it of the past 18 years.”

The Church of Scientology was convicted of fraud in France in 2009. Last week, a Dutch tax court denied the church tax-exempt status.

Photo via Getty Images. Contact the author of this post: brendan.oconnor@gawker.com.