I mentioned this before, but I had a friend whose parents were high up in the church (her father, as I later discovered through google, has actually appeared on TV and before congress to speak for them). She'd apostated and fled to China, for years afraid to set foot in the US.
One thing I found interesting is I'd vaguely assumed the church leaders were totally cynical and aware that they were running a scam, but she says they're actual religious fanatics. Even if Hubbard started it as a conscious scam (and I'm skeptical of Ellison's story; he likes to embellish these kinds of things) he seems to have had mental problems that worsened over time, and may well have come to believe his own crazy lies.