The accusations were made Monday in a multi­million dollar lawsuit filed by the JDC in San Francisco Superior Court.

A number of disaffected former JDC members, including Jackie Estes and Mark Miller, approached the media with their account of the church and Jones, who now lives on a remote Fijian island.

The church and members of its board, including President Brian O'Mahony, Vincent Goddard, John Andrews, and Larry Hastings are suing Estes, Miller, and ex­members Sal Lucania, as well as Heather Lupa and Neil Lupa, a former in­house church legal counsel.

Also named in the suit is former JDC member Beverly O'Mahony, the estranged wife of Brian O'Mahony.

The suit seeks unspecified general damages and $20 million in punitive damages.

The San Rafael ­based religious sect has about 1,100 members, with between 300 to 400 devotees living in Marin.

The JDC­ initiated suit follows a $5 million complaint against the church filed last month by Beverly O'Mahony.

In that suit, O'Mahony accused Franklin Jones, aka Da Free John, and officers of the church, including her estranged husband, with alleged physical and sexual abuse, fraud, and false imprisonment.

The church in turn has charged Beverly O'Mahony and the other defendants with abuse of process, extortion, breach of fiduciary duty and intentional infliction of emotional distress. The suit further charges that the former members tried to deprive JDC of its "constitutionally protected rights to free exercise of religion. "

In a prepared statement, church officials said: "Although JDC prefers to mediate and heal any disaffection by former members, the lawsuit was necessary in light of threats made by defendant conspirators."

According to the suit, JDC claims that the defendants "met several times during 1984 and continuing to the present to discuss, conspire and scheme to obtain extraordinary sums of money from the JDC under the threat of destroying JDC."

The suit further alleges that the defendants "unfairly discredited JDC in the eyes of the public through a media smear campaign, disrupted JDC's relationships with its members, followers, ex­members and interfered with its relations with the Fijian government."

The church claims that because of the disclosures made by the disaffected former members, current JDC members "have been harmed in their business and occupations, have suffered harm to their reputations and have suffered property damage."

The suit also claims that Mark Miller threatened to "expose JDC to the public, the media and the Fijian government unless JDC agreed to his demands for extraordinary sums of money and a private audience with Julie Anderson and Da Free John."

Anderson, a former Playboy centerfold, was Miller's girlfriend before she underwent a conversion, according to Miller. He told the Record that after the couple met Jones in 1976, Anderson left Miller and immediately went with Jones. She currently lives with Jones on the Fijian island of Naitumba as a member of the church's Renunciate Order.

Miller called the suit "a malicious, frivolous and total lie. It is a typical example of cult intimidation in an effort to silence those telling the truth, scare away additional people from speaking and divert attention from the real issue."

Miller also said that "By JDC's own admission, they have lied to the press and to their members. We have simply exercised our duty and right as citizens in exposing an ugly fraud and asking for redress of wrongs."

When contacted by The Record, co­defendant Beverly O'Mahony said she hadn't seen the suit yet and declined to comment on its contents. She did, however, say that she is "not really surprised by it. It's pretty much the way these people work."

Jackie Estes, a JDC member from 1974 until 1976, was asked to leave the church, according to the suit, "because she did not wish to abstain from further drug usage."

Responding to that charge and others contained in the suit, Estes told The Record: "I have only spoken the truth based on my experiences and those of my friends with this sick man, Franklin Jones. I have never asked for money. No amount of death threats, law suits or intimidation can prevail against the truth."

Among its other allegations, the suit claims that former in­house church legal counsel Neil Lupa, "made use of confidential attorney­client information of JDC."

Lupa told a Record reporter that neither he nor his wife Heather were ready to make any comments.

According to the complaint, Sal Lucania, a church member from 1972 to 1976, was asked to leave JDC because "his refusal to follow JDC spiritual and religious practices. "

The suit claims that "Lucania and Beverly O'Mahony sent JDC a letter in January 1985 demanding $5,200,000." The suit also claims that Lucania and O'Mahony might "undertake to destroy JDC" if their demands were not met.

But two weeks before Monday's lawsuit was filed, Lucania told The Record that monetary gain was not a primary motive for his criticism of the church. He also said that should the church offer a financial settlement, "I will absolutely not accept any money from these people."

Lucania was unavailable for further comment at press time.