Scientology murder threat: Andre Barkanov 'planned to kill religion's leader David Miscavige and all its members'

A man has been charged with threatening to assassinate Church of Scientology leader David Miscavige and kill all its members after making a series of rambling phone calls to the organisation's US headquarters.

Andre Barkanov, from Illinois in the United States, was arrested in Wisconsin in November 2015 after phoning the Church five times on 21 July and again eight times two days later. His Skype records showed he tried calling the church 20 times, court papers also said.

During the calls, which lasted between a few minutes and three hours, Barkanov threatened "Tell [Miscavige] that we have a bullet for his forehead. OK? Thank you" after warning "Get out, get out before it is too late."

Miscavige is the enigmatic leader of the Church of Scientology and chairman of of the Religious Technology Center, the non-profit organisation that holds the rights to the Scientology and Dianetics trademarks.

Barkanov, who has twice been convicted of impersonating a police officer, was tracked to a home in Chicago after a barman recognised him as "the Russian" but he refused to talk to investigators.

He was arrested and later charged with 12 counts of making threats and one count of stalking, according to a complaint filed by the Los Angeles County district attorney's office, reported the Los Angeles Times. Barkanov denies all charges.