The daughter and son-in-law of wrongly imprisoned publican Frank Shortt are in the upper echelons of the Irish wing of the Church of Scientology, the Sunday Independent can reveal.

The executive ranks of the Irish mission of the highly secretive religious organisation -- that counts Tom Cruise and John Travolta as members -- includes Zabrina Collins (nee Shortt) and her husband, Gerard Collins.

The revelation comes as the church braces itself for another high-profile legal battle with a former member claiming he was a victim of emotional distress and was defrauded of €100,000.

Zabrina Collins and her family went through hell in the late Nineties when their father, Frank, was falsely accused by corrupt gardai of allowing drug-dealing in the nightclub he owned in Donegal.

Since the family's tortuous campaign to vindicate their father, 34-year-old Mrs Collins has risen through the ranks of Scientology to become an executive director. Her husband, as mission holder, is one of the highest ranking officials in the organisation.

However, Mrs Collins's choice of religion is at odds with her family in Donegal, with her brother, Jalisco, branding Scientology as a "cult" and a "joke".

Speaking to the Sunday Independent he said: "We still talk to her but we don't discuss anything about that. I wouldn't be a fan of that at all -- I think it's a joke, it's a cult. I've asked her 'what are you doing in it?' but she'd turn away and wouldn't discuss it and say 'it's none of your business'."