that "[Scientology is] operated exclusively for religious and charitable purposes." The New York Times noted in this connection that the Church of Scientology had funded a campaign which included a whistle-blower organization to publicly attack the IRS, as well as hiring of private investigators to look into the private lives of IRS officials. In 1991, Miscavige, the highest-ranking Scientology leader, arranged a meeting with Fred T. Goldberg Jr., the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service at the time. According to the Church of Scientology's version of events, the meeting was an opportunity for the organization to offer to end its long dispute with the IRS, including the dozens of suits brought against the agency, in exchange for the exemptions that Scientology believed it deserved. Goldberg's response was quite out of the ordinary: he created a special working group to resolve the dispute, bypassing the agency's exempt organizations division. The group met several times with the Scientology legal team and, according to an unnamed official quoted by the New York Times, "was persuaded that those involved in the Snow White crimes had been purged, that church money was devoted to tax-exempt purposes and that, with Mr. Hubbard's death, no one was getting rich from Scientology." In August 1993, a settlement was reached; the organization would receive its tax-exempt status and end its legal actions against the IRS and its personnel. The organization was required only to resubmit new applications for exemption to the IRS Exempt Organizations (EO) division, which was told "not to consider any substantive matters" because those issues had been resolved by the committee. The secret agreement was announced on October 13, 1993, with the IRS refusing to disclose any of the terms or the reasoning behind the decision. Both the IRS and Scientology rejected any allegations that foul play or undue pressure had been used on IRS officials, insisting that the decision had been based on the merits of the case. IRS officials "insisted that Scientology's tactics had not affected the decision" and that "ultimately the decision was made on a legal basis". Miscavige claims that the IRS's examination of Scientology was the most exhaustive review of any non-profit organization in history. Elsewhere, Scientology is recognized as a religion in Australia, Portugal, Spain, Slovenia, Sweden, Croatia, Hungary and Kyrgyzstan. In New Zealand, the Inland Revenue Department classified the Church of Scientology as a charitable organization and stated that