A French court convicted the Church of Scientology and one of its leaders of fraud on Tuesday, but stopped short of banning the group's activities in France.

The Celebrity Centre and a book shop -- the two branches of Scientology's French operations -- were ordered to pay a 600,000-euro (900,000-dollar) fine for preying financially on vulnerable followers.

Scientology's leader in France Alain Rosenberg was handed a two-year suspended jail sentence and fined 30,000 euros on the same charge.