[254] On June 30, 2021, Mack was sentenced to three years in prison. [44], On December 15, 2017, the ABC newsmagazine 20/20 aired an expos including interviews with many former NXIVM adherents, including Edmondson and Catherine Oxenberg, who alleged that her daughter, India Oxenberg, was in danger from the group. My heritage, both good and bad, has formed me. The Mission Statement also labeled students who shared Executive Success Programs materials as "breaking a promise and breaching my contract", and compromising "inner honesty and integrity. [149] The group began calling itself "The Forgotten Ones" and "We Are As You." article in The New York Times, details began to emerge about "Dominus Obsequious Sororium", a secret society of women that started in 2015 within NXIVM in which female members were allegedly called slaves, branded with the initials of Raniere and Mack, subjected to corporal punishment from their "masters", and required to provide nude photos or other potentially damaging information about themselves as "collateral". (for wordpress.com hosted blogs and archive.org item <description> tags) . In handing down the sentence, Judge Garaufis said Ms. Mack had used her celebrity status to recruit and groom women as sexual partners for Mr. Raniere. During her Brooklyn court appearance, Bronfman was also issued a fine of more than $500,000 and ordered to pay more than $96,000 to a migrant she brought to the US from Mexico, according to court documents previously obtained by Insider. Morris, Scot (April 1985). In 2019, she plead guilty to racketeering conspiracy after stealing former members' identities, hacking into their emails, and altering video footage to avoid lawsuits against NXIVM. [236][237][238], Clare Bronfman, daughter of billionaire Seagrams chairman Edgar Bronfman Sr., was introduced to NXIVM by her sister Sara. Reported participants included businesswoman Sheila Johnson, former Surgeon General Antonia Novello, Enron executive Stephen Cooper, Ana Cristina Fox (daughter of former Mexican president Vicente Fox),[52] entrepreneur Richard Branson (who denied having taken the classes[53][54]), businessman Edgar Bronfman Sr.,[52] and actresses Linda Evans, Grace Park, and Nicki Clyne. [51] Mack was further alleged to be DOS's second-in-command after Raniere. The Lost Women of Nxivm Pro-NXIVM Website, 'Let's Not Be Frank'; Nancy Pays $150K and Other NXIVM News March 14, 2022 Damon Brink starts new website that is decidedly not the Frank Report. The film identifies the Tourette's study's "lead researcher" as Dr. Brandon Porter, at the time a hospitalist at St. Peter's Hospital in Albany. They were especially upset by remarks made by Bronfman, who told Forbes that he believed NXIVM was a cult and that he was troubled by his daughters' "emotional and financial investment" in it. [116][117][118] She agreed, as nominal owner, not to contest forfeiture of NXIVM-related assets including real estate as well as corporations that owned Keith Raniere and NXIVM's trademark and patent portfolio. NXIVM operated a number of businesses that it used to control its members, forcing many to work up to 23 hours a day for no pay. Bronfman's sister Sara and late billionaire father Edgar were also involved in NXIVM. Former members who were branded also allege that "AM," Mack's initials are also contained in the brands they received. [64] Another Forbes article in 2010 discussed the failures of commodities and real estate deals by the Bronfmans made on Raniere's advice. Before her prison sentence, Bronfman spent nearly $50 million on lawsuits on behalf of NXIVM. Before founding NXIVM, Raniere created Consumers Buyline, a business venture that the New York Attorney General accused of having been a pyramid scheme; Raniere signed a consent order in 1996 in which he denied any wrongdoing but agreed to pay a $40,000 fine and to be permanently banned from "promoting, offering or granting participation in a chain distribution scheme". nxivm website archive. [211], NXIVM taught that some people, called "Suppressives", try to impede progress within NXIVM. Keith Raniere, the groups leader, styled himself a visionary, but a jury found him guilty of racketeering, sex trafficking and other charges. Bronfman was also charged with ID fraud after pleading guilty for using the credit card and bank information of someone who had been dead for 15 months, racking up $135,000 in bills. India Oxenberg wrote and narrated an audio book memoir, This page was last edited on 13 February 2023, at 13:37. [55][60], Ross obtained the manual from former member Stephanie Franco, a co-defendant in the trial, who had signed a non-disclosure agreement not to divulge information from the manual to others. Here's where other former and current NXIVM members and leaders are now. He was sentenced to life is prison on October 27. [217][bettersourceneeded], NXIVM has been associated with several related organizations. The facility in Tucson, Arizona is noted as the sole facility in the federal prison system that is both specially-designated for sex offenders and also at maximum-security level. [55][56] In the early 2000s, Seagram heiresses Clare and Sara Bronfman, daughters of Edgar Bronfman Sr., became attached to the organization. Former NXIVM member Sarah Edmondson describes being branded with sex cult leader Keith Raniere's initials during a secret initiation ceremony. [247] On November 7, 2016, Pam Cafritz died. Top editors give you the stories you want delivered right to your inbox each weekday. The organization was criticized in similar terms by Rick Alan Ross of the Cult Education Institute and activists and academics from the anti-cult movement. People who say they escaped the group which was covered up as a self-improvement multi-level marketing company described experiences of brainwashing and exploitation, and even forced branding. [153] Prosecutors also submitted documentation that Raniere and his follower Chakravorty used a false name and "burner phone" to evade detection, with Raniere instructing Chakravorty to "get scrutiny" on Judge Nicholas Garaufis, explaining that "the judge needs to know he's being watched". "[275] Keeffe publicly described Raniere as "dangerous". [112] On June 12, 2018, the Times Union reported that NXIVM had suspended its operations owing to "extraordinary circumstances facing the company". "[209][210], The doctrine of the NXIVM organization, "Rational Inquiry method", was treated as Raniere's scientific invention by and submitted to multiple patent offices. The sponsored articles echo complaints from Keith Raniere's appeals and prison-related case, including Raniere's complaints asserting that: Of these articles, one (placed in the Village Voice) names an author writing on behalf of the Ascend Agency. The company is listed as a "public relations" firm by the website of the City of Irvine (where it holds a business license). According to prosecutors, after she recruited women into first NXIVM and then DOS, Mack coerced them into engaging in sexual activity with Raniere and performing menial tasks, for which Raniere allegedly paid her. She married fellow senior member Allison Mack in 2017; the marriage was alleged to have been a sham to evade United States immigration laws. [72], NXIVM has been described as a pyramid scheme,[73][74][75][43] a sex-trafficking operation,[76] a cult,[77][78][79] and a sex cult. In Federal District Court in Brooklyn, Ms. Salzman admitted that she had planned invasions of privacy involving email accounts and the altering of recordings edited to remove sections we did not want to turn over to opponents in a lawsuit. The sisterhood, which was billed as an empowerment group, comprised circles, each led by a master who recruited slaves. In time, the subordinates also recruited their own slaves.. NXIVM reportedly kept dossiers on Soares, Spitzer, political consultants Roger Stone and Steve Pigeon, U.S. Kristin Snyder. [226][227], Edgar Boone, the scion of a wealthy family, introduced NXIVM to numerous affluent Mexicans, becoming head of NXIVM-Mexico and rising to third in the NXIVM organization. Deep, profound, insightful and loving. [29][99] He was arrested in Mexico and held in custody in New York after appearing in federal court in Fort Worth, Texas. Like Ames, Vicente was also a SOP leader. ", "Revelan video de Emiliano Salinas bailando en celebracin a Keith Raniere", "Self-help guru denies enslaving, branding women in Nxivm sex cult", "Leader of alleged cult that ensnared Vancouver woman appears in court", "Feds say self-help guru coerced followers into sex, had them branded with a cauterizing pen", "NXIVM female sex 'slaves' allegedly branded with secretive group leader's initials", "Founder of 'NXIVM', a Purported Self-Help Organization, and Actor Indicted for Sex Trafficking and Forced Labor Conspiracy", "Smallville Actress Arrested for Role in Alleged Sex Cult that Branded and Enslaved Women", "Smallville's Allison Mack was allegedly a 'top member' of cult that abused women", "Allison Mack of 'Smallville' granted bail in sex cult case", "Allison Mack granted bail in sex trafficking case", "Self-help guru denies enslaving, branding women in sex cult", "Raniere, Mack appear in court on sex-slavery charges", "Trial date set for Keith Raniere and Allison Mack", "Foreclosure Complaint Reveals NXIVM Sex Cult Rituals In Upstate New York", "NXIVM suspends all operations; founder's bail denied", "Clare Bronfman, Seagram's heiress, arrested in Nxivm sex-trafficking case", "Seagram's heiress Clare Bronfman charged in connection with alleged sex cult NXIVM Bronfman and five others accused of racketeering related to operations of a cult-like pyramid group", "Self-help guru Raniere faces U.S. child porn charges; associate pleads guilty", "Nxivm co-founder Nancy Salzman pleads guilty in sex cult case", "Leader of alleged NXIVM sex cult pleads not guilty to child porn charges", "Spiritual leader of alleged NY sex cult hit with child porn charges", "Federal prosecutors recommend leniency in high-ranking NXIVM sentencing", "Smallville star Allison Mack pleads guilty to racketeering in Nxivm case", "SENTENCING MEMORANDUM by USA as to Allison Mack", "Actress Who Recruited Women for Nxivm Sentenced to 3 Years in Prison", "Clare Bronfman Pleads Guilty in Nxivm 'Sex Cult' Case, Leaving Leader to Stand Trial Alone", "NXIVM trial prosecution's opening statements lasted ninety minutes", "Supplemental Sentencing Statement & Order as to Keith Raniere", "Seagram's heir sentenced to prison in branded sex slave case", "Prominent NXIVM cult leader Lauren Salzman avoids jail time after 'extraordinary' cooperation", "NXIVM Co-Founder Nancy Salzman, Featured in 'The Vow' Docuseries, Sentenced to 42 Months in Prison", "Judge hands down final sentence in NXIVM case", "3 years after Raniere's arrest, NXIVM divides into victims, loyalists, guilty", "LETTERS OF SUPPORT ACCOMPANYING SENTENCING MEMORANDUM ON BEHALF OF KEITH RANIERE", "Nxivm leadership accused of illegal psychological experiments and systematic abuse in federal lawsuit", "Docket for Edmondson v. Raniere, 1:20-cv-00485 - CourtListener.com", "Podcast: NXIVM members dance outside federal lockup for Keith Raniere", "Dancers outside Brooklyn jail are 'cover movement' for Nxivm sex cult", "Brooklyn Prison Dancers Linked to 'Sex Cult' NXIVM Start Social Justice Organization", "Exhibit D, Response in Opposition re: 7 First Motion for Preliminary Injunction", "NXIVM Cult Leader's Jailhouse Call to Disciples: 'The Judge Needs to Know He's Being Watched', "Raniere, facing possible life sentence, wants judge to know 'he's being watched', "Government's Sentencing Memorandum as to Defendant Keith Raniere", "Exhibit D, Sentencing Memorandum by USA as to Keith Raniere", "Sentencing Memorandum as to Clare Bronfman", "Seagrams heiress keeps paying as NXIVM's Keith Raniere adds big-name lawyers", "Raniere in Quarantine in USP Lewisburg PA; Likely Headed for Sex Offender Prison in Tucson Next", "Leader of New York sex cult transferred to federal prison in Tucson", "Larry Nassar now housed in Arizona prison", "Oral Argument for United States v. Raniere (Bronfman) CourtListener.com", "NXIVM 'Cult' Founder Keith Raniere Loses Appeal of 120-Year Sentence Following Sex Trafficking Convictions", "Appeals court upholds sentences for NXIVM sex cult leaders Keith Raniere, Clare Bronfman", "NXIVM loyalist files $12 million suit against Starz network", "Former Epstein lawyer drops out of appeal for NXIVM leader Raniere", "NOTICE OF MOTION AND SPECIAL MOTION TO STRIKE FIRST AMENDED COMPLAINT PURSUANT TO C.C.P. So here I am at 55. Mack was arrested on April 20, 2018, on charges of sex trafficking, sex trafficking conspiracy, and forced labor conspiracy. The company values the land at $20-$25 million. "[124][125][126], On April 19, 2019, Bronfman pleaded guilty to charges of harboring an alien and identity fraud; bookkeeper Kathy Russell pleaded guilty to visa fraud. Keith Raniere, orchestrator of the cult Nxivm, was recently sentenced to 120 years in prison for racketeering, possession of child pornography, and sex trafficking. were subjected to punishments, including being whipped with a leather strap or being asked to stand barefoot in the snow. Every birthday involves some massive introspective, existential examination. It wasn't until Edmondson revealed her brand, which contained Raniere's initials, the Ames decided to leave the cult with his wife. [172] Judge Sunshine Sykes granted the motion, dismissing the lawsuit and granting Lions Gate Entertainment's request for attorneys' fees and costs. The government credited her for providing relevant emails, documents and recordings later used to convict Raniere. Originally from its inception, the group was designed to help empower people, grow them spiritually as well as professionally. Salzman met Raniere through her mother who helped co-found the group. [186][187][188], Over the decades, NXIVM emphasized Raniere's specialness through hagiography. My birthday is always a strange thing. In 2019, multiple members including Raniere were convicted of various crimes related to their roles at NXIVM. Then there's sadness at time gone by and memories so many memories (SAUDADE' - as the Portuguese say) and then theres the existential marker on the timeline of my life. Bronfman may only appeal the sentence, as she has forfeited the right to appeal her conviction as part of her plea. By Associated Press. It touts itself as a "professional coaching company" and its website says it offers "Executive Success Programs," or "ESP," in New York, California, Canada, Mexico and elsewhere. Brandon Porter, a medical doctor, conducted unlicensed human-subjects research on 200 people for NXIVM. At a hearing in Texas, he was sent to Brooklyn to face charges that he forced women to engage in sex. drawing from innovations from courses in emotional intelligence (NXIVM), using only mind over body, and sheer will. They seemed to be losing an unhealthy amount of weight and restricting their caloric intake, Piesse said in "The Vow.". Raniere sought an injunction allowing visitation and phone calls from follower Suneel Chakravorty, who he claims is a paralegal working on his appeals. She also wrote a memoir. India Oxenberg, daughter of actress Catherine Oxenberg, was introduced to the group in 2011. These claims, the complaint states, were all false. They became close, and Raniere asked Vicente to film his life to create a film about NXIVM. Son of Former Mexican President Allegedly Top Member of Sex Cult NXIVM", "NXIVM Leader Keith Raniere Sentenced to 120 Years in Prison for Racketeering and Sex Trafficking Offenses", "Raniere loses battle to keep NXIVM 'tech', "How NXIVM Rippled Through Vancouver Actors' Friend Networks", "Inside Nxivm, the 'Sex Cult' That Preached Empowerment", "How NXIVM Seduced Hollywood Stars and America's Most Powerful Elite Into a Barbaric 'Sex Cult', "Why So Many Celebrities Joined NXIVM, According to Cult Experts", "A Critical Analysis of the Executive Success Programs Inc", "Inside a Secretive Group Where Women Are Branded", "Seagram's heiress arrested for role in controversial 'sex cult', "How NXIVM Was the Ultimate Wellness Scam", "Founder Of "Nxivm," a Purported Self-Help Organization, and Five Others Charged in Superseding Indictment with Racketeering Conspiracy", "NXIVM co-founder Nancy Salzman pleads guilty in case of alleged cult", "Nxivm: Seagram heiress Clare Bronfman pleads guilty in 'sex cult' case", "Woman implicated in NXIVM sex slave case pleads guilty", "Allison Mack of 'Smallville' Pleads Guilty in Case of Nxivm 'Sex Cult' Where Women Were Branded", "Nxivm accountant spelled out dirty messages with colorful fridge magnets", "The Most Disturbing Details From the NXIVM Sex-Cult Case", "Leader of NY Group Branded Women, Made Them Sex Slaves: Feds", "Nxivm Trial: Leader Convicted After Trial Exposed Sex Cult's Sordid Inner Workings", "He told women he could help. By creating a new understanding, we can actualize our potential to live and work together and consequently bring human existence to a whole new level. Ms. Mack, whose involvement in Nxivm boosted the cases profile, pleaded guilty to racketeering and racketeering conspiracy charges related to her role in the organization. There is no greater privilege than to materialize myself. [263] After Raniere's conviction, Roberts was among the dancers outside the jail in which he was incarcerated. I had to get Gaelyn away. Her sentencing, however, has since been pushed to a later date, as was Lauren Salzmans. [159] She is presently imprisoned at Federal Correctional Institution, Danbury. In October, Keith Raniere was sentenced to 120 years in prison for his role in leading a cultlike group called Nxivm, in which a harem of sexual slaves were branded with his initials on their pelvises and coerced into having sex with him. [18][19][20][21] All defendants except for Raniere pled guilty.