[200] Raniere instructed one sexual partner to seek out a virgin because he needed a "pure vessel" for reasons "energy-related and DNA-wise."[201]. [42][270], Barbara Bouchey was a client of Nancy Salzman, having been referred to her in 1988. [215][216] Classes were divided into modules. Ms. Mack will remain subject to home confinement until September, when she is scheduled to begin serving her sentence. Mr. Raniere and Nancy Salzman, a former psychiatric nurse, founded Nxivm (pronounced NEX-ee-um) as a purported self-help organization near Albany, N.Y. [224][225][226][227], In the sentencing of Clare Bronfman, prosecutors from the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York wrote, "the participants in this 'study' have expressed significant distress at their involvement" and offered one victim impact statement from a Tourette's study's participant said that the study "did nothing for me except ruin my self-esteem, ruin my mental health, and made me hate myself. She pleaded not guilty in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn. "I showed. drawing from innovations from courses in emotional intelligence (NXIVM), using only mind over body, and sheer will. It was led by Keith Raniere who earlier ran a multi-marketing company, Consumers Buyline, which was shut down by some 20 Attorneys General for being a pyramid scheme. an acronym for a Latin phrase that roughly translates to Lord/Master of the Obedient Female Companions. The members were branded and some were assigned to have sex with Mr. Raniere. [109][110] In late May, authorities moved to seize two NXIVM-owned properties near Albany. She was featured in many video tutorials used in NXIVM courses, and lead Jness, a women's group that was the gateway into the secret sorority DOS for some members. Steely resolve and passion. [281] Natalie recalled that she was able to stop smoking after a two-hour session with Raniere. One of the victims was 15 years old when the abuse began. 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". At the time, she was told the brand, which was done without anesthetic, symbolized elements in nature. [65], After actress Kristin Kreuk became involved with NXIVM in 2006, Salzman and her daughter Lauren, a junior NXIVM leader,[44] went to Vancouver to recruit Kreuk's Smallville co-star Allison Mack. 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. 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. Nine of Nxivms victims spoke at the sentencing hearing for Ms. Bronfman in Federal District Court in Brooklyn, where Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis gave her a sentence that was longer than prosecutors had requested. [9] Courses attracted a variety of notable students including actors as well as the children of the rich and powerful. [145] Attorneys for Raniere submitted letters from 56 supporters requesting leniency for Raniere. 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.. [43], On April 20, 2018, Mack was arrested and indicted on similar charges to Raniere's. [52] In 2006, Forbes published an article about the Bronfman sisters, stating that they had taken out a line of credit to loan NXIVM $2million, repayable through personal training sessions and phone consultations with Salzman. Former members who were branded also allege that "AM," Mack's initials are also contained in the brands they received. 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. NXIVM is a secretive self-help organization based in Albany that was founded by Keith Raniere and Nancy Salzman. [161][162] Attorneys for Keith Raniere gave notice of appeal of both his conviction and sentence on November 4, 2020. Salzman broke her allegiance to Raniere for a shorter sentencing, Esquire reported. Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult: With Catherine Oxenberg, India Oxenberg, Kelly Thiel, Steve Hassan. Nancy L. Salzman (born July 16, 1954) is an American felon and the co-founder of NXIVM, a multi-level marketing company and cult based near Albany, New York. A frustrated Raniere instructed his followers to help get him moved back by ingratiating themselves to prison staff, including offering coffee and donuts as they left their shifts. NXIVM - which began, in 1998, as a " personal and professional development program" dubbed Executive Success Programs - was founded by computer programmer Keith Raniere and his business . 02. 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. [160], On October 27, 2020, federal judge Nicholas Garaufis sentenced Raniere to a prison term of 120 years (effectively a life sentence) in prison and fined him $1.75 million. [272][91][273] Edmondson showed the brand in a New York Times expos of NXIVM. [44], By 2003, 3,700 people had taken part in ESP classes. NXIVM, an organization that allegedly brainwashed and blackmailed women into being "sex slaves," has crumbled in the past year.In March 2018, its founder, Keith Raniere, was arrested and charged with sex trafficking for his role in the group, which then set off a domino effect: In the ensuing months, federal prosecutors would go on to charge more and more people for their alleged . (Adapted from Marc's website.) I now have a trusted circle of friends who know what it is to stand in the fire with me. [208], The oldest program of NXIVM, Executive Success Programs, had students recite a "Twelve-point Mission Statement", pledging to "purge" themselves "of all parasite and envy-based habits", to enroll others, and to "ethically control as much of the money, wealth and resources of the world as possible within my success plan." By Dan Adler November 11,. [86][87][88], Starting with reports by Frank Parlato in June 2017[89] and bolstered by an October 2017 [22][23][24][25][26], Raniere chose to go to trial in 2019. [71] In 2017, Lama Tenzin Dhonden, the self-styled "Personal Emissary for Peace for the Dalai Lama" who had arranged the appearance, was suspended from his position amid corruption charges; the investigation also revealed a personal relationship between Dhonden and Sara Bronfman, which began in 2009. From a supplemental sentencing statement & order, filed July 20, 2021, by Judge Garaufis: The assets of NXIVM were held by Nancy Salzman, including several corporate entities and titles to intellectual property. After Raniere's conviction, Clyne and others began dancing nightly outside the detention center containing Raniere.[252]. [32], Sara Bronfman, daughter of Edgar Bronfman Sr., was introduced to NXIVM by a family friend in 2002. [159], Oral arguments on both Raniere and Bronfman's appeals were heard before the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit on May 3, 2022. After a report about the branding appeared in The New York Times in late 2017, the authorities began a criminal investigation and Mr. Raniere moved into a villa near Puerto Vallarta, Mexico. What We Know About the Cult's Current Status", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=NXIVM&oldid=1139121398. She told Insider that she uses every speaking opportunity she can to share her story so that others don't fall into the same trap. The film is executive produced by Clare Bronfman. Keith Raniere, the groups leader, styled himself a visionary, but a jury found him guilty of racketeering, sex trafficking and other charges. The leader of NXIVM ran an all-male fraternity that later allowed women into the curriculum and used "horribly demeaning" tactics to humiliate them, according to testimony from a former member . "[213] Some members of NXIVM's inner circle were reportedly taught that, in past lives, they were high-ranking Nazis. [92][29][99][258] He was found guilty of all charges at trial. [66] Mack became "an enthusiastic proselytizer" for NXIVM, persuading her parents to take courses, and after wrapping production of Smallville in 2011, moved to Clifton Park, New York, to be near NXIVM's home base in Albany. NXIVM loyalist files $12 million suit against Starz network. ', "India Oxenberg Opens Up About Her Family's NXIVM Nightmare: 'It's Like Freaking Shakespeare', "Filmmaker breaks down describing Nxivm's duplicitous ideas and evil intent The Underground Bunker", "Journalist on leave after tangle with secretive 'NXIVM' group", "The truth vs. the cult: How a journalist exposed Keith Raniere and NXIVM", "A&E Investigates: Cults and Extreme Belief; S1E1 'NXIVM', "HBO Plans Docuseries on Alleged Sex Cult NXIVM", "Alleged sex cult NXIVM focus of HBO documentary series", "India Oxenberg Open Ups About NXIVM Experience in 'Seduced' Docuseries for Starz", "From Alleged Cult Leader To Cowering In Closet: How Keith Raniere's Arrest Went Down", "Lifetime Is Making a NXIVM Sex Cult Movie After Founder Keith Raniere's Conviction", "NXIVM Sex Cult Movie Set At Lifetime With Catherine Oxenberg Producing; Peter Facinelli & Andrea Roth To Star", "Lifetime's Trailer For 'Escaping The NXIVM Cult' Shows Seduction And Anguish", "Nxivm 'sex cult' part one: How my daughter became trapped", Three critical articles pertaining to the, "Actress Who Allegedly Recruited NXIVM 'Slaves' Is Dancing for Prisoner Rights Now", "Is NXIVM Still Operational? It was later revealed that the District Attorney had allowed Raniere's girlfriend Kristin Keeffe to operate within its office as a sort of victims' advocate. Clare Bronfman, a NXIVM executive board member and Seagram's liquor heiress, was sentenced to 81 months in prison on September 30, on charges of concealing immigrants and ID fraud. publication beginning with the 2020 Inaugural Issue. Classes by NXIVM had a number of idiosyncratic practices, described within the Rational Inquiry patent as "rules and rituals" and third-party sources as including: A 2018 documentary film directed by Alessandro Molatore showcases a purported study of the use of NXIVM's exploration of meaning technique to treat Tourette syndrome. NXIVM reportedly kept dossiers on Soares, Spitzer, political consultants Roger Stone and Steve Pigeon, U.S. It wasn't until Edmondson revealed her brand, which contained Raniere's initials, the Ames decided to leave the cult with his wife. She faces up to 20 years in prison. [212] People who irrevocably turned against Raniere were said to have undergone "The Fall" and were labeled, in the words of a former member, as "Luciferians, lost people for whom bad feels good, and good feels bad. Thank you to all of you! In 2013, Keeffe gave birth to Raniere's son Gaelyn. In an eight-page letter, prosecutors said that Mr. Raniere has spent his life profiting from pyramid schemes and has otherwise received financial backing from independently wealthy women, like Clare and Sara Bronfman, heirs to the Seagrams liquor fortune. [268] In September 2021, Salzman was sentenced to 42 months in prison and a $150,000 fine for racketeering conspiracy. Clare Bronfman was arrested by federal agents on July 24, 2018, in New York City and charged with money laundering and identity theft in connection with NXIVM activities. Image Source: Getty / Amy Luke HBO's latest documentary, The Vow, pulls back the curtain on the horrifying world of NXIVM and its founder, Keith Raniere, who was accused of running an abusive sex . Prosecutors dropped charges of sex trafficking, and conspiracy to commit sex trafficking and forced labor. [127], The federal trial of Keith Raniere began on May 7, 2019. [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. [175] The Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons and authorities at USP Tucson moved to deny the injunction, on grounds that Chakravorty is not a paralegal but merely "an ardent former ESP and NXIVM coach with whom [Raniere] is banned from associating. Unlike the Luciferian, a non-Luciferian's neurophysiological processes will not register as pleasure for this stimulus. [114][115], On March 13, 2019, Nancy Salzman pleaded guilty to a charge of racketeering criminal conspiracy. Keith was experimenting on him. [232], Several subjects complained to the New York State Board of the Office of Professional Medical Conduct about the experiments. One cited price was $7,500. In the early 2000s, Forbes, and other media outlets started covering the group NXIVM, a massive marketing enterprise based in Clifton Park, New York with chapters across the country, Canada and Mexico. Much of the footage in "The Vow" comes from Vicente's filming, since he took the clips with him when he left the cult. Porter faced 24 professional conduct charges, including "moral unfitness to practice medicine". Bronfman's sister Sara and late billionaire father Edgar were also involved in NXIVM. [172] Judge Sunshine Sykes granted the motion, dismissing the lawsuit and granting Lions Gate Entertainment's request for attorneys' fees and costs. [112] On June 12, 2018, the Times Union reported that NXIVM had suspended its operations owing to "extraordinary circumstances facing the company". #happyvalentinesday #love, A post shared by Sarah Edmondson (@sarahedmondson) on Feb 14, 2020 at 9:48pm PSTFeb 14, 2020 at 9:48pm PST. "[283][281] In 2011, Natalie filed documents in federal court alleging that she had been repeatedly raped by Raniere.[281]. nxivm website archive By on July 1, 2021 Publication date. This documentary series from Oscar-nominated, Emmy-winning directors Jehane Noujaim and Karim Amer ( The Square, Control Room, The Vow) follows members who joined the self-improvement group NXIVM - whose leader was convicted of sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy, and other crimes - to reveal the emotional toll of unfolding events on these