Today is Keith Raniere’s birthday. He turned 65, a milestone that qualifies most Americans for Social Security. In his case, the benefit is unavailable — a technicality of federal law that suspends payments during incarceration.
He resides now in Tucson, Arizona, in a gated community. For several years, this has been his home.
The Glory Days of Vanguard Week
Raniere’s followers at Vanguard Week
His worshipers adore his photo.
Raniere adderesses his followers at V-Week
In previous years, his followers had been accustomed to a royal celebration of his nativity. The venue was located in Lake George, within the Adirondack Mountains. It was called Vanguard Week, and it was a matter of some pride that he referred to himself as Vanguard.
The celebration was not confined to a mere seven days of a typical week but stretched luxuriously to ten. Followers paid $2,000 plus for the privilege of gathering, to glimpse the leader, to participate in the atmosphere he created, and if they were a young and slender woman, to obtain personal instruction from him in one of the cabins scattered on the campgrounds.
They sang, they performed, they offered their talents. He treated at least a dozen young, slender, long-haired ladies to his carnal appetites.
He made a practice of appearing only on the third day, which lent the occasion a certain liturgical grandeur.
NXIVM: Movement or Cult?
Keith Raniere mug shots
From 1998 to 2017, Keith Allen Raniere ran a self-help group called NXIVM. Those years had their brilliance. Some labeled NXIVM a movement, others a community. The grosser among us labeled it a cult.
He told his followers that “he who has the most joy wins.”
When the Joy Shifted
Lauren Salzman and Keith Raniere were once lovers. She became a cooperator and spared herself prison.
For reasons best known to himself, in 2011, he decided to change the quality of his joy when he prompted his ardent follower, Clare Bronfman, to file a criminal complaint against me, sparking an FBI investigation that lasted four years.
The purported reason was that, in the process of collecting $26 million of ill-spent investment by Clare and her sister, Sara Bronfman — both NXIVM followers —I had exposed him as perhaps not the infallible investment advisor.
The real estate project in Los Angeles had run amok. I went out there as a consultant for the Bronfmans, and recovered $26 million for which they paid me $1 million — a fractional percentage of the amount I had collected.
I then proposed that I try to recover another $65 million they had invested in a failed commodities project—an investment recommended by Raniere.
The Counterattack: My Indictment
Clare Bronfman and Keith Raniere used the legal system to create havoc for numerous defendants. Then the worm turned and they became defendants and karma came down with a will.
Raniere and Bronfman were successful in getting an indictment against me in 2015. And once indicted, I started a website called the Frank Report, which exposed the world of NXIVM.
My stories led to The New York Times writing a story, which in turn alerted the prosecutors of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York.
I wrote about 5,000 stories about Raniere, and I want to give a tip of the hat to some of the people who helped me expose the grandmaster, such as Catherine Oxenberg, Sarah Edmondson, Mark Vicente, Susan Dones, Kristin Keeffe, Daniela Fernandez, Nicole Isbel, Alejandro Junco, Barbara Bouchey, Toni Zarratini, and others.
The Fall of Vanguard
Keith Raniere captured in Mexico on March 25, 2018
After I had exposed him, and the New York Times reported that I had done so, Raniere fled to Monterrey, Mexico, in late 2017. I found out and published his whereabouts. He moved to Puerto Vallarta. I alerted the FBI, who used my reports to get a search warrant. Off they went, and the world’s most intelligent man was held by Mexican federal police and deported from Mexico in the spring of 2018.
His trial took place in 2019. He was convicted after a six-week trial of sex trafficking, forced labor conspiracy, racketeering, and other crimes and sentenced to 120 years.
Appeals, Denials, and the SHU
Nancy Salzman looks down upon her Vanguard reclining
He claimed the FBI planted child pornography on a hard drive — maybe his, maybe not; maybe planted, maybe not. However, the 2nd Circuit rejected his appeal, and the Supreme Court failed to entertain it.
Because he was more than just a tiny thorn in the side of the warden and correctional officers at USP Tucson, they placed him in the SHU, where he spent quite a good deal of time. The last lady he had in close quarters, whom I interviewed, was Toni Fly, an intersex individual whom BOP decided was male but who presents as female. Raniere spent six glorious months with this lady, his last slave in a long line of slaves.
The Loyal and the Fallen
Raniere kisses Barbara Jeske
He remains in Tucson with about 96 years to go on his sentence. Clare Bronfman, who joined him in his legal battles, got an 81-month sentence and has recently been released from custody, now on probation.
She remains faithful to Raniere — her leader, mentor, guide, philosopher, friend, and investment advisor.
Bronfman’s sister, Sara, fled the U.S., left her husband, and took up with a Portuguese male beauty in distress, and has not returned to the USA.
Nancy Salzman completed her prison term. Lauren Salzman got only probation; she became a dog groomer. Allison Mack completed her sentence and recently married a man named Frank, whose last name she did not disclose to the media.
Keith Raniere kisses Allison Mack
For 20 years, Raniere reigned supreme in Albany, suing the bejesus out of anybody who crossed him or even tried to escape. Raniere had hundreds of victims. Judge Nicholas Garaufis said as much when determining his sentence.
Raniere kisses Monica Duran
Raniere kisses Loreta Garza
Keith Raniere gives his trademark on the lips kiss to Lauren Salzman.
During breaks in volleyball games, members of NXIVM would line up and kiss Raniere on the lips.
Raniere about to kiss Pam Cafritz
From the Starz Documentary India kisses Keith Raniere.
Happy Birthday, Keith
Today is his birthday. He’ll have 96 more years, should he live, and will be 159 when he is released, followed by five years of probation.
There are still a handful of people who support him and believe in his greatness. Around 2021, they were still holding “Vanguard Week” birthday celebrations, but numbers had dwindled from 500 or 600 attendees to about a dozen.
Unlike the Branch Davidians or Jim Jones, his people didn’t die. There was no mass catastrophe. I exposed him, the Times followed, the DOJ indicted, and a jury convicted him before anything could happen.
Happy birthday, Keith. May you live long and enjoy the best of life. You’ll walk free in the year 2120 and restart NXIVM again. I have faith that you will.
Viva Executive Success!
