For those who think the Nxivm teachings are good, there may be good news.
Your Vanguard is fighting to stop the government from seizing the company that owns the Nxivm teachings.
Keith Alan Raniere, who devised the teachings, [some say he stole much of it from others] has made a motion to stop the government from seizing First Principles Inc..
First Principles controls the intellectual property of Nxivm Corporation, the executive training company for which Raniere was the
conceptual founder. Specifically, it owns the Rational Inquiry “technology” which is the basis of Nxivm classes.
Nancy Salzman is the present legal owner of First Principles Inc.. Salzman pleaded guilty to racketeering conspiracy.
Based on the conviction of Salzman for racketeering conspiracy, the government intends to seize First Principles and have gotten Salzman to consent to sign over her interest in First Principles and other assets.
She has consented to the forfeiture of:
Cash [about $520,000] found at her house on March 27, 2018 at 3 Oregon Trail, Waterford, New York.
Real property located at 8 Hale Drive, Halfmoon, New York. [Raniere’s sex lair was in her name.]
455 New Karner Road, Albany, [the headquarters for Nxivm – purchased with Bronfman money]
457 New Karner Road, Albany, New York and 447 New Karner Road [adjoining properties]
A Steinway grand piano located at her home at 3 Oregon Trail, Clifton Park, New York [Raniere used to come over and tinkle the ivories when he visited Nancy at her home.]
All right, title and interest in First Principles Inc., and all assets’ rights thereof, including but not limited to bank accounts and intellectual property rights.
Keith Raniere’s Steinway grand piano will be lost to the feds.
Raniere, who was convicted at trial of racketeering and racketeering conspiracy, among other charges, is objecting to the last item. He claims he owns 10 percent of First Principles – and, from his prison cell, while awaiting sentencing in January, he is maintaining that, because he has a 10 percent stake in the company, the government cannot seize First Principles Inc..
Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis, who was Raniere’s trial judge, and will be his sentencing judge, will make the final decision on whether the government can take ownership of First Principles [and hence Nxivm] or whether Raniere can stop the forfeiture.
Why First Principles Is Being Forfeited – Unless Raniere Stops It
According to law, a defendant convicted of racketeering or racketeering conspiracy must forfeit any asset that afforded “a source of influence over any [criminal] enterprise which the person has established, operated, controlled, conducted or participated in the conduct of racketeering and any property constituting, or derived from, any proceeds which the person obtained, directly or indirectly, from racketeering activity.”
The Nxivm tech was at the heart of the criminal enterprise.
The government argues that:
First Principles afforded a source of influence over the RICO enterprise.
First Principles owned the Nxivm “tech” or ideology that permeated Nxivm and its affiliates’ curricula and culminated in the creation of DOS.
The Nxivm education model and its associated “stripe-path” supported the RICO enterprise by isolating Nxivm community members from external support systems, “making them dependent on the [RICO] Enterprise for their financial well-being and legal status in the United States,” and encouraging them to take expensive Nxivm courses.
Nxivm’s philosophy included the mantra, “There are no ultimate victims; therefore I will not choose to be a victim.” [At trial, DOS slave Sylvie testified that repetition of the “there are no ultimate victims” mantra, “hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of times” made it difficult for her to recognize that she was victimized.
This educational model made the victims in this case more vulnerable to control by the RICO enterprise and laid the philosophical groundwork for DOS.
First Principles, in turn, filed patents generated by Raniere for his “Rational Inquiry” method (which was not ultimately approved for a U.S. patent), the sash system used by Nxivm and its affiliates, a patent to rehabilitate a “Luciferian,” and other so-called inventions.
The existence of these patents was cited to Nxivm community members as evidence that Raniere was a highly intelligent person. [Mark Vicente testified at trial that he promoted the Rational Inquiry method by saying it was “patented in the Patent Office under artificial intelligence because nobody knows what to do with it it’s so advanced because that’s what I was led to believe.” Dos slave Jaye testified to her understanding that Raniere “has thousands of patents and starts all these businesses”.
The promotion of Raniere was a principal purpose of the RICO enterprise and exalting his teachings and ideology were among the enterprise’s means and methods.
In sum, the government argues, First Principles “further[ed] the affairs of the enterprise” by owning and licensing the “tech” that pervaded Nxivm’s philosophy and made its victims more vulnerable to abuse, and by obtaining patents that enhanced Raniere’s reputation as a highly intelligent, business-savvy and ethical person.
Said to be the smartest man in the world. Who said it? you ask. Why, he did it himself.
Is There Proof of Raniere’s Claim?
At the hearing, Raniere must establish standing by pleading a legal interest in the corporation. He bears the burden of proof by a preponderance of the evidence.
Raniere claims to have an “agreement” whereby he owns 10% of First Principles which in turn gives him a legal interest on the proceeds, patents, and the ethical and psychological tests.
The challenge for Raniere, as the prosecution argues is, in his petition for the hearing, he does not state when this “agreement” was entered into or became effective. Raniere, the government argues, fails to adequately allege, “the time and circumstances of the petitioner’s acquisition of the right, title, or interest in the property [First Principles].”
Raniere claims he can prove it at a hearing and can show his ownership interest in First Principles was “both pre-existing and acquired after” the criminal conduct for which he was convicted – which, if true, might give him the right to keep his 10 percent share of First Principles.
However, Raniere may not have a written agreement.
It would appear that the agreement to pay him 10 percent was never authorized by a corporate resolution or recorded in a corporate ledger. [He would have included these in his petition if they existed – or at least alluded to their existence.]
It is unclear if the corporation ever issued 10% of the corporation’s shares to Raniere in his own name – but it seems unlikely [For again he would have mentioned this in his petition].
In fact, it is doubtful, knowing Raniere’s style, that anything in writing exists.
In fact, just the opposite is likely to be true.
The entire argument about the agreement may be based on Raniere’s good word alone, and perhaps on the testimony of Nancy Salzman – confirming it [or not].
It is also doubtful that Raniere can show that 10 percent was ever paid to him by check or recorded on his income tax returns or in the bookkeeping records of First Principles. {Perhaps Kathy Russell can testify about that.]
When he was arrested, Raniere claimed to Pretrial Services in a sworn affidavit that he had no income and no assets. He never mentioned a 10 percent ownership of First Principles.
That may come back to bite the world’s smartest man right in the ass.
MK10ART’s beautiful painting of Keith Alan Raniere in a joyful setting.
