Our readers have raised a number of significant points, and asked questions. Here are some of them, with our replies and answers to questions”
Get to law enforcement first:
Reader:
One of the most important things for DOS members – and other Mr. Raniere followers – to consider is that whoever goes to the legal authorities first usually ends up with the best deal. Personally, I wouldn’t waste time going to the Albany County DA because of his close and ongoing ties to NXIVM and Clare Bronfman.
I’d also avoid the local office of the NYS Police whose chief investigator was “compromised” by NXIVM a long time ago.
That basically leaves the FBI – which has pretty much taken a “hands off” approach when it comes to NXIVM and Raniere; the new Acting U.S. Attorney in Albany, who may want to make an immediate name for himself with a high-profile case like this; or the Saratoga County District Attorney, Karen Heggen.
All in all, I’d probably go to Heggen because of her prior work on domestic violence cases. But get there quick before a line forms out front of her office!
To repeat: whoever goes to the legal authorities first usually ends up with the best deal.
Reader 2: Raniere may be guilty of RICO Act
I’m not sure why anyone … thinks {Keith Raniere’s] name has to be on … business[es] to make [him] culpable…. RICO says otherwise. Everyone in and out of NXIVM knows Raniere is the mastermind behind all.
According to Wiki:
“The RICO Act focuses specifically on racketeering, and it allows the leaders of a syndicate to be tried for the crimes which they ordered others to do or assisted them in doing, closing a perceived loophole that allowed a person who instructed someone else to, for example, murder, to be exempt from the trial because they did not actually commit the crime personally.”
There are other conspiracy crimes Mr. Raniere might be guilty of committing.
NANCY NO ANGEL
You can try to portray Nancy as an “innocent person” who got bamboozled by Keith Raniere but the simple reality is that she was a con artist long before she met him.
Just ask her about all her fraudulent Medicaid billings and her own bogus resume.
And no matter what else you might argue, you have to come back to the fact that she pimped away her two daughters to Keith. What the hell kind of mother does that?
Ask Nancy about all her own unreported income like her $40,000/year “clothing allowance”, her rent-free house, her many gift card purchases, etc.
She deserves to be prosecuted just like everyone else who is part of the cult leadership and she’s also the one that’s most likely to take the fall for Raniere and his cash cow, Clare Bronfman.
Response: It is likely true that Nancy Salzman laundered money, and committed acts of tax evasion amounting to more than one million dollars. That is relatively small compared to what Mr. Raniere and Miss Bronfman engineered.
If an investigative agency had the capabilities to properly audit these two, they would be able to uncover well over $10 million in laundered money through multiple shell bank accounts in various people’s names.
However, it is not as simple as pinning the tail on the Raniere.
Keith Raniere never gives the orders directly to the person opening the bank account. That is generally done through Nancy Salzman or Karen Unterreiner. If they are willing to go to jail for him, it may be hard to prosecute Mr. Raniere.
Miss Bronfman should have enough money to buy her way out of prison.
If law enforcement does take up the task, it seems most likely that Ms. Salzaman and Miss Unterreiner will get charged.
Now the problem with that is they are not very newsworthy people.
Nancy to some degree is, but she will not generate the same headlines as Bronfman or Keith Raniere. And most prosecutors require savory headlines to prosecute a complicated prosecution for it takes up manpower.
Allison Mack could sweeten up the deal for prosecutors. Or if there were enough little fish like Alexander (Alejandro) Betancourt Ledesma, Edgar Boone, Omar Boone, Esther L. Chiappone/Carlson, Sean H. Craney, James J. DelNegro, Adrianna Fernandez, Silvia Lloyd, Matthew J. McMorris, Steven T. Ose, Farouk Rojas, Wendy Rosen-Brooks, Kathy Russell a/k/a “Sage”, Lauren R. Salzman, Michelle D. Salzman, Karen A. Unterreiner a/k/a “Gozer”, Ben Myers, [redacted], Ivy Nevares, Loretta Garza, Rosa Laura Junco, and others, it might make sense.
But there would be pressure to charge Keith Raniere – especially if two dozen small fry are charged and the big guys gets away.
On the other hand, it would not be proper to charge wealthy individuals such as Clare and Sara Bronfman or Emiliano Salinas Occelli since a double standard of law operates in the US similarly to other places throughout the world.
In addition, here as elsewhere, prosecutors are known to rewrite the crime scenario to fit the persons [i.e., stretch the crime to fit the target] to make Nancy Salzman the “boss lady” giving the orders.
Keith and Clare should be able to get out of it unscathed.
Crimes that should be investigated include:
The Bronfman sisters, Clare and Sara, have given $100 million to Mr. Raniere through various shell corporations. Mr. Raniere never reported the income – and the Bronfmans never reported the gift, preferring to list it as a loan with (phantom) interest payments.
The Bronfman sisters spent $1 million for “litigation support” – which was in fact illegal surveillance on judges involved in their lawsuits.
NXIVM/ESP made millions in coaching fees but never paid taxes.
Top aides have not filed tax returns – and ESP never reported the payments it made to those people. All of ESP is a large tax evasion scheme.
The Bronfmans set up false charities and under-reported income while laundering millions from Mexico for Mr. Raniere.
Carriers brought cash to Mr. Raniere and may “ roll” on Nancy Salzman and the Bronfmans.
Mr. Raniere has not reported income since nothing is in his name.
The Bronfmans and NXIVM bundled money to politicians in return for indictments against enemies.
NXIVM got numerous members to make political contributions to Hillary Clinton and others – and then re-paid those contributions in cash.
The Bronfmans evaded more than $35 million in unpaid taxes through deceitful “loans” to Mr. Raniere.
NXIVM/ESP has been harboring fugitive illegal foreigners for years, many of whom have been forced to work for the company or its principals without any pay.
The NY Post [March 27, 2010] reported that Mr. Raniere “Blew through $100 million of (Bronfmans’) fortune…. Raniere ran out of money to fund a long-running commodities scheme and a real-estate development deal involving (the late Edgar Bronfman Sr.’s) two daughters, Clare and Sara”.
Another story, “Guru: Blow off taxes” (January 31, 2011) the NY Post writes, “The leader of an Albany ‘cult’ financed by the Bronfman booze fortune urged followers to dodge taxes…. and dispatched top advisers to break into the homes and ‘sweep’ the bank accounts of his detractors, according to a new court filing.”
A Host of Shell Corporations
NXIVM Corp (New York State corp.) has many related and affiliated corporate entities or “shell” companies and appears to be engaged in a classic Klein Conspiracy to defraud the government.
The shell companies – all of them under the control of Raniere – are ostensibly owned by various Raniere followers.
Raniere’s name appears on none of them.
Associated bank accounts also do not have Mr. Raniere’s name or social security number on any of them. More than 75 entities under Mr. Raniere’s control do not have his name attached.
The list of companies include:
26 Realty Property Management, LLC
A Cappella Innovations, Inc.
Aletheia LLC
Alpha Development Group
Axiology, Inc. (Nevada: March 18, 2008)
Buyers Advocate, Inc. (Delaware: June 28, 1999)
Center for Ethical Justice LLC (Delaware: October 7, 2007)
Consumers Advocate, Inc.
Consumers Buyline, Inc.
Crosspoint Communication, Inc.
Ethilogia
Elite Housing Corporation
Elite Marketing Professionals, Inc. (Delaware; August 26, 1 999)
Essence Interactive
Ethletics LLC
Ethical Principles Inc.,
Ethical Publishing LLC (Delaware: August 26, 1999)
Ethical Value Exchange, Inc.
Events for Humanity, Inc. (Delaware: November 2, 2007)
Executive Housing & Properties, Inc. (Delaware: January 28, 2004)
Executive Housing & Properties, Inc. (New York State: January 9, 2004)
Executive Success Programs, Inc. (Delaware: July 20, 1998)
Executive Success Programs, Inc. (New York State: May 6, 2002)
First Principles Inc. (Delaware)
Grow Sport, Ltd. (Great Britain)
House of Equus LLC
In Lak Ech
International Center for Change, Inc. (New York State: October 14, 1992)
J. Cricket LLC
JM Tax Consulting
Jness
Karmar
Krunch Corporation
Las Casitas Rental
Moving Pix LLC
My Home, Inc.
Nataraja Center for Movement Arts
NXIVM Corporation (Puerto Rico: October 25, 2005)
NXIVM LLC, (NYS)
NXIVM Properties LLC, (NYS),
NX Trust
Occam’s Razor LLC
Our Evolution LLC
Peak Physique, Inc.
PERSENSEO, Inc. (Delaware)
POIESIS, Inc.
Precision Development, LLC (Nevada)
Rainbow Cultural Garden, Inc. (Delaware: September 7, 2007)
Rainbow Cultural Garden LLC
Remick Consulting (Delaware)
Rochester Media Management LLC
Signature Event Marketing Group
Slate River Farm, Inc.
Slate River Mobile LLC (Delaware)
Slate Sista Farm LLC
Spirit@19, Inc. (Delaware)
Sunshine Properties LLC
The Art of Movement, Inc. (Delaware: April 12, 2004)
The Athletics Foundation
The Dalai Lama Trust
The Ethical Foundation, Inc. (Fictitious)
The Ethical Foundation, Inc. (Massachusetts: January 22, 1979)
The Ethical Humanitarian Foundation
The Ethical Science Foundation (Delaware)
The First Foundation, Inc.
The Raniere Group, Inc. (Delaware: April 12, 1994)
The Think Fund, Inc. (Nevada: October 10, 2001)
The World Ethical Foundations Consortium
Truth LLC (Delaware: August 23, 2007)
Ultima ® (New York State: May 6, 2008)
Veinte Seiz LLC f7k/a Blue Skies LLC
Veinte Siete LLC f/k/a Charly’s Wings LLC
Village Hall LLC
Whare LLC
World Audience Productions LLC
And the rest of us just keep on working – and paying the taxes. Makes you wonder why, doesn’t it?
