Joe O’Hara
[This is Part 5 of a series of articles that I am writing about the U.S. v. Parlato Et Al case. Along the way, I will detail what a sham this case is – and how it was orchestrated by two inner circle members of the NXIVM criminal enterprise, Clare and Sara Bronfman, and a conman named Shmuel Shmueli – all three of whom just happened to be represented by the same attorney, William F. Savino. I will also explain how many of the slimy tactics that were used to indict Frank have become the norm in the everyday operations of the U.S. criminal justice system. Readers are encouraged to ask questions – which I will endeavor to answer on a timely basis].
Part 1: The Buffalo News Raises Questions About Frank Parlato’s Case – More Detailed Analysis Needed
Part 2: The Convoluted History of U.S. v. Parlato Began With Bronfman Sisters
Part 3: The Federal Case Against Frank Parlato – a Prosecution in Search of a Crime
Part 4: What Are the Charges in U.S. v. Parlato — and What Do They Mean?
*****
In the earlier posts in this series, I have tried to provide Frank Report readers with an overview of the U.S. v. Parlato case, how it came about, and the charges that Frank is currently facing per the superseding indictment in the case.
Frank Parlato knocks on the office door of the cult he helped take down.
Along the way, I have also noted that the original charges against Frank stemmed primarily from the allegations of the Bronfman sisters – and that Clare perjured herself in her testimony before the grand jury that issued the original indictment against him (It was because of her perjury that all the allegations regarding the Bronfman sisters were omitted in the superseding indictment).
Clare [l] and Sara Bronfman
Had it not been for the Bronfman sisters’ allegations, it is quite likely that the U.S. Attorney’s Office in the Western District of New York – and the local FBI office there – would never have begun investigating Frank and his business dealings.
I say “quite likely” because, in addition to the Bronfman sisters, there was also another person who made criminal allegations against Frank after his numerous civil lawsuits against him (and his business partners) were all tossed.
That other person’s name is Schmuel Schmueli and it was his incessant and baseless civil actions that resulted in Frank’s decision to follow the advice of his attorney – and create several companies and open up multiple bank accounts.
Shmuel Shmueli
While Frank Report readers are quite familiar with the Bronfman Brats and the role they played in financing the NXIVM criminal enterprise that Frank publicly exposed and eventually forced federal officials to investigate, many of them do not know much about Schmuel Schmueli – and his crucial role in the U.S. v. Parlato Et Al case.
So, let’s take a break from the details of that case – and get familiar with Schmueli.
*****
A Serial Litigant Who Doesn’t Pay His Legal Bills
A little over four years ago – not that long after he had launched Frank Report – Frank Parlato did a nice job of documenting the legal antics of Shmuel Shmueli AKA Sam Samuels AKA Sam Shmueli AKA Rav (“Master”) Shmuel Shmueli (How ironic that just like Keith Raniere, Shmueli awarded himself the title of “Master”).
When Frank first met him, Shmueli claimed that he was born in Israel – and that he represented several leaders of that country. Neither of those claims has ever been backed up with any documentation.
What has been backed up, however – and with lots of documentation – is the fact that Shmueli is a serial litigant who doesn’t pay his legal bills.
His basic strategy involves five steps:
Step #1: He creates a series of companies with the same name in different countries.
Step #2: He hires a law firm to initiate legal claims on behalf of one of those companies against some innocent party (The law firm doesn’t know that there are several companies with the same name).
Step #3: He raises money from several investors to finance the lawsuit (They are supposed to get repaid – and make a nice profit – from the proceeds of the lawsuit). But these investors are unaware that the company to which they’re lending money is not really the named plaintiff in the lawsuit: i.e., it just happens to have the same name as the plaintiff company.
Step #4: He runs up a large legal bill on behalf of the plaintiff company – and then stiffs the law firm. When the law firm complains about not being paid, he retains another law firm to sue them for malpractice (This goes on and on until he can’t find a law firm to sue the last law firm he hired).
Step #5: He walks away with the money he has raised to finance the litigation minus whatever retainer fees he’s paid out to the various law firms that got sucked into his scheme.
Back in 2015, Frank documented that Shmueli had duped numerous law firms in the Buffalo, NY area with this scheme.
*****
Shmueli Targeted Frank Parlato and His Business Partners
One of the innocent parties that Shmueli targeted back in Buffalo was Frank Parlato.
During the period from 2007 through 2015, Shmueli filed ten (10) separate lawsuits against Frank and his business partners.
Shmueli never won a dime from any of those lawsuits. He lost every one of them.
But that was never part of his plan.
All he wanted to do is initiate lawsuits, raise money, and stiff the attorneys who represented him.
For him, winning a lawsuit was never the goal.
Raising lots of money to support the lawsuit – and spending as little of it as possible – were his twin goals.
And those goals he was able to achieve.
But those same lawsuits became a nightmare for Frank – and forced him to take some extraordinary counter-measures in order to protect his assets and those of his business partners.
Like creating numerous companies to keep each business project separate and distinct from other business projects.
And like opening numerous bank accounts in order to avoid having their assets frozen via a court order that was based entirely on the perjurious statements of Shmuel Shmueli.
*****
Shmueli & the Bronfman Brats – Joined Together at the Hip by William F. Savino
At the end of the day, the investigation that began with the false statements of the Bronfman sisters regarding their dealings with Frank – and the equally false statements of Shmuel Shmueli regarding his dealings with Frank and his business partners – is what led to Frank’s indictment.
And the guy who knew – or should have known – that both his clients were lying under oath is none other than Wee Willie Savino, the lawyer with the worst ever hair dye job in the Western hemisphere and a guy whose legal ethics begin and end with one question: “Did the check for the retainer clear?”
Wee Willie Savino and Clare Bronfman
According to several sources, Savino was offered a bonus if he could get Frank Parlato indicted – just like Frank himself had been offered a bonus to get me indicted. The only difference is that Frank turned down the offer.
William Savino has much to toast to – he was paid handsomely by his clients, the Bronfman sisters, to get Frank Parlato indicted. It is ironic and what are the odds that Schmueli and the Bronfman sisters – who have no known ties to one another – both hired Savino to represent them regarding their claims against Frank Parlato?
Savino was the perfect choice.
First, he had already been representing the Bronfmans and Shmueli for quite some time – and was not at all bothered by the fact that his clients’ claims were totally baseless and without merit.
The main thing was that their checks cleared (Eventually, that turned out not to be true for Shmueli).
And, better yet, he was close friends with Anthony M. Bruce, an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the Office of the U.S. Attorney for the Western District of New York who had a well-earned reputation for cutting corners on criminal cases.
Former Assistant US Attorney Anthony M. Bruce
Taking down Frank Parlato would be a relatively easy lift for Savino and Bruce – or so they thought.
To begin with, they had the “rock-solid” claim of the Bronfman sisters that Frank had cheated them out of $1 million.
What they didn’t know is that the Bronfmans had lied from the outset about their legal relationship with Frank. And they sure didn’t know back in 2015 that just a few years later, Clare herself would be charged with multiple NXIVM-related felonies in the Eastern District of New York (She is currently awaiting sentencing there – and will learn her fate on Valentine’s Day in 2020).
And they also had the rantings of Shmuel Shmueli.
Along with Shmueli’s baseless accusations, the Bronfmans’ claims gave Bruce an adequate basis to get the FBI to begin investigating Frank’s businesses.
And even though – as we shall see in a future post – Frank’s attorneys were able to fully explain why he had created several companies and opened multiple back accounts, Bruce was able to convince a grand jury that those actions amounted to crimes.
Unfortunately, that’s how the criminal justice system works in the U.S. where prosecutors get to present “evidence” to a grand jury – and convince them to indict an innocent man on multiple felony counts that could result in him spending the rest of his life in prison.
But not every innocent man agrees to take a plea deal.
That’s the piece that Savino and Bruce didn’t take into consideration.
