General, NXIVM, The Cult of Keith Raniere

The Countdown to Sentencing – Still New Issues Popping up as Raniere’s Fate Heads to a Conclusion

10/22/2020·

K.R. Claviger

Here we are with just a little more than 100 hours to go to Keith Raniere’s sentencing date – and we still have new issues popping up. Let’s take a look at some of them – and see what, if any, impact they might have on Raniere’s sentencing, which is currently scheduled for 10:00 AM on Tuesday, October 27^th.

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Motion for a New Trial

First and foremost is the “Motion for a New Trial” that was filed earlier this week by Marc Agnifilo. That motion is entirely based on the assertion that Raniere’s defense was completely undercut by the fact that two potential witnesses – Michele Hatchette and Nicole Clyne – who claim that they were intimidated by the prosecution into not testifying on behalf of Raniere.

Keith Ranieres super lawyer, Marc Agnifilo, outside the Brooklyn courtroom in which Keith Raniere was tried and convicted[Photo by Dianne Lipson]

The prosecution’s response to that motion is due by 5:00 PM today (We’ll be reporting separately on it later today). Once he receives it, Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis will have to make two decisions.

MK 10 Art’s portrayal of Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis

First, he’ll have to decide whether to grant Agnifilo’s request for oral arguments by both sides. Given the tight timeframes involved, about the only day he could hold such a hearing would be on Monday, October 26^th.

Second, he’ll have to decide – with or without any oral arguments – whether to grant the motion.

Based on discussions with several attorneys who have been following this case since Raniere was arrested back in March 2018, there seems little chance that the motion will be granted.

Some of those attorneys believe that the motion is wholly without merit because there is no assertion – and, similarly, no proof – that Agnifilo ever asked Hatchette or Clyne to testify.

Normally in such circumstances, the attorney filing the motion would have included her/his own affidavit – or affidavits from her/his co-counsel – delineating the circumstances and facts that resulted in a potential witness refusing to testify on behalf of the defendant. But no such affidavits were included with the motion.

Other attorneys have argued that the motion is untimely because it should have been filed immediately after the trial in which Raniere was found guilty on all the charges he was facing – which was back in June 2019 (Those charges included Racketeering, Racketeering Conspiracy, Sexual Exploitation of a Child, Forced Labor Conspiracy, Wire Fraud Conspiracy, Sex Trafficking Conspiracy, and Attempted Sex Trafficking). In this regard, the only explanation that Agnifilo offered for the delay is that the two witnesses “were not willing to testify at the trial, nor were they willing to come forward and provide the accounts contained in the attached affidavits” because of the “Government’s threats, coercion and intimidation.”

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Proposed Order of Forfeiture

Another new issue that just popped up yesterday is the government’s request that Judge Garaufis issue an “Order of Forfeiture” in conjunction with the sentencing of Raniere.

According to the government’s filings, “Raniere is liable for a forfeiture money judgment representing ‘any property constituting, or derived from, any proceeds which [Raniere] obtained , directly or indirectly, from racketeering activity…”.

Per that same filing, the government indicates that it is currently reviewing “bank records of an account held by First Principles Incorporated to determine the amount of deposits that represented Raniere’s royalties and fees paid by NXIVM affiliates…”.

NXIVM & Executive Success Programs reportedly paid royalties to First Principles Incorporated

The government concludes by indicating it will complete its review – and calculate the amount of the money judgment to be imposed on Raniere – no later than November 10, 2020.

This latest filing raises several interesting questions. Here are some of them…

(1) How much money went into the First Principles bank account?

According to sources, First Principles collected a 10% royalty on every dollar that was generated by any NXIVM-related entity.

If as Clare Bronfman’s attorneys asserted, NXIVM was a very profitable company that generated millions of dollars of annual revenues, then a good deal of money should have flowed into the First Principles bank account.

Thus, for example, if all 17,000 people who took NXIVM courses paid $1,000 each for those courses – which is likely a very understated figure – NXIVM would have earned $17,000,000 from those trainings and paid $1.7 million to First Principles.

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(2) Did the government find all the First Principle bank accounts?

Raniere had a penchant for creating several entities with the same name in several different locations. Thus, for example, there were separate corporate entities named NXIVM, Inc. in Delaware, Nevada, New York State, and Puerto Rico.

Did he do the same with respect to First Principles Incorporated? If so, has the government found all the bank accounts into which money was transferred from the various NXIVM-related entities on behalf of Keith?

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(3)What about the $8 million that Raniere supposedly inherited from Pam Cafritz?

For some reason, the government did not include any reference to the money that Raniere supposedly inherited from Pam Cafritz in its latest filing.

While that seems odd, it may, in fact, collaborate a rumor that we heard about several months ago but have not been able to verify.

According to that rumor, the IRS has already laid claim to all of those inherited funds for income taxes that Raniere failed to pay ever since his original business, Consumers Buyline, was shut down.

Why else would the government fail to include such an easy-to-grab pot of money in its latest filing?

The Government Is Clearly Playing Hardball

One thing that has gotten very clear in the last few weeks is that the government has decided to play hardball with Keith Raniere.

They’ve asked that he sentenced to life in prison – which some would consider excessive in terms of the actual crimes of which he was convicted (A life sentence might well be in order for all the crimes he committed but was never charged with).

They’ve asked that he be stripped of every dollar he earned from the NXIVM criminal enterprise.

They’ve allegedly frozen all the funds that he inherited from Pam Cafritz.

They’ve made it impossible for Clare Bronfman to put any money into his commissary account.

You almost get the impression that they don’t like the Vanguard.

Viva Executive Success!

Comments (23)

Add Your Comment

Anonymous10/22/2020

Are key players up for re-election? Is that why they want to look busy after the decades of inaction? Aren’t Keith’s assets in others names? What about the Bitcoin he accumulated? Is child support for Galen included in this collection of assets, or will that be a family court matter? The government is aware of the money laundering across both international borders, what about that? I hope it never comes out if it happens to be the case, but I assume there are parents with clout pressing this outcome to its full potential.

another anonymous10/22/2020

Of course Vanguard is requesting a new trial. These are just the desperate, predictable machinations of Vanguard et al. Predictable and tired just like Vanguard’s tech and playbook. We all see through these feeble, transparent attempts. Who cares? The two defenders of Vanguard, high ranking cult leaders, felt ‘intimidated’ and therefore did not testify for their beloved Vanguard. Why didn’t they do EM’s or use the ‘tech’ they have been peddling for years to master their emotional state? Nobody is buying this. The worm has turned. It will be poetic justice for Vanguard aka Keith, who weaponized the court/legal system for years as a strategy to perpetuate his evil and to intimidate and terrorize whistleblowers and defectors, to be rendered impotent and invisible by being sent to the Super Max by the judicial system. He has earned his seat there. He can use his “tech” to cope with his consequence/penance of serving life in Super Max. Tick tock. Tick tock. That is the sound of Vanguard’s futile machinations grinding down to the ground. Game over Vanguard. Tick tock. Tick tock.

Bye Vanguard10/22/2020

The schadenfreude is delicious! Om nom nom nom nom!!!!

jacksoul10/22/2020

I wonder if Russell's sentence has been delayed because the IRS is now looking at the books??

Nomin Jerabek10/22/2020

I don't think Judge Garaufis will approve the motion for a new trial. Then I may be very surprised, but I don't think there's room for that based on such sudden testimony. I don't want to be clever, I'm just taking the legal system of my own country as a basis. Here, in serious cases such as this, the procedural order is, more specifically, not officially, but what usually happens is that in more complex cases, it is usually tried from a tax point of view to grasp the delicts. I've always done that. It provided a breeding ground for prosecutions of subsequent further offences, during which the competent authority handling the case was able to deal with the real offences on the merits and in a timely way. Oh, I'm really rooting for everything to add up. I hope all the information matches the right decision.

Inception10/22/2020

I think the chances of the Vanguard getting what he wants now is about as much as people believing Rudy Guiliani was actually searching for a mic down the front of his pants in that hotel room in the new Borat movie.

Nomin Jerabek10/22/2020

“Honorable Nicholas G. Garaufis United States District Judge Eastern District of New York 225 Cadman Plaza East Brooklyn, New York 11201 Re: United States v. Keith Raniere, 18 Cr. 204 (NGG) Dear Judge Garaufis: My name is Eduardo Asunsolo Ramirez. I was born and raised in Mexico. I studied Marketing at one of the best Colleges in Mexico on a soccer scholarship. I came to New York 12 years ago to study theater and to work as an actor. I am now a professional interpreter, I have translated for immigration court and for the political asylum offices numerous times. I own a family translation business, and work as a commercial voice over artist recording radio and tv commercials. I am married, I have a 17-month-old boy, and a baby girl on the way. I met Keith Raniere 10 years ago through ESP. Throughout the last decade we’ve played hundreds and hundreds of games of volleyball together, he’s been my teacher, my business partner, and my friend. I’ve taken numerous educational trainings that he has designed and imparted: Jness, SOP, ESP, Ultima, Ethicist, etc. This education has been by far the most valuable investment of my life; it has helped my personal and professional life in many great ways. I am confident to say that I wouldn’t be an entrepreneur, and a loving father and husband, if it wasn’t for my interactions with him and with his work. The different things that thousands of people have achieved thanks to his tools are remarkable, some of them historically remarkable. I personally knew and in some cases worked with a group of people with Tourettes syndrome, and I watched them work their tics away with the talk therapy himself and Nancy designed. I was amazed at how Keith never wanted to call this project a cure or even science yet, he was always thoughtful and humble about the results he achieved. In 2017, a group of my closest friends invited me to what sounded very much like a defamation campaign against Keith. The justification was that they had found information about a secret sorority, and that it was so disgusting to them, that it was worth it to make the group look like a sex trafficking ring to the media. They literally said they were going to make this look like India's mom was going to save her daughter. When I informed Keith about what was coming after him, he never entertained the idea of stopping this group of people with harsh legal tools, which was what I suggested; instead his only focus became to try and have a dialogue with this group, to try to prevent them from doing something that would be harmful to everyone, especially the group itself. I had heard him speak about non- violent resistance before, but to see him let himself go to jail instead of engaging in violence, was one of the most wonderful things to watch. I believe he did the same at trial through his defense; as you can see in the transcripts, they did not use dishonor even once. I think the injustice committed to him and his co-defendants will affect American history for the good. I tried to participate in this case and to counter the many lies I saw the witnesses tell. It's hard to watch people lie on the stand when you knew they were going to do it. The reason I did not end up being a witness was because everyone around me told me I would be in legal trouble if I did. Some of my friends were personally threatened by the prosecutors. Still, my hope is that people can see that sometimes people are convicted on prejudice rather than evidence. This is not news to myself or to any other minority, for this has been done to us for a century. Keith is in my experience a true humanitarian, a man who conducts himself with a balance between complete kindness and a strict code of honor. He maintains this balance in every area of his life, no matter the time of the day or how hard his circumstances become. I developed a lot of respect for him through the years of interacting with his work and with him as a friend, but this respect increased even more when I saw him deal with the deaths of life long friends of his, he mourned deeply while still leading strongly. In ten years of spending many hours with him, he never spoke a dishonorable word about anyone, including adversaries who I saw attacking his name and his life. Even today, all the way from his cell, he has been able to help my family with a very difficult situation. I’m always amazed at the fact that he drops anything to help another person, even when his circumstances are far worse than most people’s. Because I grew up in the north of Mexico, I’ve been witness to the most cruel violence. It is a day to day thing for many Mexicans. I will forever be grateful to Keith Raniere for producing a peace movement in my country, a movement that created hope for millions of Mexicans. When one experiences the community projects that he has designed, one can see how humans can be great. V week for example, is the most marvelous display of human excellence, art, community and education. I can understand why people like the Dalai Lama and Elan Musk have expressed interest in his work. For this and many other reasons, I keep the deepest honor and respect for Keith Raniere. And I ask you to give him the most humane sentence you can find within your possibilities. I don’t ask you to see him as a good man, for that wouldn’t be right, I think that if I had the information you have in front of you and nothing else, I would probably think exactly as you do. I only ask you to treat him with the humanity this world needs.”

Anonymous10/22/2020

Mk10Art I enjoy your depiction of KR on a few levels. It’s a prison of his own making. He’s done in by his own vice. And, it’s reminiscent of a 1980s album cover or music video. I can hear your little KR singing Rick Springfields – Don’t Talk To Strangers on neon initial scaffolding. https://youtu.be/cp42V938eBA

Nomin Jerabek10/22/2020

“Honorable Nicholas G. Garaufis United States District Judge Eastern District of New York 225 Cadman Plaza East Brooklyn, NY 11201 Re: United States v. Keith Raniere, 18 Cr. 204 (NGG) Judge Garaufis: My name is Suneel Chakravorty. My family is from India and I am a first-generation American. I grew up in South Florida. In my family, education was one of the highest values. I studied hard, became county valedictorian and was admitted to Harvard College, where I majored in mathematics. After college, I worked as a software engineer before starting my own company. I co-founded a software consulting firm in NYC, which grew in just a few years to be the technology innovation partner for a Fortune 100 company, a national healthcare network, a top hedge fund, and several startups. My first conversation with Keith Raniere was in prison, after his trial. At the time, he and I were complete strangers. Now I count him as one of my friends. I am writing this letter to you, your honor, to provide my perspective on Keith’s character, for consideration in your sentencing decision. I first learned of Executive Success Programs in August 2016, when a fellow Harvard graduate told me about it and invited me to take it. He told me the company and its founder had very bad press but that the program was very effective for entrepreneurs. He explained that the program focused on helping the participant to overcome limiting behaviors and patterns. This sounded interesting so I signed up. Then later I Googled the company. I was initially very disturbed at what I read about Keith and about NXIVM, but most of the articles seemed to be personal blog posts and I have known political friends who were written fallaciously about in the media. In addition, the person who enrolled me seemed smart and kind, so I decided I would see for myself. In October 2016, I took my first five-day intensive in an office building in midtown Manhattan. There were about 20 participants, from seasoned businesspeople to college graduates and everyone with a unique motivation for being at the training, from figuring out their next career move to achieving better work-life balance to finding inner peace. There were certain practices that I found strange, like referring to Keith as “Vanguard” in the classes. I later came to understand that there were benign, rational explanations for those things. Also, I took Tae Kwon Do growing up and had no issue with calling my instructor “Master.” I believe that if there were no bad press, I would not have interpreted those practices as negatively as I initially did. What I learned about emotions and my own patterns of behavior was invaluable and I left the training energized to build my company and so much less stressed. As the weeks went by, I noticed more and more benefits. With my family, where I used to be controlling and tense, I became relaxed and able to enjoy time with them more. Our family trips became even more precious and memorable. With my company, I began to push harder, get more projects, and grow my team faster than I thought possible. Over the next few months, I completed my sixteen-day intensive and took an additional training called Mobius. On some occasions, I was asked by some of the coaches if I had anyone I wanted to invite to take a training. Although I did have people in mind, I did not feel comfortable publicly associating myself with NXIVM because of its negative reputation, so I told the coaches that I did not want to invite people and they completely understood. I did not feel any pressure to invite anyone and no one asked me about it thereafter. However, at a certain point, I felt that the classes of ESP had helped me so much, to be a more effective founder, a more compassionate brother, and a more grateful son that my desire to share this with others exceeded my fear of what people would think and I invited a few friends to take the course. I became a coach in June of 2017 at the “coach summit” where many leaders in ESP decided to leave the organization. To me, this was strange because I never thought of ESP as something one would join or leave. To me, they were just classes you could take or not take. I continued to be a coach in the New York City ESP Center over the next few months as articles began to come out about “sex slaves” and “sex cult.” I found the articles seriously alarming, but they did not contain any evidence, seemed to be defamatory in nature, and were the opposite of my experience as a coach in NYC. All we did was have classes in midtown Manhattan, nothing more exciting than that, and I was seeing firsthand how the ESP classes were helping people in my family and in my company. This contradiction between what I was experiencing and what was being written only grew more extreme. When the NY Times article came out in October 2017 about NXIVM being a “cult” that branded women, I received a flurry of emails from friends who knew I was a coach in the program and were concerned for my well-being and safety. In reality, that day was like any other for me. I had normal business meetings with my clients and my team and in the evening met with my ESP coach about my 3-month fitness goal. My reality was so mundane compared to what the media was writing. I also had the opportunity to get to know the subjects of some of those articles, people like Lauren Salzman and Allison Mack. I found them to be intelligent, strong-willed and caring women who were motivated to help others. Lauren had coached me to become more productive in managing my employees and Allison had taught me how to become more expressive and less reserved. At the same time that they were being described as bad people, I was getting to know them and finding them to be the opposite. Because my personal experiences had been so positive and I had not been able to find evidence of what was being alleged, I decided to stay involved even during an international media storm. To me, ESP did not seem like a sinister organization with the hidden agenda of serving Keith Raniere. It seemed to me to be a personal growth company filled with good, earnest people who were being intentionally maligned. I was raised to stand up for good people, especially when they are being attacked, and that is why I chose to continue as a coach up util the companies closed in May 2018. Almost a year later, I chose to attend Keith’s trial because I had seen so much untruth and sensationalism in the media coverage about NXIVM and its family of companies that I was hoping that the legal process might be more data-driven and logical. Because I had sold my business by that time, I had the flexibility to attend the trial as often as I wanted, and I decided to go every day. I found that the narrative being presented about NXIVM was the same one that was in the media. The witnesses, some of whom I was familiar with, had changed their perspective completely and were presenting information that I could have contradicted with my experience as well as my experience of them even just a year prior. Although the types of crimes that Keith was convicted of are very serious and I do not in any way condone acts like sex trafficking and forced labor, I believe that Keith is innocent of these crimes and that he was convicted not because of evidence but because of how much hate he was painted with. It was an emotional trial and it would be hard for any person to not feel that Keith is a bad person, based only on what the witnesses said. After the trial, I felt restless. I felt I had just observed a serious injustice and wanted to help, so I decided to visit Keith in prison and asked him how I could help. Over the course of the past year, I have had a hundred hours of phone calls and dozens of in- person visitations with Keith as we have been working closely together on several initiatives that not only could help separate the prejudice from the law in his case but could help many others in the future who encounter prejudice in our legal system. Some of these communications have been published in court filings. I believe that if your honor were to hear them in context, you would find them to be upstanding and well-intentioned. In every interaction that I have had with Keith, he has been kind, understanding and patient. Sometimes he is my fellow math nerd. Other times, he is a mentor to me. Other times yet, he is just my friend. He has never ordered me to do anything or been demanding or punishing. On the contrary, when I have tried to help but have come up short, he has always been understanding and grateful. I also feel that he has treated me like a true friend. Although our prison calls are short and there are many pressing matters with his case to discuss, he would always find some time to tell me a joke, discuss math topics with me, just tell me how he was feeling or ask me if I was doing okay. For more than a year, I have only seen Keith try to use his situation to the benefit of others. Almost on a daily basis, he would call me with an idea of how to highlight the injustice in his situation to bring attention to the broader issues going on. He rarely, if ever, emphasized saving himself. At times, he expressed that he was not sure if he would ever be free but at least if his situation can help others, then he would feel happy. Unfortunately, in July 2020, my communications with Keith were blocked by the prison. I have appealed the decision but never gotten any explanation or a response. I have talked at length with Keith about his situation, the case and the NXIVM community and to me he seems very sorry for all that has happened, because is the leader of that community, but at the same time he maintains his innocence of the charges. I firmly believe that you only know a person’s character in the worst moments of their life. I have had the privilege of getting to know Keith during such a time and I believe him to be a good and peaceful person. I implore you, your honor, to be as lenient as possible and not sentence Keith to life in prison.”

Hola Senor10/22/2020

I ain't got no money, I don't need no money, I don't have to show you any stinking money !

Nice Guy10/22/2020

Claviger- Excellent reporting as always. I have to say that “the life sentence” on the surface is definitely too steep considering the crimes Raniere was prosecuted for and the fact he has no prior convictions. It’s actually kind of scary in the sense that this same thing could happen to other people not as bad as Raniere. Considering it’s Rabiere he deserves it. ********************* —Michele Hatchette and Nicole Clyne – who claim that they were intimidated by the prosecution into not testifying on behalf of Raniere. A few weeks ago I hypothesized Hatchette and Clyne or the other Nxivm five would perjure themselves. I guessed correctly because I have a PHD in how lay-people think. LOL You, Le’Gal and my wife think like attorneys. You know it’s not going to work. Lay-people, read a John Grisham novel, and think they understand how the law works.

Anonymous10/23/2020

Except Hatchette and Clyne claimed the 5th and therefore did NOT perjure themselves. LOL I can't believe how absolutely [redacted] you are, NiceGuy 666. LOL

NiceGuy10/24/2020

Scott, I am referring to the “possible” new testimony being perjury; accusing the DOJ of prosecutorial misconduct based on lies is perjury. Fabricated testimony – i.e., conscious lying – is perjury. Scott, I can’t believe how absolutely [redacted] you are. Hey old buddy it’s not your fault. We can’t choose our parents.

THAT Bob10/22/2020

Tuesday, October 27 is likely the last time Vanguard will ever step foot in a public place for the rest of his life.

Anonymous10/23/2020

Raniere may attend the civil trial. LOL

Girl Scout Cookies10/23/2020

So nice to see once again Mk10Art's illustration of Keith Raniere, “Elf on the Shelf”

Snorlax10/23/2020

Are you sure that's not a mench on the bench? Maybe the Incel in the cell?

Yahela10/24/2020

WISHES QUESTIONS AND RESEMBLANCE 1. Keith Raniere's sentence should also ban him from making any profit from his case, which is something he would probably try to do (WRITE A BOOK, MAKE A FILM) 2. From the tapped prison calls, he seems to have a lot of control over his male “ESPians” (sorry don't remember their names), why are they still so dumb to follow his orders? 3. He is going to be sentenced very soon, don't you (ESPians) see the light?? 4. This message goes to them, they blame the victims for what happened to them, I'm Mexican that's why I suggest you get some insight on this very famous case, Gloria Trevy and Sergio Andrade Clan” it has a lot of similarities..Gloria was and is a famous singer, Sergio was her manager, she was his first victim, after a while they both started to “recruit” underage (13-16 years) dancers for Gloria's show, then it turned into a sex cult. They all went and lived together. It amazes me so much that 3 sisters had a sexual realationship with Sergio, two of them had children with him. They were caught by Interpol, that's when everything broke up, it took a while for some of them to see “the light” after he was arrested specially Gloria who got pregnant while both were in prison (unknown circumstances). He's now a free man, alone with no one by his side. Conclusion and resemblance: * Sergio was physically not the most attractive man besides being 30 years older than most of the girls/ Just as Keith Raniere. Yiikes * Sergio claimed to be such an intelligent man, just as Keith. If it weren't for Gloria he wouldn't have had any money to support more than 10 girls, go on hiding and travel around the world. / If it weren't for Ivy, Keith wouldn't have been able to write 3 books, Bronfman's money, he wouldn't have had any money for his lawsuits, other NXVIM girls who made “book reports” so he would have the “knowledge or main points” to keep with his lies, and much more examples that I can't remember. Both of them wouldn't be able to do anything if it weren't for those successful, intelligent women around them. *Just as the 3 Fernandez's sisters with Keith Raniere, Sergio also had the 3 De La Cuesta sisters (ages 13, 14 and 15) whose parents gave them the “opportunity” to go and travel the world with Gloria and Sergio , but who also had children with him. * Sergio Andrade is a free man as of now, but he's still “recruiting” underage girls, and nobody does anything, those men never change, they are malevolent pedophile narcissists. * As I said before, Sergio's victims saw the light at different times, but they did see it!. Yes Gloria Trevy was a victim but she turned into a victimizer, and she recognizes it and she paid for it with prison time. hopefully this will happen to the Nxvim 5. * Age doesn't matter, those girls(who turned into adults while in his care and who helped recruit underage girls) and Raniere's woman, they were brainwashed for so long by Keith, that they were not in their full state of mind when they stayed with him, when they got branded, when they recruited more women. Some of them have no point of return, just as Allison Mack and Nicky Clyne, their mind got so broken and perverted. I praise all other survivors for having the courage to speak up, and stand for themselves. Justice will be served on the 27th!!