Times Union Breaking News, “NXIVM co-founder Keith Raniere charged in federal complaint”

The original story is published here: https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/NXIVM-co-founder-Keith-Raniere-charged-in-federal-12782354.php#photo-2457504

Keith Raniere, the co-founder of the NXIVM corporation, a secretive Colonie-based organization that an expert has called an “extreme cult,” has been arrested by the FBI based on a federal criminal complaint filed in the Eastern District of New York, according to a person briefed on the arrest.

 The complaint was filed recently in connection with an ongoing federal criminal investigation being headed by the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn.
Raniere had recently been seen in Mexico, according to published reports, and is expected to appear on the charges at a federal courthouse in Texas on Tuesday, according to a person briefed on the investigation.

The Times Union reported in December that the Justice Department’s broad probe is examining NXIVM’s business dealings, including its practice of recruiting members from abroad. A federal grand jury empaneled in Brooklyn has been reviewing evidence in the case, according to people who testified before that panel.

Among those who provided testimony are women who claimed they were lured into a secret club that required them to consent to being branded with a design that included the initials of Raniere and a NXIVM associate, Allison Mack.

NXIVM’s supporters have insisted it is a self-help group focused on business improvement. NXIVM officials and associates have repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and dispute any allegation that it is a cult. Recent efforts to reach NXIVM officials for comment have not been successful.

Dating back years, people with connections to NXIVM have filed complaints with various law enforcement agencies, including the New York state Attorney General, the U.S. attorney’s office in Albany, the New York State Police, the U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement Agency, the Internal Revenue Service and the FBI.

But law enforcement sources said the federal probe in Brooklyn was the first significant investigation involving either the organization or its leader, Raniere, who is known to his followers as “Vanguard.”

In November, the Times Union reported that New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s office had begun examining NXIVM’s dealings, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

Questions have also been raised about the response of state health officials to a complaint filed in August against a NXIVM-connected doctor who allegedly subjected multiple women to brain-activity studies that apparently did not follow standard research protocols. In October, Gov. Andrew Cuomo ordered a review of the Health Department’s handling of the complaint.

About the author

Frank Parlato

0 0 votes
Article Rating

Please leave a comment: Your opinion is important to us!

Subscribe
Notify of
guest

2 Comments
Newest
Oldest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
All of Them Witches
All of Them Witches
5 years ago

Excellent work Mr. Parlato. Also kudos to the Times Union journalists who were on the trail of the Vanturd and the Bronftards since 2010 or thereabouts. A shout out to Mr. Tighe, creator of the “Saratoga in Decline” blog, who essentially lost his freedom in the process of exposing NXIVM.

Civil suits to follow? Maybe an indictment of Clare Bronfman (Bonnie to Raniere’s Clyde)?

Darth VanDouche - Chicken Shit
Darth VanDouche - Chicken Shit
5 years ago

Poetic irony.

VanDouche, the Bronfmans, etc., pushed to get Frank criminally indicted by the Federal government, and Frank wound up being one of the primary catalysts in getting VanDouche indicted by those same forces.

About the Author

Frank Parlato is an investigative journalist.

His work has been cited in hundreds of news outlets, like The New York Times, The Daily Mail, VICE News, CBS News, Fox News, New York Post, New York Daily News, Oxygen, Rolling Stone, People Magazine, The Sun, The Times of London, CBS Inside Edition, among many others in all five continents.

His work to expose and take down NXIVM is featured in books like “Captive” by Catherine Oxenberg, “Scarred” by Sarah Edmonson, “The Program” by Toni Natalie, and “NXIVM. La Secta Que Sedujo al Poder en México” by Juan Alberto Vasquez.

Parlato has been prominently featured on HBO’s docuseries “The Vow” and was the lead investigator and coordinating producer for Investigation Discovery’s “The Lost Women of NXIVM.” Parlato was also credited in the Starz docuseries "Seduced" for saving 'slave' women from being branded and escaping the sex-slave cult known as DOS.

Additionally, Parlato’s coverage of the group OneTaste, starting in 2018, helped spark an FBI investigation, which led to indictments of two of its leaders in 2023.

Parlato appeared on the Nancy Grace Show, Beyond the Headlines with Gretchen Carlson, Dr. Oz, American Greed, Dateline NBC, and NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt, where Parlato conducted the first-ever interview with Keith Raniere after his arrest. This was ironic, as many credit Parlato as one of the primary architects of his arrest and the cratering of the cult he founded.

Parlato is a consulting producer and appears in TNT's The Heiress and the Sex Cult, which premiered on May 22, 2022. Most recently, he consulted and appeared on Tubi's "Branded and Brainwashed: Inside NXIVM," which aired January, 2023.

IMDb — Frank Parlato

Contact Frank with tips or for help.
Phone / Text: (305) 783-7083
Email: frankreport76@gmail.com

Archives

2
0
Would love your thoughts, please comment.x
()
x