NXIVM sex cult compares accused sex-trafficker Raniere to Christ crucified

He was your Vanguard - lest we forget.

The sex cult NXIVM – from their Mexican press office  – issued a social media statement in Spanish hinting that the arrest of leader Keith Raniere a/k/a The Vanguard, on sex trafficking charges, is much like the arrest and crucifixion of Jesus Christ.   Raniere is known to followers as Vanguard.

Their statement reads:

English translation:

The story is that more than 2,000 years ago – a day like today – Jesus the Nazarene was arrested, after having been betrayed by one of his own, and then crucified on the cross. How threatened could the people back then have been to do something like that? How much did they have to invent to justify his death? Today, in modern times, some things remain unchanged 😢 #somosmaslosbuenos [we are good] #amorenelmundo [love in the world] # ❤

 

A sketch of Keith Raniere in federal court in Texas. Raniere currently faces several federal charges, including sex trafficking.

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Frank Parlato

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  • https://www.timesunion.com/local/article/NXIVM-members-subpoenaed-in-criminal-probe-12796720.php

    Numerous people involved with NXIVM have been subpoenaed to testify before a federal grand jury in Brooklyn, and a criminal investigation of the Colonie-based organization is intensifying following last week’s arrest of its leader, Keith Raniere, according to three people with knowledge of the matter.

    The broader investigation is focusing on NXIVM’s finances, including allegations of money laundering and tax fraud that have been revealed in unrelated court filings through the years. Investigators with the Internal Revenue Service have joined the probe

    Justin Elliot, who became associated with NXIVM along with two of his brothers, Marc and Brian, are among those who have been subpoenaed to testify before the federal grand jury, according to two people with knowledge of the investigation. Justin Elliot has been a close aide to Salzman and other top NXIVM officials. Marc Elliot has given testimonials that treatment in NXIVM programs helped him overcome Tourette’s syndrome.

    Justin Elliot said “nope … nope” and hung up the phone when contacted for comment. Marc and Brian Elliot did not return telephone calls seeking comment.

    • Another tidbit from Times-Union: Nxians are theorizing that Raniere faked his own arrest to test their loyalty ! says:

      There have also been emergency group meetings with NXIVM, and many of Raniere’s supporters have floated a theory that the unfolding prosecution was set up by Raniere as a way to test their loyalty, according to a person briefed on one of those meetings.

    • I also heard the Elliott brothers were all subpoenaed. Apparently their stepmother may have mentioned it to a friend on Facebook of all places and it caught the attention of the right parties. It appears, Justin assumed the position of personal assistant to Nancy as previously it was Loreta Garza then possibly Monica Duran and then Samantha Le Baron. It is probably his car that has been in Nancy’d driveway coming and going along with another vehicle. We assume they are packing Nancy’s belongings up in case the house is seized.

      As previously reported last fall, one of the neighborhood watch committee reported seeing a young twenty something man sitting on Nancy’s front steps and also walking with her on various occasions. When I showed this person a picture of Justin we were able to confirm his identity.

      Brian is a top trainer/sales recruiter for NXIVM and as we all know now, instructs for the fake NXIVM University.

      Marc uses his public speaking on “over-coming” his Tourette’s as a recruitment technique and seems to be a mainstay of the NYC ESPIAN stonghold.

  • Update from La Presse in Montreal on Bronfman-Raniere-Canaprobe criminality -- Did Raniere target Trump? says:

    http://www.lapresse.ca/actualites/justice-et-faits-divers/201803/30/01-5159308-un-gourou-finance-par-une-heritiere-bronfman.php

    Canaprobe, a small private detective agency in Mascouche, has become the backbone of Sara and Clare Bronfman in their campaign to obtain confidential information about US judges, elected officials and journalists considered enemies of NXIVM.

    The company is owned by Richard Marier, a private detective who has been working in Montreal for decades.

    A lawsuit against him – launched because the Bronfman sisters were finally dissatisfied with the services rendered – unveils his role as a bloodfinder for NXIVM.

    2008-2009

    The two sisters are “worried about the possibility that some people” may “cause significant harm to their interests,” they say five years later in a court record. They therefore ask Canaprobe to “investigate individuals and obtain financial documents”.

    On the advice of an American acquaintance, Richard Marier, of Canaprobe, and Clare Bronfman enter into an agreement: the heiress will provide names, and the investigator will send him information on the bank accounts of the targeted individual and on the balance of these. The first two targets, according to Mr. Marier: Rick A. Ross, American specialist cults, and Joe O’Hara, former consultant NXIVM who had left the group.

    Canaprobe said it had sources that could obtain such information. To protect their exchanges, Clare Bronfman and Richard Marier place a lawyer as an intermediary to take advantage of his privilege: it is Me Reevin Pearl, paid “$ 1000 per hour” for all work done at his office and $ 10,000 for any “out of the office” work day, as per the contract signed by Ms. Bronfman. Me Pearl did not respond to an email that La Presse sent her.

    2010

    Inquiries by Clare Bronfman – directly or through a collaborator – are multiplying. “My sweet, I would say maybe a hundred” for the entire mandate, assessed Richard Marier in court documents. In a 2010 email from Clare Bronfman, the heiress asked for bank account verifications from seven US journalists, including three from the Times-Union who were investigating NXIVM. Politicians from New York State were also targeted, as was Roger Stone, a troubled figure in American politics known as Donald Trump.

    At other times in the business relationship, Canaprobe will also search the finances of US judges who have heard NXIVM lawsuits. The accounts of his father, Edgar Bronfman, and the World Jewish Congress interest him as well. The same year, she will have the accounts of the guru himself, Keith Raniere.

    2011

    This is the last year in which Canaprobe services will be retained. In all, the two Bronfman sisters will have donated more than 1 million CAN to Canaprobe. The only problem is that the “sources” Canaprobe used – a former Ontario policeman and his wife – had made it a specialty to counterfeit bank statements that falsely attributed millions of dollars to the individuals targeted by their investigations.

    In the spring of 2011, the two Bronfman sisters are in US court in a civil case involving one of the people Canaprobe investigated. They want to use a report. The firm objects, arguing that these were documents to be used for information purposes only. The firm claims to have informed the Bronfmans since 2009 of the accuracy problems in the reports produced by the Ontario couple. The two sisters deny this statement. That same year, the Toronto Star published an investigation into their actions.

    2014

    The former Ontario police officer and his wife – Cullen Johnson and Elaine White – are sentenced to five-and-a-half years in prison in the United States for embezzlement. The Bronfman sisters are suing Canaprobe for money paid over the years for bank checks.

    Clare Bronfman’s Quebec lawyer, Me Romy Proulx, of Stikeman Elliott, told La Presse that neither she nor her client was commenting on the case.

    Private detective Richard Marier did not want to comment on the case.

    “It’s too delicate and I was warned not to talk about all this. “

    • One thing I had always pondered about the Bronfman sisters is whether they would have been so sucked in by Raniere if their father’s family had been more inclusive with them. As far as I know, the half-siblings from their father’s first marriage have never had any interest in having anything to do with them.
      I presume the rest of the Bronfmans are unhappy about having their name dragged through the mud.

  • What is this I hear about the devout and a petition? About this whole thing being orchestrated by THE MESSIAH to test loyalty?

  • Mostly because it’s a way that a professional Republican rat-fucker like himself can slam a Democratic polotician, innthis case NY senator Kirsten Gillibrand.

    From Paste Magazine (who made the NXIVM – Knife of Aristotle connection mainstream:

    “1. Kirsten Gillibrand is the junior U.S. Senator from New York and a very likely 2020 presidential candidate.

    2. Her father, Doug Rutnik is an attorney and lobbyist.

    3. In 2004, Rutnik worked for a company call Nxivm, and Nxivm is an incredibly shady “self-help” company that, when looked at closely, may have seemed like a cult.

    4. That’s by 2004 standards, by the way—as Ben-Mathis Lilly pointed out at Slate, Forbes and UPI had already called the place a “cult” and a “pyramid scheme.” Rutnik has no claim to ignorance.

    5. He worked with them for a few months in his capacity as a lobbyist for four months, taking in $100,000. Hiring prominent lobbyists was part of the company’s MO, and their roster once included Roger Stone. Per an anonymous source in the NYPost, Rutnik was sued when he left, and had to pay the money back in full and sign a confidentiality agreement.

    6. Earlier this week, the founder of Nxivm, Keith Raniere, was arrested by the FBI in Mexico. It’s ugly stuff—not only was he running a virtual cult, but he “financially coerced” and “blackmailed” women into becoming “sex slaves.” He’s charged with sex trafficking, and some of the women were made to get actual brands with his initials on their bodies, and to go on crash diets to conform to his physical preferences. Several celebrities were involved, including the Bronfman daughters and Smallville’s Allison Mack.

    7. In true “Pizzagate” fashion, Republicans are trying to make hay of this very tenuous connection to damage Gillibrand. Her no-chance-in-hell Republican opponent in the upcoming 2018 Senate election, Chele Farley, is demanding she answer for her father’s involvement with Nxivum. “For Kirsten Gillibrand, the self-proclaimed #MeToo Senator, to claim ignorance about a notorious sex-slave cult, in her own backyard, is simply hard to believe,” she said.

    8. Republican media, knowing a good smear when they see one, has picked up the story in an attempt to give it some traction. The Gillibrand-Nxivm connection may, in fact, seems to have been broken by the NYPost, and then amplified by a conservative propaganda outlet in early March, before Raniere was even arrested.

    9. Thus far, Gillibrand’s only response has been through a spokesperson, and that was back in November when the story was first unearthed: “Senator Gillibrand had never heard of this group until she recently read about them in the newspaper. She is glad that federal and state prosecutors have taken action in this case.”

    https://www.pastemagazine.com/articles/2018/03/what-we-can-learn-about-the-ludicrous-kirsten-gill.html

    Note that Roger Stone also was at least briefly paid by NXIVM.

  • Richard Branson has taken a beating in the press being associated with NXIVM repeatedly.

    It was not long after my exposure to NXIVM that I heard all about how Richard Branson was doing an intensive on the Bronfman’s private island… I just thought “hmph” when I saw pictures of Sara Bronfman with Brandon on Necker Island. The staff must have been confused about the location even though this was relayed by someone who actually went on the private jet to go down there for it.

    Then I see:
    According to a Virgin Management spokesperson, “Sir Richard Branson has never heard of Keith Raniere, he has never met him and there is no association between Sir Richard and the NXIVM group. Necker Island is available for hire by members of the public and Sara Bronfman hired Necker Island several years ago. Sir Richard believed the booking was for Sara Bronfman’s family and friends.The booking was not in the NXIVM name and Raniere was not listed as a guest on the island.”
    https://www.thedailybeast.com/the-hollywood-followers-of-nxivm-a-women-branding-sex-cult

    They have been using Branson’s name ever since that island rental as part of their sales pitches. I don’t know why on earth I feel so surprised at anyone in NXIVM going so far beyond intentionally misleading to blatantly dishonest.

    • Sara Bronfman never stops tweeting. And still tweets as if everything is normal. She often retweets Branson, with a shoutout to him (@) and some substanceless comment and emoji. Branson never acknowledges her.

  • What will it take for these zombies to wake up?

    I guess part of being brainwashed is not knowing you are brainwashed.

  • So let us hope god will do a better job in protection his own son this time. It would be a shame if the most ethical human being would be lost again. Maybe this is the return of Jesus and we will see Judgment Day come. Let us hope the Pope intervenes and saves us all by doing so.

    • If they would like to see him literally nailed to a cross- who would complain? A little Easter reinactment using real nails….?
      I think that would be a great idea!

  • The story is gaining major traction. Seeing random people post articles about it, stunned. Wait till people start to find out how deep the corruption goes.

      • He certainly ruined a legitimate, established company, Purchase Power, Inc. Outrageously overcharged for memberships that should have cost $20 annually, max (Consumer’s Buyline), and tried to take control of it. And I hear there is quite a bit more of which I’ve heard, but have no direct knowledge.

  • Happy Easter, y’all. I think Jesus would approve of R’s bullshit and abuse being STOPPED! Now and forever, Amen!

    • All of these celebrity “victims” and their families are too good for plain, Biblical Christianity. The super-rich need a place to put their wealth. They found one.

  • Head of (long-closed) Tacoma NXIVM center Susan Dones says Allison Mack will be next arrest says:

    http://hollywoodlife.com/2018/03/29/nxivm-cult-member-interview-allison-mack-arrest/

    “It’s a huge relief, but I don’t believe [Raniere is] the only one that will be arrested. In the complaint, they refer to two co-conspirators, and I believe Allison Mack is conspirator number one. From what I’ve heard from the people that have been involved in DOS and have now left, is that Keith was at the top and Allison was his top madam. She was referred to as ‘the madam’ and had a pyramid of masters and slaves,” Susan [Dones] revealed. “I was told she loved to be called madam.”

    “I watched the video of the raid that happened in Mexico and I was shocked by how much Allison has changed. I didn’t even recognize her at first, she just looks so terrible. Dazed, confused, and very thin. I expect she’ll be arrested next,” [Dones] added.

    “Shortly after I left NXIVM, I was made aware that the New York Attorney General wanted to talk to me and a few other people about the illegal stuff that had been happening. And this was years ago. We thought something would come out of that and nothing did.”

    Susan believes the media’s coverage of the sex cult, which included a 20/20 report and segment on Dr. Oz, really helped give its victims the national attention they deserved. However, it was when Dynasty actress, Catherine Oxenberg, finally spoke out in Oct. 2017 that the story really went viral. Catherine claimed that her 26-year-old daughter, India, had been taken by the group, and issued a public plea for help in her safe return.

    “By then, it could no longer be ignored,” Susan explains to HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY.

    • CC-2 is identified in the warrant as Keith’s co-founder of ‘The Delegates’. In earlier FrankReports, Parlato has stated that the Delegates is India Oxenberg’s business.

      Thankfully her slave, Jane Doe 2, managed to flee after being told she was to seduce Raniere, which will probably work in Oxenberg’s favour with respect to future indictments.

  • What amazes me as that to this day they’ve stuck to a narrative that there is some coordinated effort or grand conspiracy to bring down this organization and the blackhead at the top.

    How do they miss the fact that this is a growing number of broken individuals all looking to heal? The combined willpower of that alone is what has propelled this forward.

    There is nothing special about this man. There is nothing to fear in this man. He is small and powerless.

    And now, higher powers willing, he’ll pay dearly for the trail of broken souls he’s left in the wake of his perverted world view.

  • yes. The story is that 5 days ago – on a day like today – Keith Raniere The Vanguard was arrested, after having been initially charged with human sex trafficking “As alleged, Keith Raniere displayed a disgusting abuse of power in his efforts to denigrate and manipulate women he considered his sex slaves,” How threatened must the people have been to do something like that? Very. Very threatened indeed. How much did they have to invent to justify his death? Nothing. Nada. For there are mountains of evidence. Today in modern times..lorem ipsum lorem ipsum etc. hashtag weareblameless

  • Raniere does have something in common with Jesus: they both have a habit of disappearing for days, leaving their followers wondering if they’ll ever see them again.

  • So does this mean the Federal government should crucify VanDouche and we can watch him rise from the dead after three days time?

    Jesus spent his time serving God and was with the poor, downtrodden, underprivileged, less fortunate, etc.

    He wasn’t spending his time statutorily raping teenagers, losing $150 million on gambling, failed investments, and harassment through litigation, charging exorbitant fees for classes that supposedly teach ethics, or being sexually served, driven around, fed, and taken care of by his minions in Albany, a $10,000 a week villa in Mexico, or wherever.

    • http://www.emilianosalinas.mx/2017/10/18/las-recientes-notas-prensa/

      On October 18, The New York Times published a story that links, without foundation, Executive Success Programs (ESP), a company that I lead in its Mexico chapter, with allegedly recent events in the United States.

      Although my name does not appear in the aforementioned article, nor is there a link with what I do in Mexico, there were some who, in social networks and taking advantage of the resonance in my country of my paternal surname, tried to link me personally and directly, confusing public opinion with it.

      For this reason, it is very important for me to point out the following:
      1) I categorically reject any accusation made about myself, the programs we offer in Mexico and the institution that I am honored to direct, with respect to the facts that are referred to in the article of said media.
      2) Condemn and reject personally, and through all the associations of which I form and have been a part, any form of violence, submission, intimidation, pressure or abuse against any person, especially women.
      3) Never, under any circumstance, has any of our clients been coerced, pressured or forced to do anything against their will.

      For more than 15 years, I have been part, facilitator and administrator of ESP Mexico. In this period of time, more than 16,000 people, from 30 countries, have participated in our programs with a remarkable degree of satisfaction.

      I keep with particular pride hundreds of personal testimonies and surveys that show, convincingly, the operation and the gratitude of the vast majority of our clients. More important to me, we have been able to see, together, that our tools, educational programs, corporate training and coaching work and help many people achieve their life goals and overcome challenges.

      On numerous occasions, through these same tools and at no cost, we have helped victims of violence, kidnappings, abuses and personal tragedies to get ahead.

      This is a core commitment of ESP Mexico; that’s how it has been and will be for me.

      My work is public and numerous texts have been published in well-known media and testimonies on social networks. It has never been a “secret”, for me, or for the hundreds or thousands of clients with whom I had the privilege of interacting personally (many of them, friends whom I continue to frequent).

      -Emiliano Salinas

  • Oh yeah, Keith an unethical conman power rapist is just like Jesus. How can Raniere’s followers say this with a straight face?

  • Jesus talked about relevant things. Raniere just rambles on about meaningless observations.

    Imagine Raniere’s deep, spiritual observations about being arrested: “I was sitting in the back of a police vehicle. Under arrest. I needed to piss but had to hold it in. But then I thought, why do humans not simply piss themselves? And why would I care if I pissed on the police vehicle. And so, as the vehicle is taking me to a jail, I am not thinking about my freedom or the charges against me, I am debating with my inner self the question of should I piss or not. And somewhere deep in my psyche, there are life experiences and thoughts and convictions that will ultimately determine if I piss in the police vehicle or do not piss in it.

    In many ways, the choice I make to piss in the vehicle or not would be determined by others and not myself. So many of our choices are really not our choices. Had I seen something or heard something in my life experiences as a sentient being, that would make me choose to piss or not to piss?”

  • I live in Monterrey and personally know some of the individuals mentioned in this blog. It is amazing how Raniere and his friends succeeded in brainwashing and manipulating all these individuals. One needs to be very naive not only to believe all their twisted theories and “proven” principles but also very stupid to spend even a dollar in their self-improvement seminars.

    Just watch any of Raniere videos and you can see how manipulative this guy really is. It’s hard to believe how could any of his victims fell for all this mountain of horse manure.

  • Interesting. “after having been betrayed by one of his own” this reference to Judas seems to imply Keith’s harem had a traitor in their midst. This adds credence to my idea there was indeed an informer present at the Mexico bolthole; someone who aided the authorities track Keith down, not to mention ready to video the forseen moment of arrest. If so, hope she’s not in danger now.

    • They could just as easily be referring to Sarah Edmonton. Though I would hope there are more people seeing the light and helping the authorities.

  • Wait, so Jesus Christ also raped children? And he also branded women to mark them as slaves? And he was a fan of pyramid schemes and word salads? I’m learning so much.

    More seriously, Mexico is very Catholic. The cultists argument will not hold so sway there, though it may be enough sway to persuade the already brainwashed.

  • Seriously delusional. Pretty sure Jesus didn’t charge $$$$$ for his teachings and quite positive he didn’t have a sick fetish about destroying the self esteem of women. With utmost respect to Keith (and I’ve met him many times), he’s a coward, manipulator and the least principled person you’d ever meet (unless that principle is serving himself).

  • Is anything ever going to happen to all the local law enforcement official who got bought off or scared off by Raniere? How about Albany County DA David Soares? Saratoga County DA Karen Heggen? Albany City Judge Holly Trexler? NYS Police Superintendent George Beach? NYS Police Special Investigator Rodger Kirsopp? Is anyone going to prosecute them?

    • Let’s not forget NXIVM old law firm and Pam Nicolas Pamela A. Nichols and Stephen R. Coffey of O’Connell & Aronowitz. Pamela Nichols is rumored to have gone to Canada with Clare Bronfrom to deal with the company who illegally got all the financial records of all those judges and others. Wonder if Pamela has some emails she might be worried about the FEDS looking at?

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.” In addition, he was credited in the Starz docuseries 'Seduced' for saving 'slave' women from being branded and escaping the sex-slave cult known as DOS.

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 premieres on May 22, 2022.

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

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