By Frank Parlato
“After nearly three years, federal prosecutors are dropping charges that Niagara Falls developer Frank Parlato Jr. stole $1 million from two heirs to the Seagrams liquor fortune.”
Read complete story in the Buffalo News
Parlato’s full statement below:
There are some other changes in the federal case [Western District of NY] against me. I am planning on reporting on those more fully at a later time.
Briefly, the prosecution has filed a superseding indictment against me, dropping the Bronfmans as victims but fabricating a false narrative – possibly to save face.
It’s as if a drop of blood and a knife were found on Tuesday, and Jerry is missing, so on Wednesday, Tom is indicted for Jerry’s murder; but on Thursday, Jerry shows up and is back home, safe and sound, untouched, and having returned from a holiday. Still, on Friday, the indictment for murdering Jerry still lingers on against Tom. That sums up this case.
This indictment was flawed from the beginning. The prosecution has now effectively admitted its mistake by dropping the Bronfmans as victims. I think they did that because of my reporting that led to the indictment of the sex slavery cult the Bronfmans support – and the resulting charges against Keith Raniere and others who had been plotting against me.
I am glad to have played a part, through my reporting, in bringing this criminal enterprise to justice. I have been credited by many organizations across the country with providing the information that led to the indictment against Raniere.
Now, back to my case: Once again, as with the Bronfman case, I’m innocent. I was in a fight for my very life with an unscrupulous minority-interest partner in One Niagara [Shmuel Shmueli] and I took all the precautions I could think of to protect my assets and the assets of One Niagara, a building I built up from nothing with scotch tape and band aids to make it what it is today – from his constant legal attacks.
I left my successors a business that continues to be successful. After 10 lawsuits which I and my partners won – Shmueli disappeared – admitting by his actions that he was wrong from the start.
The new indictment is still flawed even without the Bronfman piece. There are no victims, but only success stories, except for myself. I am the victim and I am left with this indictment, alleging I committed crimes that I did not.
This has now been going on for seven years. The original indictment is nearing three years old. I have been offered plea deals. I have declined them all. I will never admit to doing something I did not do.
The prosecution tried to gag me. They did not want me to tell my side of the story, and did not want me writing stories relating to their alleged “victims” – the Bronfman-led sex cult. Had I not fought back, Raniere and Bronfman would probably still be coercing, branding, blackmailing, and silencing women now.
I will continue to fight on to prove my innocence, just as I did with the Bronfmans – against a prosecution seemingly more concerned with convictions than justice.
Here is the superseding indictment: https://frankreport.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/2018-05-23-Indictment.pdf
Keep in mind if you read through it that the allegations of crimes are not crimes at all. This is a case where some of allegations are true but they are NOT criminal acts. They are all combined together to create a false narrative. What the prosecution did was omit all the qualifying facts that would demonstrably prove there was no crime committed. It is not illegal to wire money or collect a check, for example. Or to pay someone – even in cash. It is not illegal to have bank accounts or even lots of them. It is their tortured omission of all the qualifying facts that the prosecution allege makes it criminal.
I do understand the prosecution’s dilemma. They built a case around a star witness – Clare Bronfman. A very convincing liar. And she is now proven to be a very unsavory witness – the financier of a sex slavery cult. She is likely to be indicted herself. I tried repeatedly before I was indicted in 2015 to show the prosecution that the Bronfmans were the real criminals. I was ignored. As a result, women were branded and blackmailed.
I have been hounded by prosecutors – one in particular who retired right after my indictment – who did not care at all to do anything but get me.
There is an endemic problem with the DOJ and the FBI. I understand it. They cannot admit they are wrong. If they so admit being wrong – they lose their reputation as being infallible. This might make juries doubtful. They, therefore, have to win – even put innocent people in prison if need be – for the sake of their reputation.
Here is what one legal commentator who read the superseding indictment said:
“There’s a lot of “meat” (i.e., financial transactions) but very few “bones” (i.e., an explanation of why any of those transactions would be illegal).
“It looks to me like the Feds’ basic game plan is to make all sorts of allegations, offer “evidence” of a large number of high-value transactions, and hope the jury buys into the argument that all the bank accounts must mean you’ve done something wrong.
“They’re not charging you with tax evasion, but just with impeding the IRS by having all those bank accounts. It is not illegal to have bank accounts.
“Typical federal indictment. Full of over-blown and duplicative charges – and trumped up to put you at risk of a long-term sentence if you go to trial.
“PS. If they apply this same “logic” to NXIVM’s operations, the charges will be a hundred times greater. “
Here is an article about the superseding indictment in the Niagara Gazette [my competitors {I own the Niagara Falls Reporter] but pretty straight guys]:
http://www.niagara-gazette.com/news/local_news/parlato-facing-new-indictment/article_6b0bdc3a-3635-5869-b26a-ab845c17c5a7.html
Here is a partial list of media crediting me with helping bust the Bronfman-Raniere crime organization. Keep in mind that the government originally alleged that the Bronfmans were victims. I wonder what changed their minds.
- NY Times, October 17, 2017, reported ” many of Mr. Raniere’s followers learned of the secret society from a website run by a Buffalo-area businessman, Frank R. Parlato Jr. Mr. Parlato had been locked in a long legal battle with two sisters, Sara and Clare Bronfman, who are members of Nxivm and the daughters of Edgar Bronfman, the deceased chairman of Seagram Company.” https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/17/nyregion/nxivm-women-branded-albany.html
- NY Daily News: “Frank Parlato, an ex-NXIVM publicist turned whistleblower, was the first to write about the group on his website Artvoice, and he’s written extensively about it ever since. He told The News on Tuesday, that from where he stood, it looked like Mack’s strict rules to stay away from the rest of the group meant she’d go for a deal.” http://beta.nydailynews.com/entertainment/prosecutors-open-quickly-resolve-allison-mack-sex-cult-case-article-1.3951680
- Inside Edition reported that Parlato “has worked for years to document the inner workings of the group, which purports to be a self-help organization”.
- The Sun: “The cult is called DOS, believed to be short for “dominus obsequious sororium” – Latin for the “master over the slave women”, and is the dark side of so-called “self-help” group NXIVM, according to Parlato – who was the first to lift the the lid on the cult’s sordid activities on his website TheFrank Report.” https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/4875033/hollywood-actress-allison-mack-brainwashed-into-recruiting-up-to-25-women-into-the-terrifying-nxivm-slave-cult-where-they-are-beaten-and-branded/
- Daily Mail: “According to Frank Parlato, who first exposed Allison Mack as a member of Nxivm, the actress was a ‘pimp’ for Keith Raniere and was responsible for bringing young women to his ‘secret sex lair’, a two-floor house in Albany, New York with a huge bed and a hot tub.” http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-5652293/Who-Smallville-actress-Allison-Mack-Arrested-ex-cult-leader-revealed.html
- Oxygen: “Parlato — who owns the Niagara Falls Reporter and Buffalo’s alternative weekly, Artvoice — first revealed the group’s branding ritual in June 2017 on FrankReport.com, a blog dedicated to exposing Raniere and his alleged crimes.” http://www.oxygen.com/crime-time/frank-parlato-keith-raniere-sex-cult-NXIVM
- Heavy.com reported in October that “branding allegations published by the Times… first appeared online in June, when the anti-Raniere blog ‘The Frank Report’” launched its miniseries on human branding.”
- Fox News: http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2018/03/29/smallville-stars-used-by-alleged-cult-leader-to-recruit-women-witness-claims.html
- NY Post https://nypost.com/2018/03/28/alleged-sex-cult-leader-used-smallville-stars-to-recruit-women-witness/
- The Sun: The group’s former publicist Frank Parlato, who first exposed Mack to the world, said the actress acted like a “pimp” for Raniere – bringing a steady stream of young women to his “secret sex lair” – a two-level property walking distance from his home in Albany, New York, which contained a huge bed and a hot tub for sex sessions – which he called “a tune up” or “spiritual mentoring”. https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/6107956/inside-the-warped-world-of-hollywood-star-turned-accused-sex-trafficker-allison-mack-and-how-she-used-her-fame-to-lure-women-to-the-secret-sex-lair-of-cult-leader-she-loved/
- NY Post/Page Six: Oxenberg, 26, is finally off the cult’s restrictive, 800-calorie daily limit, and that could be why she’s looking well, according to Nxivm whistleblower Frank Parlato.https://pagesix.com/2018/04/28/alleged-slave-india-oxenberg-gets-off-sex-cults-diet/
- Newsweek: Recruiting celebrities and other well-heeled public figures was part of leaders’ strategy, former publicist and whistleblower Frank Parlato told Newsweek. Actresses have also spoken out about the recruitment methods, while Mack’s Twitter history shows her reaching out to famous female celebrities in an attempt to teach them about a “women’s empowerment” group. http://www.newsweek.com/roger-stone-nxivm-sex-cult-allison-mack-keith-raniere-907558
- Miami New Times: It’s not clear how closely the Rainbow schools are still linked with Raniere. The federal government has not alleged that the Rainbow schools, Perera, Sanz, or Pietra are in any way involved with Raniere’s alleged crimes as a cult leader. But Frank Parlato Jr., a former NXIVM spokesperson-turned-whistleblower credited with first raising concerns about NXIVM, says he believes the schools were a tool to help Raniere and NXIVM members “indoctrinate children” into the cult. http://www.miaminewtimes.com/news/alejandro-sanzs-wifes-miami-school-closed-by-state-tied-to-nxivm-sex-cult-founder-10295903 ]
- Fox News: “Kreuk had come first, sometime around late 2005, early 2006,” said Frank Parlato, who first broke the story, in June, of women being forcibly branded “ http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2018/03/29/smallville-stars-used-by-alleged-cult-leader-to-recruit-women-witness-claims.html
- Rolling Stone: Frank Parlato, NXIVM’s ex-publicist and a whistleblower, has stated that “Smallville” actress Allison Mack, 35, is “CC-1” and he believes that she will likely be arrested shortly. https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/news/nxivm-what-we-know-about-alleged-sex-trafficking-forced-labor-w518483
- Page Six: Frank Parlato, who once did p.r. for Nxivm before he started a Web site to expose the cult, told me, “India’s being tortured and being held there with blackmail. https://pagesix.com/2017/10/29/india-oxenbergs-dad-speaks-out-about-daughter-involved-in-cult/
- Vancouver Sun: Edmondson and the Vancouver chapter were particularly valuable to Nxivm, opening up pathways to Hollywood, and the social capital that celebrity could bring to the organization, said Frank Parlato, author of the blog the Frank Report, who first wrote about the brandings in June.http://vancouversun.com/news/b-c-actress-tells-of-her-descent-into-a-bizarre-group-and-ultimate-escape
- Vice: Former Nxivm publicist Frank Parlato was first to expose the alleged “sex cult” on his website before the New York Times picked up on the story last year. https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/kzxnqx/these-actresses-have-been-linked-to-an-alleged-sex-cult
- Fox News: As pressure on Raniere and NXIVM began to mount following the revelations of branding that were first exposed by Parlato and then in a lengthy piece in The New York Times last year, the alleged cult leader fled to a $10,000 a week villa inside a luxury gated community in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, sometime between late October and early November.http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2018/04/25/allison-mack-groomed-and-branded-slaves-for-alleged-cult-leader-at-her-home-sources-say.html
- New York Daily News: Frank Parlato, an ex-NXIVM publicist turned whistleblower, was the first to write about the group on his website Artvoice, and he’s written extensively about it ever since. http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/prosecutors-open-quickly-resolve-allison-mack-sex-cult-case-article-1.3951680
- Hollywood Life: Frank Parlato, the journalist who first published the horrors of NXIVM and used to work as the group’s publicist, tells HollywoodLife EXCLUSIVELY that Allison and India [Oxenberg] made a “pact” to stand up for Keith, even if it meant being put behind bars. http://hollywoodlife.com/2018/04/20/allison-mack-arrested-sex-cult-nxivm/
- http://www.oxygen.com/crime-time/frank-parlato-keith-raniere-sex-cult-NXIVM
- https://news.vice.com/en_us/article/435vnm/we-spoke-to-the-man-who-blew-the-whistle-on-the-alleged-sex-cult-inside-nxivm
- https://nypost.com/2018/03/28/alleged-sex-cult-leader-used-smallville-stars-to-recruit-women-witness/ Excerpt: “Kreuk had come first, sometime around late 2005, early 2006,” said Frank Parlato, who first broke the story, in June, of women being forcibly branded as part of the NXIVM “sorority.”
- http://people.com/crime/smallvilles-allison-mack-married-battlestar-galacticas-nicki-clyne-in-2017-prosecutors/ Journalist and blogger Frank Parlato says he worked for Nxivm between 2007 and 2008, but was never himself a member of the Upstate New York-based group. In recent years, Parlato has written more than 1,700 critical posts about Nxivm and Raniere on his website, and says he has been sued multiple times by the group, which he along with one former member describe as a “cult.”
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Frank Parlato 
Janine Morrison 
J.J. O'Hara 
Richard Luthmann 
Marie White 
Paul Serran
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Raising a glass to you right now in Sicily. “ Long Live Fearless Frank Parlatol” May you never encounter the likes of Ranciere and the Bronfman women again, although thank God you did. You set a fine example in this battle, galvanizing so much support with your courage and dangerous humor, I’m made up for you Frank, utterly fecking delighted!!
Thank you so much Mr Parlato, I know that you have suffered under Keith’s and the Bronfman Bitches too, you are one of the strongest men – and you did this to help people who are not as strong as you are. You could have won this without exposing the cult, but exposing them was an act of humanity which is a quality Keith and his oligarchy did their best to erase from his followers – especially the men among them..
Congratulations, Frank
Congrats Frank! Among all Keith’s teachings, he does NOT preach the consequences of putting his education into action.
Thank you.
Your work helped more people in more ways then you will ever begin to process.
THANK GOD
I hope this doesn’t actually go to trial, but if it does, I hope you stomp their butts.
Can anyone say, “malicious prosecution”??
This is AMAZING news and probably spells the end for Clare. The feds / authorities knew that Clare wouldn’t be a credible witness when she’s indicted for sex trafficking, fraud, immigration crimes, extortion, tax evasion and being an ugly, horrible, evil human being. She is really one of the worst people in this situation if not the worst. I hope she goes to jail for the rest of her life. By the way: Any know how many times Vanguard has dropped the soap in prison and regretted it so far?
So very ecstatic! – and the rest of the indictments should evaporate as well!
Thiege’s case next PLEASE!
CONGRATULATIONS! you’re an inspirationand it sounds to me like a lot of evil people never should’ve messed with you in the 1st place!! 🙂
AND DON’T GIVE UP!!!
Stick to your guns. I would always tell my clients, never plea if you are innocent. The facts will clear you.
HANG IN THERE FRANK!!!
CONGRATULATIONS FRANK!!!
GOOD JOB, Frank!
It’s amazing how you spin everything, every person charged with a crime always claims they are innocent. You are still being indicted for other serious crimes. Do you really believe you are a good person? Your reputation says otherwise.
Hi Nicki.
How are things after leaving Battlestar Galactica? You’re working for a restaurant now? Oh how the mighty have fallen.
Or is that Lauren?
How’s mama doing after her home was raided? The Feds removed enough evidence to fill a small dump truck.
Don’t worry. Soon all the anxiety will be gone…..and you’ll all be reunited at the women’s jail.
I’m betting that after a few weeks in jail you’ll all crack like an egg…..and turn against your Vanguard to lessen your time in that hellhole.
But either way, your fat slob of a leader will be going away for many years. 🙂
…And based upon his lack of toughness, I’m guessing that Vanguard will be grabbing his ankles and getting his butthole stretched out by Bubba and the other prison gang members. 🙂
Have a great day!
I have no ties to NXIVM or anyone associated with them. I am not easily manipulated like the rest of you. I do know that Mr. Parlato has helped to ruin lives with his lies and willingness to do Keith and Clare’s bidding. While he may have had a change of heart after he got indicted, it is too little too late. Don’t get me wrong I’m happy as a pig in sh*t that Keith is in jail and can’t wait for Clare to join him but I also think Mr. Parlato deserves the same government accommodations.
Don’t believe it. You’re a Nxivm shill of some stripe that’s for sure because only a Nxivm shill could describe a free and anonymous enterprise like the Frank report as ‘manipulation” still, a bit of whining and carping is to be expected as it’s not going so well for you atm, is it?
Believe what you will. It’s not surprising that you would think everyone is involved in NXIVM because for you and your friends that is the end all and be all to your small little lives. So sad and pathetic.
Just like Keith Raniere! Who is guilty as hell and will spend the rest of his life in jail! Woohoo!!!
Whoa, just back the FUCK off here. I’m willing to bet that Mr. Parlato is a better at being a ‘good person’ – w/e the heck that means – than you, whoever you are.
The feds love to over-charge and then negotiate from a position of strength. That’s why the vast majority of federal criminal cases end up with plea deals.
Unfortunately, many jurors believe that if someone is charged with 18 felonies, they must be guilty of something. And the penalty for having the audacity to go to trial is that the judge sentences you to the maximum possible penalty for whatever charge(s) you’re actually convicted of.
The American criminal justice system is indeed “criminal”. But it often does not produce “justice”.
Bronfman charges withdrawn.
The prosecutors should save the taxpayers some money and withdraw the structuring / tax-evasion charges too. They are unlikely to convince a jury that someone who keeps $1 million in escrow during the Bronfman charges is a big-league tax-evader.
Congratulations – I know you will be forthcoming when the time is right but I hope this superseding indictment results in a speedy trial in your favor. In the meantime, there is still work to be done and we need to make sure we snuff NXIVM to the ground.
Congrats.
Another executive failure for NXIDUMB.
Yes, yes, yes! Congratulations Frank! Those who care about you and the work that you have done and are continuing to do are very, very happy for you! GREAT NEWS!!!