Clare Bronfman reportedly developing apartments in Encino – more likely liquidating assets to raise cash for lawyers

A Los Angeles real estate website called The Real Deal published an article: This Seagram heir tied to alleged cult is also an Encino resi developer
The pertinent part of the story for Frank Report readers is:
“Seagram beverage company heir Clare Bronfman wants to develop a 46-unit residential building in Encino, even as she fights criminal charges in federal court over her involvement in an alleged sex cult.
“An entity tied to Bronfman is seeking to build at 4717 N. Libbet Avenue. The five-story complex would have four units set aside for low-income renters. Parking for 60 cars would be located underground…
“Bronfman and her sister Sara Bronfman…bought the Encino property in February 2017 and then transferred it to an LLC owned by Clare Bronfman…”

***

I know about this property.  It was originally acquired by Precision Development LLC, in or around 2006 – using Bronfman funds but without Bronfman’s owning any part of Precision.

I acquired controlling ownership interest in Precision LLC for the Bronfmans in January 2008.  Therefore, the Bronfmans have had an ownership interest in the property on Libbet since 2008 and not, as the report says, since 2017.

They may have, over the years, transferred it to various shell companies making it appear that Clare just recently acquired this property. The transfer of property from one shell company to another may have been done to defraud creditors, cheat partners, or avoid paying taxes – all of which are well-worn pages in Keith Raniere’s Executive Success Programs playbook.

The Libbet property is one of the numerous properties in the Los Angeles area that Clare may have chosen not to disclose an ownership interest in when she submitted a financial affidavit to the court, prior to her bail hearing.

***

As for Libbet, it is a vacant lot – about an acre in size.  It has been vacant since at least 2007. There was an older building on it when it was first purchased by Precision and, if I recall correctly, it was demolished after Precision acquired the property in or about 2006.

Here is a brief report submitted to me by Yuri Plyam about the Libbet property on or about December 2007.

“4147 Libbit is [to be developed into] a 33 unit condo project south of Ventura Blvd. Immediate area consists of multi-million dollar homes. Samuel Jackson, John Travolta, David Hasselhoff, and Michael Jackson’s family all live in the immediate areas.

“There are a handful of condominium units south of Ventura Blvd. in Encino. The property has been appraised at $27,900,000 by Cathay Bank.  Purchased property for $6,600,000 and paid approx. $600,000 to improve thus far.

“Permit will be issued in 2 weeks. Completion is expected in 20 months. Construction cost and land should total approx. $16,000,000 in cost. Estimation of sale is approx. $26,500,000 for the entire project at completion. Each unit is approx. 1750-1850 square feet and has an appealing layout. Median condo price in the area (this is very exclusive part of the area) is approx. $433 per square foot.”

***

Aerial view of Libbet.

At the time of my securing controlling interest in Precision LLC for the Bronfmans, in January 2008, the approvals and permits for a 33- unit luxury condo project were already in place for the Libbet property (It had cost more than $1 million to secure those approvals and permits). The sit was “shovel-ready” – meaning that construction could have started at any time.

But Keith Raniere did not want to develop property. He was too busy suing enemies and trying to get them indicted. So, the Libbet property sat vacant for more than a decade — and, during that time, the approvals and permits expired.

I suspect that Clare Bronfman is not really interested in developing this property.

So, why go for municipal permits and other approvals now?  Because if she gets them – such as zoning, planning, environmental, etc. – she can sell the property to a developer as a “shovel ready” project  – which makes it worth more.

She may need the cash to fund the more than 20 criminal lawyers she’s believed to be paying for now – for herself and some, or all, of the NXIVM defendants.  More lawyers will be needed if more defendants are charged in an expected superseding indictment.

I believe Clare is highly motivated to pay for the NXIVM defendants’ attorneys – not because she’s generous – but to help ensure they don’t cave and take plea deals and testify against her and Raniere – something that is very likely to occur shortly after they are forced to take public defenders.

In the past, Clare Bronfman was never interested in building or developing anything. Her business was to help Raniere destroy people.  I know: I was one of them.

It is ironic. I got her and her sister ownership of this property – and I was planning to develop it with her as part of a partnership. Had she not turned against me and sought to imprison me, this would have been developed by now and she would have realized her share of more than $10 million in profits.

It is ironic. Her perjury-based criminal complaint in 2011 led to my indictment (.The Bronfman charges were dropped against me this year). Now, she is trying to do something with the property I acquired for her.

My guess is she will be using the proceeds of the sale of this property to pay for lawyers to prevent her from going to prison – a task she may very likely fail to accomplish.

 

About the author

Frank Parlato

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  • In this “Real Deal” (real estate pub) story on the Encino, CA property: it’s called a “multi-family” venture under development for, purportedly, “low-incoming” housing units. …Aww! …This would also be the first act of anything close to real, almost-charity even planned and, hastily, reported by the Bronfman sisters since joining NXIVM. Wonder what the tax cred is on a “plan” to develope “low income” units.

    …Or why Sara’s picture was used instead of Clare’s, when the “indicted” story subject is Clare not Sara…so far!

    https://therealdeal.com/la/2018/09/19/this-seagram-heir-tied-to-alleged-cult-is-also-an-encino-resi-developer/

    • In the UK, there’s not so much a tax benefit for including ‘low-income’ housing as a necessity. All the New builds, in central London,for example – southside of the Thames,( including the new US embassy site) MUST include a percentage (Approx. 30%?) of social housing in their planning apps. or they won’t get passed. There are many ways of circumventing this once planning permission is given, so it is in fact a scam, but it does allow property developers to include hefty dollops of ‘virtue signalling’ in their marketing strategies. Two, even one century ago, someone with the wealth of c.bronfman, might have built vast swathes of affordable housing for the working classes as did the Guinness, Peabody, Sutton and Cadbury families, most of these handsome, well appointed estates are still in use.

  • Still LMFAO about the lawsuit the B girls brought against Precision LLC. It cost the B girls about 12 million $$$ to do the lawsuit. The B girls won the first round with a 10 million $$$ settlement (now 2 million in the hole in legal fees) and lost all the $$$+++ the cost of an appeal.

  • The ugly feds put her in a place where she has to do things that she should not have to. She is a Bronfman a name revered in Canada and Israel. That they did this to her in America shows me what a rotten country this is. No justice.

    • Pea, people do not get revered for having a name or money they were born into, they are revered if they do something of value to others in their time on earth. You are confusing the fact that people are lusted after for their money And power. Fear is also a great motivator to pretend you like/love someone who holds power over you.
      I doubt this means anything to you . It’s difficult to tell if you were or are a cult member or playing a game here. Clare is not revered, she has held the power of financial survival over so many it may appear that what to her. They are all using each other. When you say an actual country revered her where are these Countries right now, and why not mention Mexico? All anyone wants from Clare Bronfman is her money plain and simple. Have you wondered at the sheer number of people from NXIVM that wish she would disappear off of the face of the earth or prison system.?
      She’s sitting in a luxury condo, allowed to leave her home more than a lot of normal people, they are doing her a huge favor by allowing her what is freedom compared to a 6×6 foot cell, shackles, abuse, personal danger. If your genuinely Nxivm are you another mid thirties woman losing her chance at a family and children as many others have. That’s a shame so many promised things they were never going to get.

  • “The five-story complex would have four units set aside for low-income renters”…Geeze, the woman has a heart of gold !

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: frankparlato@gmail.com

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