Another Order From Judge Garaufis = Another Bad Day For NXIVM
Right from the outset, it seems that Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis has understood just what Keith Raniere is all about.
One of the first things he did is order that Raniere be detained because he found that the prosecution had submitted credible testimony that there were no conditions that would reasonably assure Raniere’s appearance at trial or the safety of the community.
And it’s been pretty much downhill for Raniere from there.
Judge Garaufis has also had a very keen understanding of the woman that financed most of the illegal actions that were undertaken by Raniere and other members of the NXIVM cult: Clare Bronfman.
And yesterday, Judge Garaufis launched another torpedo that will help to sink both Raniere and Bronfman.
In another “sua sponte” Order that he issued yesterday, the judge has directed the defense attorneys to provide him with the names of everyone who has contributed to the Defense Trust Fund that Bronfman set up shortly before she was indicted.
Here’s the Order:
ORDER: Defendants are DIRECTED to submit to the court the names of any and all contributors to the Trust by no later than 12:00 P.M. on December 20, 2018. (See generally Gov’t Nov. 30, 2018 Letter (Dkt. [210]) at 2-3 (stating that an irrevocable trust, to which Defendant Clare Bronfman is the primary contributor, is paying the legal fees of the other Defendants and certain witnesses).) Having these names will help the court conduct the anticipated Curcio hearings properly. Defendants may submit these names ex parte and under seal. If Defendants are unable to ascertain and submit these names, they are to provide an explanation; the court will then take such further steps as are necessary to identify them. Ordered by Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis on 12/18/2018.
As usual, let’s try to parse through this Order – and figure out what it means.
To begin with, let’s start with the fact that the prosecution did not even ask the judge to issue such an order (I personally think they should have long ago asked for a full accounting of the trust – and a forensic accounting of the finances of Clare and her sister, Sara Bronfman-Igtet).
Next, let’s consider how much time the judge gave the defense attorneys to comply with his Order: i.e., until 12:00 Noon on Thursday, December 20th.
And lastly, let’s look at his two-pronged warning to the defense attorneys: (1) if they can’t supply all the names by his deadline, he wants an explanation as to why they couldn’t do so; and (2) if he doesn’t get the names from them, he’ll “…take such further steps as are necessary to identify…” all the donors.
So, the Cliff Notes version of Judge Garaufis’ Order is as follows: Give me the names of everyone who ever put a penny into this trust fund by Noon on Thursday or I’ll drag the Trustee in here and get those names from him.
Orders like this are meant to send a signal to attorneys that the judge is going to get what he’s asking for one way or another.
So, if you’re Marc Agnifilo – or one of the other members of the defendants’ “Scheme Team” – you now know that the judge is going to find out the names of every person and/or other entity that has put any money into the Defense Trust Fund.
And you’ve got to be thinking that after he gets those names, the judge is next going to ask for a list of every entity that has ever received any payments from the trust – and probably an accounting of exactly how much each of them received from the trust.
Viva Executive Success!
Frank Parlato 
Janine Morrison 
J.J. O'Hara 
Richard Luthmann 
Marie White 
Paul Serran
Please leave a comment: Your opinion is important to us!
I’m on the edge of my seat with Snorlax. Did they show promptly at high noon for the shootout? Please let us know who’s still standing when the smoke clears.
Marc Agnifilo, Raniere’s lead attorney, submitted the list of donors on time to Judge Garaufis but he did so ex parte – which means that the list was not shared with the prosecution or the general public. And, just to be clear, Agnifilo’s exact words were “…the names of all contributors to the Trust…” In other words, we now know for certain that people other than Clare have put money into the trust. We just don’t know the names – yet!
Alriiiight! Multiple trust funders —That’s enough to sleep on for tonight. Enough for a conspiracy, too. Thanks, FR. Have a good snore, Snorlax.
Frank, this deadline is passed, has there been anything determined?
Judges work in days and weeks, not minutes and hours.
Pee your rebuttal of post / comedic response has been missed. Waiting with popcorn to hear what you habe to say about the latest episode of KAR does MDC – crying style.
Where is your Masters nothing in the outside world can make you feel…..
It’s none of his business really and ceteinly not the prosecutions business. Stop this madness and fight for due process.
Oh Pea, I missed you. So good to see you here again.
It looks like it is the Judge’s business, and for very good reasons. The defendants whose legal bills are being paid, would have a powerful incentive not to go against their “benefactors.”
It IS the people’s business, Pea.
Transparency is ethical.
You claim to be ethical, right?
Clare was screwed the second the attorney who is Trustee admitted he didn’t actually control the Trust, since he could be replaced at her will.
If you want to use trusts to be secretive, you have to be smarter than that.
Will be very interesting to find out if any entities belonging to the Salinas family have contributed.
Other than that, I pretty much expect Clare and her own trusts to be the contributors.
She was probably trying to make it sounds like it wasn’t in fact set up to control her co-defendants and witnesses.
You’re not in Albany, anymore, and I don’t think Garaufis is going to be bought off or get duped into sleeping with a DOS slave so you can blackmail him.
I think it was smart to wait a while before asking for this information, as it will either expose that Clare is on her own in funding the defense for every defendant or she got some help along the way. We may never find out some of the other contributors, if there are any, but piles of cash given anonymously that can be traced to Mexico would make this bizarre case even more interesting.
On that note Scott – if the contributors are shared with the judge under seal, will the public ever know? I don’t recall if there is a limitation on sealed legal info.
The public may or may not eventually find out.