Heidi recalls Clare and Del Negro at Bronfman’s Los Angeles trial

Head of the Society of Protectors James Del Negro

By Heidi Hutchinson

I was at the Precision (Bronfman) vs. Plyam trial in 2011 taking daily notes that were passed on to Edgar Bronfman Sr.’s advisers ahead of the transcript records, which were also obtained and passed on when available.

I saw and heard Clare Bronfman and other NX-ers – such as Jim Del Negro’s testimony and formed the opinion that concerning Frank Parlato, although not entirely innocent of any self-serving motives, he would surely become their next major scapegoat.

It seemed the seeds of Frank’s demise were already being planted during the Precision trial — NX style. It’s all buried in the transcript records but being there, seeing the body language, the sidebars, the “EM’s” and “intensives” Clare was getting in the hallways, etc. spoke volumes more.

James Del Negro, for instance, testified to being corrupted and “raped” by a petite 19-year-old with a newborn infant at, basically, Frank’s behest.

Frank’s crew, which included Del Negro, were also accused from the witness stand of lavish spending, boozing and whoring it up on Clare’s dime in 2008 while in LA investigating the real estate properties, etc.

Meanwhile, Del Negro appeared at least “tipsy” for the duration of the 2011 Precision trial.

The biggest clue was when Clare did a 180 on Frank — at first playing the “heiress in distress” – she claiming Frank heroically rescued her from their crooked, LA investment partners, the Plyam’s — then suddenly disassociating herself and NX from Frank, announcing her intent to sue him, almost reassuring jurors that Frank would be punished for whatever pain the Plyam’s suffered while, IMO, being framed themselves for the tragic loss of Clare and Sara’s fortunes to that point.

This cannibalistic pattern of recruiting contractors like Frank to go after “enemies” — often prior “contractors” who may have fallen out of favor with Keith only because a scapegoat was needed — is repeated so often in NX’s history it’s become part of their Modus Operendi.

Both Jeffrey Peterson and Dennis Burke best take note of this, BTW, if you haven’t already. It appears to me that you’ve both been cast in starring roles in the NX playbook — only in the Mexican version the bit players aren’t fake gangsters, they’re real desperadoes.

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  • ‘6’3″ inch, 200 lbs, Jim Del Negro claimed to have been sexually assaulted by a 5′ tall, 100 lbs teenage girl.’

  • I read the transcripts for Jim’s testimony, and he was pretty much just being himself.
    I don’t know if he was that dingy before the soy or not, but he has always clearly been way over his head in this crew, and I am quite sure he’s been set up to take the fall on quite a few financial crimes. It doesn’t surprise me at all that he doesn’t know how many companies or what checks he has signed for them.

    • Appreciate your compassion, Just.

      The fact that Jim Del Negro apparently holds title to some of the LA properties and/or the Precision Properties Company, whether he knows it or not, does also suggest to me he’s ripe for NX-style scapegoating. Jim might have been another scapegoat “placeholder” in case anyone noticed the Bronfman sisters LA properties have been poorly mismanaged ever since the gent Jim joined the #metoo movement as a sex assault victim along Nancy Salzman who started the movement by accusing Senator Gillibrand’s dad of sexual harassment, etc.

      But, c’mon, Jim’s a big boy. He knows the difference between rape and horny. And he’s always got his mommy Esther Chappione who took him back into her folds despite his LA dalliance, to explain to him what he owns or not and what he needs to own up to to get his balls back someday.

      Also, it occurs to me that Jim’s position represents how NX was able to manipulate with false promises of ownership in properties they never intended to keep when they could always just accuse partners of wrongdoing, have Clare sue or even get an indictment and thereby reneg.

      • I don’t have any compassion for him. I used to, but not anymore. Especially not since some aspects of his true character have been made quite clear.
        Jim being way in over his head is more of just an observation than compassion.
        Saying he was raped is as utterly ridiculous as anyone claiming him raped someone.
        As much as I accuse him of being a “true believer”, his greed has gotten him into this situation, too. I remember him telling me how going to LA could be his big break.
        Then again, he thought the same thing when he was bragging about getting on Clare’s private jet to a private island for the Branson intensive.

        • That’s just it! Seems they had everyone anticipating that “big break” in Hollywood or somehow, circling among the rich and famous and powerful. I remember Keith tried to use me that way on both sides of it — I was already an example of some “executive success” Keith took credit for and, if I joined ESP we could produce the Keith movie with Gina, my ex and financing Keith had access to, etc. Sometimes I wonder if Gina would still be alive if I’d gone for it. Maybe shoulda taken the red pill instead of the blue one — if you saw the Matrix.

          • It’s natural to wonder about those sort of things…..
            It’s not your fault.
            I hope you are kind to yourself.

  • Edgar Bronfman Sr. Interfered with that deal. Keith has an excellent plan and Bronfman Sr. Corrupted Yuri and Frank and they went to his dark side. That’s why the problems started. Frank was corrupted by the Illuminati and Edgar was behind it. I got this right from Nancy herself.

  • I thought Keith introduced the Bronfman sisters to Yuri Plyam?
    I think the LA land development was Keith round two to extract money from the Bronfman sisters. He couldn’t use the commodity trading story a second time.
    Perhaps there was infighting between Keith and Yuri which led to hiring Frank to save the day and in turn he later turned on Frank

    Every relationship Keith had that involved large amounts of cash seems to have led to a lawsuit.

    Keith suffers from extreme greed and many sexual crimes. I also suspect murderous contracts.

    • Merry Christmas, Anon. Here’s what I know:

      Barbara Bouchey found Yuri Plyam, a licensed commodities broker in Los Angeles, CA. I don’t remember the date Yuri was hired offhand but believe it was after Keith lost $1M or so of Barbara’s own money or, some say, money she’d earned as the Bronfman sister’s accountant after joining NXIVM. At nearly 40 years old, however, Barbara was already a very successul financial manager in the Albany area. Barbara was referred to NX by Nancy Salzman in about 2000, a year or so after officially starting ESP, later NXIVM, with Keith. Nancy was Barbara’s “psychologist” or therapist for over a decade prior. Keith seduced Barbara or “they fell in love” rather, overnight. Barbara believed Keith was in love and that they had an exclusive, more or less, romantic relationship until 2009 when Barbara left with the “NXIVM 9.”

      Keith called the shots on the trades, per Barbara, but Keith didn’t have a brokers’ license. Yuri and Keith became phone buddies as Keith blew through upwards of 65M loaned to him by the Bronfman sisters in market trades. Keith boasted with Yuri about his abundant sex life saying he enjoyed a different bed every night. Yuri and his gorgeous wife, Natalie, eventually met the Bronfman sisters and joined NXIVM. The Bronfman sisters and Nancy toured LA with the Plyams, selecting some of the LA properties but at trial it was said the Bronfman girls were more interested in playing with the Plyam’s little girls at their home. Nancy Salzman was the officially Bronfman sisters’ partner in the real estate ventures. Properties were purchased in Nancy’s name and some in the Plyam’s name that the Plyam’s were to retain in compensation for running Precision Properties. There were some properties the Plyam’s testified Keith and Nancy agreed to hold in the Plyam’s name for ease of obtaining development loans in LA. Initially, none were in the Bronfman sisters’ names though they were financing the entire project. Some of the commodities losses on the money loaned from the Bronfman’s were happening pretty much simultaneous to the real estate project development. Clare testified that the commodities losses occurred because according to Keith, a big, bad Jew in New York — Edgar Bronfman Sr. — was deliberately betting against Keith. Much was made of the commissions Yuri was making due to the frequency of Keith’s trades (fee churning accusations) even though that was not an issue at trial and, again, Yuri wasn’t calling the shots, Keith was. The Plyam’s lost at trial but won on appeal. Today, the Precision properties and company are in Clare Bronfman and James Del Negro’s names. Clare did not disclose these properties on her assets list submitted to the court at her bail hearing as FR reported previously.

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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