PHILADELPHIA, PA January 28, 2020 — 80 individuals filed a lawsuit in federal court in Brooklyn today against the former leaders of the purported self-improvement company NXIVM.
The lawsuit seeks compensation from NXIVM founder Keith Raniere and members of his “Inner Circle,” including heiresses Clare Bronfman and Sara Bronfman and actresses Alison Mack and Nicki Clyne, for fraud, forced labor, human trafficking and for conducting unlawful medical experiments.
The complaint alleges that the defendants peddled an inherently risky “pseudo-scientific hodgepodge of psychotherapeutic methods” as expensive self-improvement courses, taken by thousands of unsuspecting people, many of whom lost their life savings and were severely traumatized by the process.
“NXIVM preyed on earnest, intelligent people who wanted to better themselves and the world through what they thought to be a humanitarian undertaking of unprecedented scope,” said Neil Glazer of Kohn, Swift & Graf, P.C., one of the law firms representing the plaintiffs in the lawsuit.
The lawsuit also alleges that the defendants pressured students to plunge more deeply into teachings that, over time, radically reframed gender roles and relations.
According to the complaint, NXIVM’s curriculum became increasingly misogynistic, teaching that women were inherently weak and untrustworthy, and that to become stronger and more empowered they first had to experience extreme humiliation and degradation.
“Defendants systematically stripped women of their self-esteem, and those who fit certain criteria were then groomed to become
Raniere’s sexual partners,” said Glazer. “Through an insidious process of slow, subtle indoctrination and manipulation, NXIVM’s leaders drew ever closer to its Albany headquarters those students who had become most vulnerable to defendants’ abusive and coercive methods.”
The lawsuit further alleges that the defendants employed fear tactics to suppress internal dissent, prevent defections and intimidate those who left into keeping silent.
According to the complaint, sisters Clare and Sara Bronfman spent millions of dollars bankrolling campaigns of vexatious litigation against NXIVM’s perceived enemies, including lodging false criminal complaints and having lawyers send letters threatening lawsuits and criminal prosecution to the women who were leaving “DOS,” the so-called “master-slave” group that Raniere created and secretly ran.
“Nobody should ever feel afraid to come forward after being victimized. We should have zero tolerance for that,” said Glazer.
The lawsuit, captioned Sarah Edmondson, et al. v. Keith Raniere, et al., was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York, and asserts claims against Keith Raniere, Nancy Salzman, Clare Bronfman, Sara Bronfman, Lauren Salzman, Alison Mack and others.
To access a copy of the complaint, or go to https://www.kohnswift.com/
In addition to the above-named defendants, the lawsuit also is against,
KATHY RUSSELL;
KAREN UNTERREINER;
DR. BRANDON PORTER;
DR. DANIELLE ROBERTS;
DANIELLA PADILLA BERGERON;
ROSA LAURA JUNCO; LORETA J. GARZA;
DAVILA; MONICA DURAN; NICKI CLYNE;
NXIVM CORPORATION;
EXECUTIVE SUCCESS PROGRAMS, INC.;
ETHICAL SCIENCE FOUNDATION; and
FIRST PRINCIPLES.
Joining Glazer for the plaintiffs are attorneys, Neil L. Glazer
William E. Hoese
Steven M. Steingard
Stephen H. Schwartz
Craig W. Hillwig
Zahra R. Dean
Aarthi Manohar
KOHN, SWIFT & GRAF, P.C.
Aitan D. Goelman
ZUCKERMAN SPAEDER
[…] was already named as a defendant in the civil lawsuit that was filed in the EDNY by eighty […]
[…] is a defendant in a lawsuit brought by some 80 former Nxivm members against Raniere and his “inner circle.” That […]
GREAT BALLS OF FIRE….. KARMA IS BEST SERVED BY THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF NY..!
Marc Agnifilo, Raniere’s lawyer, said in a statement:
“The recently filed civil suit shows that several of the plaintiffs who appeared as witnesses at the criminal trial were less than candid when they testified under oath they were not going to sue raniere. Clearly, these people were motivated by money, a motivation the jury should have known. This will be one of several issues we will raise in court,” Marc Agnifilo, Raniere’s lawyer, said in a statement.
https://www.etonline.com/allison-mack-accused-of-targeting-sororities-coercing-recruits-in-new-nxivm-lawsuit-140591
1.) Clare and Thief Keith filed criminal charges against people and never won. We the People of the State of NY pushed back and did what the 2 corrupt ones could not do, that is, put someone in the clink, the big house, club fed, max security…..that someone is now them.
2.) C & Thief (dumb dunce duo) have as a point of their civil defense that the witnesses lied under oath about suing the defendants. Well what do you know? Turn about is fair play.
Clare lied under oath and is now getting Karma served by We the People. Same for Keith who lied every other time he opened his mouth.
3.) They sued people who were not convicted of crimes and lost. They are convicted and now are sued and will lose. They will be out done by the people again.
4.) Thief Keith controlled the eats of his slaves but stuffed himself and was “too busy making the world more ethical” to work out. He blamed anyone over 107#s for turning him into a limp pimp and oinked at them when they opened the refrigerator to get their dish of pre-prepared vegtables.
Well now his slaves have turned the dinner tables and the prison kitchen and commissary will tell the limp one what he can and cannot eat. Oh, and no sleeping all day eating at night. No, he will have to eat his meals to the light of day.
5.) Control. The smartest man was always right, anyone else, no. It was his way or the highway to litigation.
Well the people now have the ultimate control through the FDC and trying to control staff and inmates in prison will get him the hole, which he has already experienced which means he now gets punished for “ethical breeches.”
6.) GREAT BALLS OF FIRE! KARMA AT IT’S FINEST…!!!!
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/29/nyregion/nxivm-lawsuit-keith-raniere.html
That’s a great article, thanks for the link. It does a good job of providing some background on how people get into high control groups or cults, obviously written by a someone who has taken the time to understand such things (something found in few news sources besides th Times, Vanity Fair, and a couple of others). It gives the example of one of the plaintiffs, who I don’t think we’ve seen named before – and shows, bizarrely, that it wasn’t just the inner circle who were being told to forego cancer treatments and resign themselves to dying:
‘“They get you to not trust your own decision-making process,” said one former member, Sally Brink, who said she paid $145,000 to take Nxivm classes over the years. “They tell you that you need them to make decisions. You start to doubt everything.”
….
Ms. Brink, 47, said in an interview that she was introduced to the group in her late 20s. She was struggling as the new co-owner of a restaurant in a Vermont college town, weighed down by 18-hour days.
Her college roommate recommended turning her life around through Nxivm, pitching it as a class that helped entrepreneurs reach their goals. The roommate told her the program had been developed by a brilliant thinker named Keith Raniere.
Ms. Brink flew to Los Angeles in 2004 for a five-day course, hosted at a home in the Hollywood Hills. At first, she found the teachings to be profound. Her relationships with her employees and her family improved.
More than a decade later, however, Ms. Brink was fighting to escape. The worst moment came in 2017, she said, when she was diagnosed with breast cancer. Nxivm associates told her that she had given herself the disease to get her husband’s attention. Instead of spending the money she had raised online for treatment, they urged her to make the ethical decision to die, she added.’
When it came her turn, Nancy Salzman apparently decided not to make the sort of ‘ethical decision’ she must have been promoting. This is pretty shocking, and I wonder if there are cases of members outside the inner circle who died due to following NXIVM’s teachings.
Means girls and Spankyspermtalker don’t care….It’s Kristin,she is the master mind!!! It was the female lead in Smallville first, and now she has mind controlled the whole court system to sue everyone accept her, even though she was not charged or investigated for anything !!! She is gonna rule the world!!! Now let’s attack SOS for fun with 10 articles!!! Poor Mean girls and Spankyspermtalker…stuck in their sad Kristin bash fest.
Forever..lol
Meanwhile the lovely Kristin continues to live a happy successful life.
I strongly urge anyone who was damaged by these NXIVM gangsters to contact Neil Glazer for vindication.
He can and will add you to the lawsuit while keeping your name anonymous.
Maybe this will tempt Clare to get out of Dodge.
I’m kinda like wtf with Toni.
Toni makes a lot of sense; he harassed her for years and got someone to steal her mail, which is just one example, but um that’s a federal offense.
I’m interested to see how this will be defended. And if there are assets to collect. Most large sums are probably in a trust somewhere.
And I also wonder who will pay for the defense.
Was anyone served yet?
Clare Bronfman seems to have somewhere near $100 million in assets left in New York – and that’s not including her Island in Fiji and possibly other assets as well. Her sister Sara probably has more liquid assets left, but those have likely been moved where they would be harder to attach, though we’ll have to see about that; plus she seems to have some remaining property assets in the US, like her interest in the NXIVM building, which I think we’ll see subject to some injunction preventing it paid out while claims from various parties (possibly including the IRS and DHS/Customs) are prosecuted.
As I’ve mentioned in the past, one of the things that I’ve seen some reference to but that remains unclear, is that the Bronfmans may be the beneficiaries of large old restricted trusts that may well be based outside the US, and would typically be designed to be judgment-proof anyway. Heirs get only the income from such trusts, and even that flow of money is set up so that it can’t be attached by creditors – the standard mechanism for that is that in case of judgments, the trustees just take over paying all the trust beneficiaries’ bills such as rent and credit card purchases, plus now that it’s possible to get cash advances on credit cards at an ATM the “bennie” (as they’re known in the business) can even have walking-around money.
I still don’t get why the EDNY and not the NDNY. Is jurisdiction based on KAR “residing” there?
Jurisdiction can be based on one criminal act in the district.
A phone call from Clifton Park to Brooklyn to discuss a criminal scheme can bring the case into either the NDNY or the EDNY.
Since Allison Mack had an apartment in Brooklyn and committed some crimes there it can bring the whole case into Brooklyn.
Anytime slave masters and tyrants are exposed and defeated it’s always a Good Time!
Shadow- Thanks so f*cking much! I watched your video and now I’m gay.
You were probably gay before.
Those were Business students at Northwestern University.
Well now, Dirty Rat Bastard, you can date Alex Betancourt or Emiliano Salinas.
This lawsuit is so unfair. It names people who are innocent. The only guilty ones are Allison Mack Lauren and Nancy Salzman. Pure evil.
Agree. Poor Laura Junco was a visionary woman giving her daughter a once in a lifetime opportunity to be raped by a 50 year old exotic east coast American.
I’d like a coconut milk hot chocolate, and some of the lemon drizzle cake please, Nicki.
This is the stupidest accusation possible…
So Mr. Glazer included Allison as a leader despite the contrary proved in court…*
Talk about compensation, despite Allison being broke
Talk about Allison as the culprit despite Allison being a victim of those same accusations…
Is he really a lawyer?
Also, Vicente and Edmondson are way more guilty of those accusations than, say, Allison or Cline…
I truly hope this whole case blows up and that Glazer loses the little credibility he still had before this because at this point, atacking the victims shows nothing but stupidity!
Anonymous, I agree!!
The accusation is being made by people highly trained and experienced in American law, who have gone over the case and evidence in more detail than anyone here, plus who have interviewed high-level insiders like Vicente and Edmonds about what they know – which almost certainly includes things never revealed publicly, including in court. The chances very high that it’s actually you who is completely mistaken.
She pleaded guilty and is a necessary party.
“Is he (Glazer) really a lawyer?”
He sure is.
And Neil Glazer is at the top of his game.
I had an exchange in the comments section of the Frank Report with Glazer on the First Amendment and Freedom of Speech and he gave the textbook(conventional) answer on why Freedom of Speech is not absolute.
Agree or Disagree with him, Neil Glazer is a good lawyer and a Pit Bull in defending the interests of his clients.
–Agree or Disagree with him, Neil Glazer is a good lawyer and a Pit Bull in defending the interests of his clients–
Don’t count your chickens. Glazer has just FILED, he hasn’t won anything. His case could wimper out like O’Hara’s.
Remember what Harvey Keitel said in Pulp Fiction when the other guys thought they had succeeded: “Let’s not go sucking each other’s cocks just yet.”
Glazer is just one lawyer among a team of eight lawyers.
The lawyers know that NXIVM’s blood is in the water.
Joining Glazer for the plaintiffs are attorneys, Neil L. Glazer
William E. Hoese
Steven M. Steingard
Stephen H. Schwartz
Craig W. Hillwig
Zahra R. Dean
Aarthi Manohar
KOHN, SWIFT & GRAF, P.C.
Aitan D. Goelman
ZUCKERMAN SPAEDER
Nothing about Mack was proven in court, she wasn’t on trial. She plead guilty, remember? Which crimes did Vicente and Edmondson commit?
I told you so!
I told you so!
I told you so!
I told you so!
I told you so!
I told you so!
I told you so!
I told you so!
I told you so!
Allison Mack Will Be Sued for Being a Pimp for Nxivm
August 7, 2019
By Shadow State
Neil Glazer represents scores of Nxivm victims in an expected lawsuit against Nxivm and its leaders.
Allison Mack will likely be one of the most prominent Nxians to be sued.
In Glazer’s excellent article, Nxivm Victims’ Attorney Neil Glazer Speaks Out on Defamatory Commenters , he points out a number of important points including some good advice on what is defamatory.
So, let me go on record to state some facts about Allison Mack, gleaned from Glazer’s client, Jaye, and her truthful testimony. It may help people understand why Allison will be included in the civil suit.
So what true facts are we to glean from Glazer’s client Jaye?
1.) Allison Mack is a PIMP.
2.) Allison grooms women to serve as sex slaves.
3.) Allison is a SEX TRAFFICKER.
4.) “Allison PIMP Mack is a “fucking bitch.”
Allison Mack is very likely going to be sued under the civil provisions of the RICO Act for her PIMPING activities.
Treble Damages.
https://frankreport.com/2019/08/07/allison-mack-will-be-sued-for-being-a-pimp-for-nxivm/
It was pretty predictable that a civil suit would come out of this – especially given the deep pockets of the Bronfmans. I told you back then that it was a no-brainer.
Basically, all the first-line DOS slaves are included in the suit. Hopefully there will be depositions taken, and eventually made available, so that we can finally get testimony from people like Mack and better understand what actually happened and what their real roles were.
You should have just stroked Mr. Shadow and told him what a genius he is, now he’s going to start writing numerous Mack stories again.
….and you are a sick and obsessed man, more comical and sad than criminal. Think of the days, weeks and hours of your life spent, first entranced with and cyberstalking, then for the past few years, vilifying on the Frank Report, a woman you never met.
For all of the entertainment your asinine behavior has provided me and others over the years, the words “Sarah Edmondson, plaintiff” have me laughing hardest of all.
Shadow while you were typing, “I told you so” 10 times; did you happen to have a DEPENDS moment? Or did that COME later?
No Salinas?
Anyway, so it begins. I am hoping some legal scholar can comment on how this will affect the chances of more criminal charges coulde be coming later. Great news for all.
Moira Penza was willing to cut these defendants deals.
Neil Glazer will not cut any deals.
It’s a civil suit.
Moira Penza was the prosecutor in a criminal trial.
With regards to Ms. Edmondson, her presence as a plaintiff could weaken the entire lawsuit. Check out the words “in pari delicto”. Ms. Edmondson’s quasi criminal activities within the NXIVM hierarchy arguably make her hands a bit too dirty to be an optimal plaintiff.
Not sure about Toni Nutalie as a sympathetic plaintiff either.
All Nxians are bat shit crazy. If Sara and Natalie are standing there and the judge comes across their crimes I’m not sure it will bode well for them.
The perps may jump at the chance to cut a deal. They know that they will lose in court, given the criminal convictions which require a “beyond a reasonable doubt” level of proof, rather than the civil “preponderance of the evidence (50.00001%).
Shadow you are wrong. Neil will just reach a settlement. If Neil gets 100,000 for each of the 80 victims; Good old Neil gets around 2.9 million,
An attorney in this type of lawsuit received 33%.
Wake up!
This is where their nightmare really begins!
Unfortunately, the lawsuit will provide Raniere with welcome diversions such as trips out of his cell for depositions and lawyer meetings. I hate that aspect of it. He thrives on that crap.
Nancy Durkin
When Raniere is taken out of the lock up for depositions, lawyer meetings and the civil trial he will be handcuffed and shackled.
It is no tip to the park.
It won’t last very long.
Kristin Crook has very deep pockets but the Jane Does and John Bucks didn’t name her as a perpetrator.
I wonder why?
I wonder why?
Kristin Kreuk was smart enough to leave after the 2012 Albany Times Union articles about Raniere.
Isn’t it obvious? She’s a diabolical genius.
Occam’s Razor.
She did not get cast in this lawsuit because she had sex with right people.
Kristin must have given a good oral argument.
Law enforcement split a gut laughing when trying to decide to charge Kruek for crimes. You can’t charge someone for just being plain stupid. All the time spent as a student AND a coach, and she still couldn’t figure it out. What a dumbass. I think she would be perfect for the Sultan because the sultan seems intelligent and she is totally brain dead. They say opposites attract.
How many times does it have to be stated by those who are considered experts of such groups, that a lack of intelligence is not the real reason as to why people fall into them? Either you fail to understand this significant point, and it means you suffer from the same thing you are criticizing another for, or you refuse to accept it, which means you are being obstinately irrational. Kristin’s former boyfriend is the one who led her into the group, and it is likely the emotional connection they shared kept her bound to the group even if she actually saw the warning signs. People can say and do dumb things when they let their emotions get the best of them.
Not everyone here agrees with your so called expertise Spanky. The only thing you are an expert on is being an asshole. You like blaming a lot on Hildreth due to the fact that he was screwing your dream spank. Since he ” led her into the group ” as you say, this would be called the blind leading the blind. Or in this case the stupid leading the stupid. Have a nice day dipshit.
Still thinking everyone is me. I don’t care about Hildreth at all. Why the fuck would I care to use him as her reason that she stayed in the group? If I’ve argued against Kristin being blamed for Allison’s fall from grace just because she recruited her—something you’ve tried to pin on her you ignorANUS—then I can’t blame Hildreth for Kristin being in the cult because he recruited her. Fucking duh, you twat.
Same ol Mad Spanker. It’s ok to lie to and berate the infidels. Anything to push your agenda. Yea Spanky you lie like a rug, (a prayer rug) the kind you kneel on daily to have your butt pounded by mohammed, you turdball. May the flea’s of a thousand camels infest your armpits. Please seek help asswipe.
Because Kristin Crook(ed) is too pretty. Or there wasn’t enough evidence. Take your pick.