An anonymous commenter, whom I call Mark Question, asked a series of questions in a previous post Suneel Won’t Answer Tough Questions, so Frank Has to Start Asking and Investigating. Now, Mark has additional questions for Suneel and myself.
Mark Question
We still don’t have enough answers.
How could these experts examine a hard drive with the photos that Suneel Chakravorty says were added after the FBI had it in their possession for a long time?
The hard drive given to Keith Raniere’s attorneys didn’t contain the photos of Cami on it.
Who is the one tampering with evidence, Suneel? Where did the photos of Cami come from that your experts looked at?
Where did the photos of Cami come from you looked at Suneel Chakravorty?
Where did the photos of Cami come from that Frank Parlato has seen, Suneel?
Where did the photos of Cami come from that Frank Parlato’s friend from another state looked at Suneel?
We want to know. We know they were not on Raniere’s discovery evidence. So how can your experts say anything about the discovery evidence?
They can only report on what you provide them.
We are still waiting on the CHAIN OF CUSTODY information as to who gave the Hard Drive to these experts. What could have happened to it between the time it left Raniere’s lawyers and went to these experts?
Yet, Frank Parlato, who says he’s an investigative reporter, hasn’t gotten that information.
Yet, Frank writes a story as if there was a CLEAN EXCHANGE and no tampering on Raniere’s side. He wants to make it all about the FBI but doesn’t ask any hard questions about Suneel or Raniere’s side tampering? Why is that, Frank?
We don’t trust Suneel or Nicki to be honest any more than we can throw the smelly guy.
This case doesn’t, and never has hinged on these photos. There was plenty of evidence to lock Raniere’s ass up for more years than he would live without the charges of child porn and child exploitation.
There was no need for the FBI to tamper with evidence in order to get a win in this case. Raniere’s other behaviors were enough to make any normal person stomach turn and find him guilty on all other counts.
A 60 -80 year sentence would have made any one of us happy.
As far as Frank Parlato’s claim that the other defendants only turned to plea deals after the child porn charges were issued, that is fact-less and his guessing.
We want to know more than what Suneel Chakravorty is sharing. His fluffy statements and Frank Parlato’s stand-by-my-NXIVM-faithful is getting tiresome.
Let’s dig into the truth of this or move the hell on. It’s wash, rise and repeat. Readers are growing sick of the BS,Frank
Grow a pair and do what you use to do, a real investigation.
Frank Parlato Replies
Sometimes, and a little bit tongue in cheek, I call my organization the FPI [Frank Parlato Investigates.] And to paraphrase J. Edgar Hoover, former head of the FBI, I would say, “the FPI is not a police organization. It is purely an investigative organization.”
If I were to guess at this stage, my investigation will likely conclude with a finding that the FBI did not tamper with Camila’s photos. If so, this will be the swan song for Raniere. I do believe Raniere sexually abused Camila when she was 15 and he was 45. What I am investigating is whether the FBI had the evidence to prove it.
I do know that if the FBI DID NOT tamper with the Camila photos, then this is Raniere’s last “Hail Mary” before everyone realizes the gate is closing permanently and he is not going to leave prison alive.
However, on the odd chance that there may be some truth in it, I am beginning my investigation.
For now, I will address one issue that Mark Question raised – for it is worthy of examination: The importance of the Camila photos on the case.
The child porn pictures were discovered on a hard drive more than 10 months after it was seized. It puzzled me because I thought they should have found those pictures sooner.
However, whenever they found it, the discovery was monumental.
Mark Question wrote, “As far as, as Frank Parlato claims, the other defendants only turned to plea deals after the child porn charges, that is fact-less and his guessing.”
Actually, I do not think it is all a guess.
The discovery by the FBI of the Camila photos in February 2019, 10 months after Raniere’s arrest, may have impacted all five of Raniere’s co-defendants. At least three specifically mentioned it.
The two Salzmans are speculative at this point. Nevertheless, within a mere couple of weeks after the mid-February announcement of the discovery of the Camila photos, Nancy Salzman took a plea deal.
Lauren Salzman soon followed Nancy’s strategy.
In her sentencing memorandum, Lauren’s lawyer, Hector Diaz, cited emails between Camila and Raniere as the reason for Lauren taking a plea deal and her decision to cooperate. Diaz wrote “upon her review of emails between Raniere and Camila… Lauren was finally able to appreciate the nature of Raniere’s abusive and manipulative tactics.”
Some of the emails suggested Raniere began a relationship with Camila when she was 15.
The remaining three codefendants were even more explicit. They made motions to sever their trial from Raniere and cited the Camila charges as a crucial reason for seeking severance.
Allison Mack’s lawyers – William McGovern, Matthew I. Menchel, Sean S. Buckley, and Gabriela M. Ruiz – wrote in their motion to sever that the new Camila charges, “added disturbing allegations against Raniere, including two counts of sexual exploitation of a child and one count of possession of child pornography… The Child Exploitation Acts are unrelated to any of the allegations against Ms. Mack, including the alleged RICO enterprise…the Court must sever Ms. Mack from the trial of Raniere.” [Dkt. 461]
Judge Nicholas G. Garaufis denied her motion to sever, and, Mack quickly accepted a plea deal.
That left Kathy Russell and Clare Bronfman.
Even the steadfastly-loyal-to-Raniere Clare Bronfman had to raise Camila in her defense in terms that were unflattering to Raniere.
Bronfman’s lawyer, Mark Geragos, wrote in a letter in support of her motion to sever, “Mr. Raniere is now charged with child exploitation and child pornography. These new charges are even more inflammatory and prejudicial to Ms. Bronfman than the DOS charges, which already warranted a severance… As we have already shown, courts sever RICO cases to avoid unfair prejudice, and it is difficult to imagine a more compelling case than one in which a co-defendant is charged with sex crimes against a child…
“The alleged fact of a sexual relationship between a man in his late forties and a fifteen-year-old is alone likely to be so offensive to potential jurors and selected jurors as to deprive Ms. Bronfman of a fair trial. But here, the evidence that the government will introduce to prove the enticement and child pornography charges is so likely to appall and offend the jury that the evidence will define how the jury perceives not only Raniere, but also the women surrounding him at trial. These explicit and close-up photos—allegedly of a minor—suggest such a disregard of social norms and possibly the laws regarding sex with minors that it will be difficult for jurors to believe this did not carry over to other aspects of Mr. Raniere’s life; thus, this evidence will unfairly and inevitably infect the jurors’ perceptions of people like Ms. Bronfman, who were close to Raniere.”
When the judge denied her motion, Bronfman took a plea deal.
That left only Kathy Russell.
Russell’s lawyer, Justine A. Harris, wrote to the judge, as part of her efforts to sever Russell’s trial from Raniere: “The risk of unfair prejudice is heightened by the new inflammatory charges against Mr. Raniere. Indeed, it is difficult to imagine allegations more prejudicial to a defendant than those charged here – sex crimes against a child and child pornography.”
When the judge denied the motion to sever, Russell immediately took a plea deal leaving Raniere to stand trial alone.
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Edmondson v. Raniere Letter — Document #105 District Court, E.D. New York Docket Number: 1:20-cv-004
Dated: October 28, 2021
Judge Pollak and Komitee
Case#:NO. 20-CV-485
Plaintiffs Sarah Edmondson, et. al & Defendants Keith Raniere et. al.
Dear.Honorable Judges Pollak and Komitee,
I am writing in response to Judge Komitee’s request that defendants submit letters concerning how they intend to proceed. As an initial matter, it seems appropriate for me to advise the Court, that I am not currently represented by counsel. Under my present financial circumstances, I frankly do not know how I could find an attorney competent to represent me in a lawsuit this complex and wide-ranging. I have concerns regarding how any testimony I might be compelled to give or rulings concerning my conduct might affect my rights in other legal proceedings that
could occur in the future.
Having said this, however, I am submitting this letter as the Court has instructed. Based on my understanding of the law, as well as the comments of the attorneys who appeared at the October 15, 2021 status conference, it seems likely that I would join in any motion to dismiss under Rules 8, Rule 9, and Rule 12. I would also ask the Court to order that the names of all Jane Doe andJohn Doe plaintiffs. It seems impossible to contemplate litigating the claims against me, if they were to survive the initial motions, without knowing who is making them.
There are many other procedural issues, including possible conflicts of interest involving at least one of plaintiffs’ lawyers, that will have to be addressed early on in this case. I am eager to provide relevant evidence concerning both that issue and the claims against me. I hope the Court will appreciate, however, my reluctance to address any of these without the advice of counsel. Even though I do not have access to sufficient funds now, I am still looking for ways to overcome that issue and find an attorney so that the complete truth will come out if the case does in fact go forward.
I appreciate the Court’s consideration.
Respectfully submitted.
Nicole Clyne
____________________________________________________________________________________
Edmondson v. Raniere Dismiss — Document #107 District Court, EDNY Docket Number: 1:20-cv-00485
Dear Judge Komitee,
I am one of the defendants in case NO. 1:20-cv-00485. Late last week I filed a request for an extension in this matter, but have not yet received a response and in good faith wanted to submit at least a brief response in case my request is not granted. I have requested this
extension primarily due to the fact that that it has been difficult to secure counsel without the funds to pay for them, and I have limited legal knowledge. It would be difficult to meaningfully participate in this complex matter without properly trained representation, I have filed a request for pro bono counsel with the federal court and am looking for other options to be able to resolve this issue.
I have read the transcript from the court conference on the 15th and the amended complaint in order to discern what would be most helpful to this process at this juncture. The claims reviewed assert the existence of an enterprise or criminal organization with the intent to harm in
order to fit a RICO charge that has no basis. To my knowledge, no such thing existed. All the endeavors I was involved in or had knowledge of were created with the intent to help people and did so in significant and measurable ways. Therefore, the hellacious claims made from this
faulty assumption would need to be completely reexamined. Anything I participated In was done with positive intent and between consenting adults for intentional and mindful reasons.
I deny any participation in any of the charges or contribution to any damage the plaintiffs are claiming they experienced.
In addition, I agree with Ms. Clare Bronfman’s counsel that was present at the conference in regards to the lack of clarity set forth by these assertions. I would, in tandem, file motions to dismiss based on Rule 8, Rule 9(b), and Rule 12(b)(6). If any further evaluation of my
participation was appropriate, I would need further clarity as to the specific actions I took, the measurable damages incurred and by whom is claiming those damages including all Jane and John Does claiming involvement.
in light of these exceedingly false allegations, and other conflicts of interest, there are also specific counter claims I would like to file when appropriate counsel is obtained, i humbly request your honors help in this matter in response to my recently submitted application to the pro se’s office. It is very important these counter issues be properly brought to light as they will help put this entire matter in perspective.
Also relevant to this proceeding and the use of everyone’s time and resources is my financial status. As a result of the actions of the plaintiffs, which I will bring to light in counter claims, I have lost all primary means of income, including my privilege to practice medicine. In addition, I have sold my home and assets to afford legal counsel in the defense of these false claims against my medical license, and currently hold over $600,000 in debt for my medical education and legal fees to defend it. There are no monetary stores left to be recovered from me.
For all of the above reason’s I would move to dismiss and/or be dismissed from the above complaint.
Thank you for your time in this matter.
Respectfully yours,
Dr. Danielle Roberts
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Edmondson v. Raniere Letter — Document #105 District Court, E.D. New York Docket Number: 1:20-cv-004
3.22 KB
Dear Judge Komitee:
I am one of the defendants in the above case. I wasn’t at the status conference on October 15, 2021 because I was waiting to see if the plaintiffs were going to dismiss me from the lawsuit. I have had some informal discussions with Mr. Glazer and agreed to waive service. Mr. Glazer is aware that I must represent myself and I have provided him with my financial status. I have no money to hire a lawyer. It wasn’t until after the status conference that I saw that the plaintiffs’ attorneys entered my waiver of service.
I saw that your honor asked for defendants to submit letters regarding proposed next steps by October 29, 2021. I was just able to read the transcript from the October 15 conference and glean the purpose of the letters. Clare Bronfman’s council stated in the conference that her motions to dismiss would be related to Rule 8, Rule 9 (b), and Rule 12(b)(6). I would agree with these motions and I would file motions including motions to dismiss if necessary. It will be impossible to answer the Doe claims because I do not even know who the supposed victim is,
when the claim happened and if they claim I was involved in the act. For instance, I am accused of mail fraud, wire fraud, bilking others out of large sums of money, forced labor, and forced sexual slavery, and trafficking in “sexual slaves.” Regarding the question of splitting the suit into two parts, I really have no thoughts on this.
I will challenge the claim that this suit fits a RICO conspiracy. If there was a conspiracy, as the plaintiffs claim, I was not aware of it or participated in it. The Federal Government didn’t even include me in their list of people in the government’s proposed “inner circle” of NXIVM. To my knowledge, I was not a target in their investigation. Since there was no conspiracy, the RICO claims have no standing and this suit should be dismissed. I did not have criminal intent; at all times my intent was to help people. Therefore, I will DENY all of the allegations in the Complaint and file motions to dispose of the claims at the appropriate time.
On another note, I was discharged from a no-asset Chapter 7 bankruptcy on July 15, 2019. This lawsuit was filed on January 28, 2020. All of the plaintiffs’ claims were from actions that took place before my bankruptcy was discharged. As such, these claims against me are barred by the Bankruptcy laws and the plaintiffs were obligated to not make these claims or dismiss them once they or their attorney received the Order of Discharge. The mere allegations in the claims have irreparably damaged me and my family and have deprived me of my livelihood. I provided Mr. Glazer with a copy of the Order of Discharge along with a position paper that the Order precludes this action. We briefly discussed that issue. I can provide a summary of that position paper when appropriate, in your view. I do not want to step out of bounds in this letter. For the above reason, I will claim that the plaintiffs do not have standing and will move to be dismissed from the suit. I also believe that the claims may well be barred by the applicable statutes of limitations. Other defenses may arise once facts are made known, if necessary.
Sincerely,
Brandon B. Porter
____________________________________________________________________________________________
Frank was right about Cami’s pics and testimony being the critical turning point in Keith’s case from the get-go! Frank even ‘predicted’ [in personal conversations with me back in 2018] that the evidence of Cami’s underage, sex-slave grooming at 13 and rape at age 15, would be Keith & Co.’s ultimate undoing. Frank said that all the other defendants holding out through 2019, would roll on Keith when and if Cami and her story – or any of the more recent, underage evidence like proof on the ‘baby Jane’ GBD stories, for example – if that ever emerged. I believe Keith and Co. well knew and know this, too, and prepared for the eventuality long ago…possibly down to eliminating and tampering with statutory rape victims, witnesses and, certainly, evidence. [Why Keith left those Cami pics in Albany on his personal hard drive is mind-boggling…but if the ‘tampering’ cover-up scheme were already well in the works before his unexpected arrest in Mexico…]
In any case, I am personally, very grateful to the FBI and DOJ investigators who discovered the hard evidence on the statutory rapes – whether buried in millions of gigabytes of pictorial data or handed over to them in some mutilated manner by a Suneel type, or both. …As the pussy pic plot thickens.
I’m also very grateful to Cami, herself, along with her sister, Dani – who was held hostage and tortured for 3 years by the cult leaders, before being set loose to die without ID and little cash across the Mexican border – for their tremendous courage in ultimately, both, coming forward. Despite some hardcore, I’m sure, intimidation and opposition against them doing so. They’re awesome and I hope their whole family is healing well.
Gotta give Frank some cred where due. He always knew the under-age, child molestations were Keith’s true, Achilles heal.
Let’s not forget Raniere had one of his faithful followers in the Albany DA’s office pretending to be an intern while doing law suits and investigating others defectors, back in the days. This was their head on NXIVM’S internal legal Kristen Keefe.
NXIVM also had one of its others faithful followers pretending to be an external computer expert in their Computer Trespassing Case.
He never identified himself to the Special Prosecutor as a NXIVM member and was hired by NXIVM lawyers at the time dealing with NXIVM server’s.
This person was none other than now son in law to Nancy Salzman Ben Meyer. A long time member of NXIVM before the Civil and Criminal case had been filed and both loss by NXIVM.
So is it possible that someone on NXIVM’s team ended up as a special team member somewhere in the line of all of Raniere’s lawyers that could of gotten their hans on the copy of the hard drive in question?
This same hard drive that Suneel is trying so hard to prove the FBI tampered with? Wouldn’t it be just as easy for a NXIVM member to have tampered with it making it look like the FBI did it?
Suneel Chakravorty might not even know or might be fully aware of this? Nick Clyne, standing by her man could be in on something like this.
Both have spent time talking with Raniere while he was at the MDC waiting for his trial.
IGames like this been done before. Twice that we known of and several lies have been told in all of NXIVM legal cases. Why stop now?
Not that Raniere is going to get another bite at the apple or its going to get him out of prison before he dies of natural cause anyways.
Knowing the history of the length Raniere has gone to try to WIN is good for Franks readers.
Chew in this for awhile Suneel. We thought you should be in the know.
Who is the biggest mass murderer in the 20th Century?
Government!
According to a study at the University of Hawaii governments murdered up to 262 million people in the 20th Century!
20TH CENTURY
DEMOCIDE
Thus, the new world total: old total 1900-1999 = 174,000,000. New World total = 174,000,000 + 38,000,000 (new for China) + 50,000,000 (new for Colonies) = 262,000,000.
https://www.hawaii.edu/powerkills/20TH.HTM
I have a question…
What kind of man pretends his child is a foundling?
Is that “ethical”? To deny your child’s paternity when they are —> right here <–
The wonderful "community" of Nxivm never really answers questions about Raniere's (not provided for, spied on and harassed) baby mama KK and his never acknowledged son. Living amongst them.
Was that "brilliant" Danielle?
And BTW Danielle, we all know you had sexual contact with Keith. I'd deny it too.
So good on you, for at least knowing it's so gross! Also, who'd you think all the porn you made was for, Danielle?
Danielle, you will always have a very special place in Keith's (currently from memory only) Binder of Vulvas.
You were never his #1 Cami) but you were… Also there!
Unofficial FBI access of hard drive:
Regarding the unofficial FBI access of the drive, most likely, an FBI agent didn’t want to wait months to find out what was on the hard drive.
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IMPORTANT POINT:
The only reason we are aware the drive was accessed while in FBI custody is because the FBI provided the information!!!!!
The FBI didn’t CONCEAL ANYTHING!!!
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What do you people not understand?
—The child porn pictures were discovered on a hard drive more than 10 months after it was seized. It puzzled me because I thought they should have found those pictures sooner.
The 10 month wait was so a FBI computer forensics expert, could examine and process the hard drive. The hard drive evidence must be secured and handled properly like a murder scene, less the drive becomes contaminated evidence.
All of the FBI forensics departments are all backlogged for months.
Here is a FBI forensic backlog:
https://oig.justice.gov/reports/FBI/a1039.pdf
****
Side Note: The State of New York’s various forensic departments are backlogged as well. That’s the reason why it took 3 months for the State Police to find the child pornography on John Tighe’s computer.
I checked the the State of New York’s forensics departments there backlogged too.
Ding ding ding ding!
Suneel Chakravorty and his other NXIVM fan based followers so called data is all hearsay anyway.
No need to get anyone’s panties in a wedgie over.
It’s a desperate attempt to make them all feel better like a pacifier & give them so hope to hold into.
Let’s face it people, Raniere has got a lot of years a head of him.
This group of hang-ons needs some hope and who are we to bust their beliefs in another trial.
Even if there isn’t a snowball chance in hell its going to happen.
In a few years or decades maybe they will wake up to the fact that they Master is going to die in prison.
Until then, give them space to adjust, have their hopeful stories.
Let’s hope this FBI agent sue Suneel ass off as well as Cami.
Let’s hope Suneel has to answer under oath questions as to how he got the pictures of Cami because
We Want to Know.
You missed the biggest clue… “History of Torture” in the hand written note image. Has that been faked?
Ya! History of torture? Can’t fault the man for simple curiosity but it’s a bit suspicious under the circumstances.
Toronto Sun
UNREPENTANT: No apologies from former NXIVM sex cult brander
Author of the article:Brad Hunter
Publishing date:Nov 03, 2021 • 1 hour ago • 2 minute read
https://torontosun.com/news/world/unrepentant-no-apologies-from-former-nxivm-sex-cult-brander
Can someone do some investigative journalism into why Danielle Roberts says “DOS is a tremendous organization” as if it is still currently active?
Elle – I’m A Jaded Journalist. Why was I Nearly Fooled By NXIVM?
https://www.elle.com/culture/career-politics/a38067387/-journalist-nearlyjaded-fooled-by-nxivm/
Pyriel-
Great catch! Thanks!
Allison Mack was earnestly recruiting to say the least.
New York Post
Doctor reveals how she branded NXIVM women — and why she has no regrets
By Michael Kaplan, November 2, 2021 4:36pm Updated
https://nypost.com/2021/11/02/nxivm-branding-doctor-believes-keith-raniere-is-brilliant/?utm_source=reddit.com
Where can you buy rose-tinted spectacles that are THAT powerful?
Here’s the thing about investigations. You don’t know everything. You may never know everything.
First of all: the Camila evidence was not discovered at the “last minute”. KRC? We’ve had this discussion on other posts!! It wasn’t the night before. It was months before. Many months.
And you don’t REALLY know when it was “discovered”. You know when it had been verified enough to be brought forward as a charge.
Maybe it took them that long to talk directly to Camila? To obtain her abortion and other medical records? To speak to her whole family multiple times? The point is that you don’t know. You are just guessing at things.
Do you not remember the floors and floors of evidence? This case had insane amounts of evidence to go through.
Each piece had to be checked. Rechecked. Checked against other evidence. Witness testimony to corroborate. And so on.
You don’t know everything. You don’t even know most of everything. You know some stuff. And you don’t even know – what you do not know.
You are guessing. And filling holes with speculation. You may never know EVERYTHING. But you certainly will not know it all now. When cases are still active.
You have theories. You have opinions.
Anonymous:
Given the facts of this case, I do not believe that a second Rule 33 Motion will be successful (Many people forget that Keith already tried this gambit once – and was shot down). The biggest problem with the new proposed Rule 33 motion is that all the alleged “tampered evidence” had been turned over to the defense team well before the trial – which means that Keith’s lawyers had plenty of time to hire experts to identify any issues with it. An exacerbating factor is that it was Keith’s defense team that insisted on starting the trial on its scheduled date even after the second superseding indictment was issued.
So, even if Keith’s new lawyer could prove that one or more pictures of Camila had been altered – which I still doubt can be done – it is extremely unlikely that Judge Garaufis will grant Keith a new trial. Nor do I think that the Second Circuit will overrule Judge Garufis’ determination on the matter.
Another issue that keeps getting overlooked is the fact that the pictures that were supposedly tampered with only concern three (3) of the sixteen (16) predicate acts that were part of the RICO count (The trial jury found that the prosecution “Proved” that Keith had committed all sixteen of those predicate acts). So, even if the findings of the jury on those three predicate acts were thrown out, there would still be plenty of “Proved” predicate acts to support the RICO charge. In addition, it’s important to remember that in addition to the RICO charge, Keith was found guilty of committing six other crimes that had nothing to do with the pictures of Camila (BTW, Keith’s sentences for those six other crimes total 100 years).
Thank you so much for your response, KRC!
An expert could alter the photographs with Photoshop. For example, to remove a scar. However, close examination will reveal that the photo was altered. Altering a photograph to pass casual inspection is one thing; altering it so that it looks original and will stand up to close scrutiny is quite another.
>>The child porn pictures were discovered on a hard drive more than 10 months after it was seized.
Big deal. The government is NOTORIOUSLY slow. This is a well known fact. The government is periodically mocked by more than just laypeople because of its laziness that is due to a number of different reasons, especially its bureaucracy.
List of evidence items seized, #3 one book, “History of Torture”
Kept alongside his backups of child porn. Such an ethical man, this philosopher-king of Hale Drive.
And I still think the guilty pleas poured in because the trial date was fast approaching, and harsh reality was setting in. The defendants were scared, as well they should. Some were facing mandatory 20-year sentences for sex trafficking if they went to trial and lost, as was very likely given the evidence. It just wasn’t worth the gamble.
It’s very common for defendants to switch pleas to guilty at the last minute. Often on the morning of the trial. Fear is a powerful motivator.