Best Put Down of Swami and Creepy Followers & All the Loves He F—d Up

This is rather short and sweet, but it has a point. 

By Prah

Many have accused me of making unsubstantiated accusations.

You want some real info?

Swami Chetanananda blew his relationships up with the entire Coyle Family.

Sadvi [Sharon Ward] and Swami Chetanananda

Due in large part to his highly inappropriate and ineffective ways of so-called mentoring of young people. He also blew his relationships up with Mary Grace, Jesse Sweeney, and Megan.

Sadhvi– you know damn well what happened with Megan. You cover up artist, you.

The list goes on and on, of fine, good people whom Swami “nuked” in his dealings with them.

Krystyn Wong and her Mother.

Wendy Wong

Karen Kreiger fled the cult – why?

 

Kristin Kreiger, mother of Gretchen and Karen Kreiger –gave herself and her two daughters to the Swami. He still owns Gretchen and Kristin.

Elderly cuckold, Buzz Kreiger, got snookered by his Swami. He abused his wife and daughters. 

Karen Krieger who is the daughter of the former chief cult facilitator in LA, now, no longer Swami’s student.

The list of people who felt in some way betrayed or mistreated by this guy is too long to list here.

And–Swami is never in the wrong. Nope. He is ONLY serving people in their highest and best interest.

Right?

Wrong. Fuck you.

And, I am accused of making snide remarks and insulting remarks. OK. Fair observation.

The Movement Center was presented as something life changing, and enriching, and about being the best person one can possibly be.

Yeah, well when one looked closely, one saw lots of games being played. At others’ expense. So, does that warrant insults, and being snide?

I think it does.

Sadvi AKA Sharon Ward

Sadhvi – what the hell kind of sadhana is it to go find dead bodies in the woods, yet turn your back on so-called loved ones?

Michelle- you little worm. You left Portland, and instantaneously became secretive, and became a spy for an orge.

Feel good about your life choice? Manson Sisters, wild eyed, lunatics, who will do anything to harm others.

Swami Chetanananda with Theresa and Salman Khan

Theresa – a walking, talking joke of a woman. Pay your fucking bills, you deadbeat.

And, Swami to you: you have all this spiritual power, and yet your ego has been completely corrupted by this power. Just like all spiritual teachers. It all goes south. You are a screwed up guy, who is so sick as to not be able to see your own corruption.

Go do some cocaine.

Michelle–go tell him I said so.

About the author

Guest View

68 Comments

Click here to post a comment

Please leave a comment: Your opinion is important to us! (Email & username are optional. To leave a name, click on the email icon)

  • One of my favorite parts of all of this is that the inner circle is notably quiet. Is that part of the legal strategy, Sadhvi? No one from Gold Beach is permitted to chime in, and defend their beloved Guru?

    I love it. All of you shut the fuck up. You sit there. The way all of us did, while this guy embarrassed us, subjected us to his arbitrary favoritism, “special deals”. And, we had to sit there, and keep our mouths shut, lest get excommunicated.

    Now you shut up. You sit there, and you listen. You keep your fucking mouths shut, until I say you are permitted to talk. You sit there, and endure the ridicule and humiliation of your beloved asshole guru, who abuses women, takes advantage of people, and does drugs.

    Sit, YOU manson sisters. Sadhvi. The rest of you. You are not allowed to talk. KEEP YOUR MOUTHS SHUT. You too Cheesedooadleananada. Until I say you can speak.

    • Definitely legal strategy. And just the sheer embarrassment of Moni and her insane unhinged commentary of earlier articles, telling us we were all heading to the hellfires of eternal damnation, casting spells and whatever the fuck she was trying to do. If ever there was evidence of his extreme and damaging long-term abuse of students, there she is in all her glory. You can bet he shut that shit down FAST.

  • what do you call a guy, in a leadership position, who continually blows up relationship after relationship?

    A narcissist?

    A psychopath?

    A sick person?

    how about: an ASSHOLE!

    Ladies and Gentleman, allow me to introduce you to, the one, the only Swami Chetanananda!

  • It seems in our exploration of all things rotten that Shoemaker has created, we have overlooked the Boston Meditation Center. This eastern end of the strangler Shoemaker universe is staffed by long time “loved ones” Dan and Terri Spencer.
    Here is a little of what they are up to, sharing time with the lovely cadaver dog trainer, Liz Bazzani key informant and meditation champ, Sharon Ward, aka Sadhvi Parananda:

    Sadhvi Parananda will be teaching class in Medford, Mass on Saturday, September 9 at 7:00 pm. All are welcome. Please contact DAN and Terri Spencer for more information at Drteelee@aol.com.

    https://www.themovementcenter.com/boston-meditation-center?fbclid=IwAR1BdxG7yWPaae7BSXMA1p7qVjW68KIlXEF7gnXuNrOroB3d_Kri98cuS6s

    Dan describes his journey into strangler-land in the post below that includes his photo and a photo of the Oxford Ashram in 1972.

    http://www.rudi.org/remembering-rudi/2016/4/15/visiting-rudi-by-dan-spencer
    RUDI
    SWAMI RUDRANANDA
    (Visiting Rudi
    by Dan Spencer
    I first met Rudi when I was 23 and had just gotten out of the Army. I had served in Vietnam and in Germany. I was going to go to school in Bloomington, Indiana, mainly because my sister was there.

    I first met Michael Shoemaker (now Swami Chetanananda) in 1971. He had just come back from a visit with Rudi in New York City and was giving a talk on September 10 in a little church in Bloomington. I went to that talk, and I was so impressed that I just kept coming to programs. At that point I couldn’t move into the house on 14th Street—my sister had gotten the last space. But I got a cabin about 10 miles outside of Bloomington, and came to class and dinner every evening.

    Rudi came to Bloomington in December 1971. I remember the fireworks well. Then he sent Buford Pippin to the ashram to do tantric class, and I felt a real connection to that also. I knew that this was the work that I wanted to.
    In the summer of 1972, I visited the ashram in Big Indian for a week, and then went to Rudi’s in New York City. Rudi would teach eyes-open class in the evening and then those of us who were staying at his house would go upstairs with him. He would continue to work with us, and I think I bounced off every wall in his apartment. (editor’s note, does Dan Spencer know that strangling Shoemaker also bounces his “loved ones” off the wall after he hangs them up on a hook and strangles them?) So there I was, blissed out. After a week, Rudi told me that spending more time with him would burn me out, and that I should go back to Indiana and work to expand my chakras.

    I returned to New York several times after that. There were a few students who lived in the house with Rudi, and those of us who were from out of town slept on the floor in the meditation hall. Rudi’s mother was often there in the evenings after meditation. I was a little afraid of her. She would sit there with her dark glasses just looking at us and rarely said anything.

    On one visit, Rudi gave Michael sets of tantric implements—a bell, a dorje, a phurba, tingshas, bone mala, and a skullcup—for those of us who were with him, and, during the trip home in a small plane, we had to decide which ones belonged to each of us. We put the plane on auto-pilot while we passed the implements around the cabin. By the time we had decided which ones belonged to each of us, the autopilot had become totally scrambled and we were headed to Canada. The energy was that strong.

    Another time, Rudi took a group of students to an art show in Connecticut that featured work by one of his students. Rudi was dazzling—working with us the whole time and giving us shaktipat, while everyone else was looking at the art.
    I worked hard when I was in New York with him. I painted houses, sanded floors, put up dry wall, and did other kinds of construction. Rudi said it was important to work physically to process the energy he was transmitting through shaktipat. So all of the students from Bloomington worked very hard. That was one of the reasons Rudi had a special affection for us. (“editor’s note: seva”? unpaid labor? labor trafficking?)

    Eventually I ended up living at the ashram in Oxford, Ohio, and Rudi started calling me “the Cincinnati Kid.” My sister Patricia, her husband Larry, and I were the teachers in Oxford. Rudi visited Bloomington and Oxford several times before he died.

    I went to Rudi’s birthday party in New York in January 1973. The last time I saw Rudi was on February 3, 1973, during a trip he made to the Midwest. During those last months he told me to make sure I had a connection with Michael.
    Rudi was enormously loving and, at the same time, he could be like a tiger. Being with Rudi always changed me. Each time I went to visit him, I came back a different person. I felt new, completely different.

    (Photo of the Oxford Ashram in 1072)

    Oxford Ashram in 1972: From left: Doug, Bill Lennertz, Patricia Yinger, Larry Yinger, Dan Spencer, Al Dewitt, Laura Long, James Robinson, Bill

    Dan remains a “loved one” of Shoemaker and traveler to Portland to perform “seva” and contribute to the financial well-being of his “guru”, the strangling salami.

    Dan is married to Terri Spencer. She is a doctor and got lots of love from the “loved ones” for her support of actions to stop the spread of COVID. She wrote on her Facebook page: A Huge shout out for all the Heroic people who have self-quarantined, and are standing strong in spite of the tremendous family and financial pressures! They are shifting Covid’s exponential growth curve. She got likes and comments from these “loved ones”: Linda Pope, Benda Siraguse, Margie Pos, Patricia Yinger, Karen Kruger, Patty Slote, Joann Neel. Vanessa van Nieuwenhuysen, Saroj Bardewa, Karen Sutherland, Faith Sheppard, Drew Carlson, Claudia Henry, Monica O’Neal and Aiden Seraphim. Does the Salami Strangler Shoemaker know that his “loved ones” slipped out of his control and got vaccines or put on a mask? Shoemaker’s thing is homeopathy, natural systems of healing and no fluoride in the water! When I was there, no coffee either. Someone who reads these Frank Reports should let Dan and Terri know what strangling Swami, Shoemaker, is up to out on the west coast. Are they part of the “older sweet ones” who have closed their eyes, ears and mouths to 50 years of abuse? Maybe they don’t know that these “loved ones” have left. Faith has left, that Karen no longer follows Shoemaker. Or, maybe Aiden Seraphim, a former attender of the Boston Meditation Center can tell them.
    The Movement Center Boston Meditation Center.

    (photo of the Boston Meditation Center attenders)
    The Boston Meditation Center will now be offering a guided closed-eye meditation hosted by Aiden Seraphim on Tuesday nights at 7 pm at 218 Boston St. #109 Topsfield, MA 01983. The first meeting will be on Tuesday, March 22.

    For more information, contact Aiden at 978-701-5125 or heartcenteracu@gmail.com.
    Aiden Seraphim has moved and now can be reached in Gold Beach.
    2900 Bristol St. Building G
    Suite 203 Costa Mesa, CA
    92626

    29740 Ellensburg Ave.
    P.O. Box 1013
    Gold Beach, OR 97444

    heartcenteracu@gmail.com

    (978) 701-5125

    https://www.heartcenteracu.com/
    From his website, looks like he is at Gold Beach. No doubt he was there when Lillianna, Jesse and Megan left (with no drama, right?) Adian could answer many questions for Dan and Terri and for us.

    https://www.themovementcenter.com/boston-meditation-center?fbclid=IwAR1BdxG7yWPaae7BSXMA1p7qVjW68KIlXEF7gnXuNrOroB3d_Kri98cuS6s

  • “It’s been six months of intermittent fasting 23 hrs a day… coffee in the morning..a meal at 12:30p… and water the rest of the day…”

    No amount of penance or mortification is going to make up for the damage you’ve caused, bud.

    • It’s most likely a lie just like everything else. Or..if he’s doing it it’s with generous handfuls of coke.

      I would not be surprised if he tried to shrink himself to make himself look more fragile for a courtroom.

      Fasting there was also regularly touted as a means to tapasya/detox/cleansing/health i think in order to malnourish and thus stupefy the members. Lots of cults do this.

    • You can bet salami started losing weight because of all of the media ridicule of how bad he looks; always being described as fat, bald, crusty and ugly…
      A Swollen pig in an orange dress.
      No amount of fasting can hide the demonic, angry look on that face.

      • Needs a smaller belly for his appearance on the national news as police escort him from Gold Beach handcuffed behind his back.

    • Where did you read he’s fasting?

      I agree that no amount of fasting, prayer, pujas, or mantras are going to save him from the evils he’s inflicted on others. I hope enough of this harmed come forward so he can legally pay his penalty.

      • Prah knows everything? Do you have a comeback to my article? If not, then fuck off.
        Get Chet arrested? For what? Being an asshole? He isn’t going to get arrested. But, let’s all work hard to ruin his already wrecked reputation.

        • “For what? Being an asshole? He isn’t going to get arrested. But, let’s all work hard to ruin his already wrecked reputation.”
          Prah
          J. Michael Shoemaker is a criminal. Don’t lose sight of his track record of rape, physical abuse, human trafficking, illegal drug possession and use, tax evasion and all the things Melinda Mandell sued him for.
          So then why did i receive correspondence from the Portland police yesterday?
          What…do you feel sorry for him now? Are you still under his black magic spell?

  • A commenter sees no harm in a little energy release. Is it really so innocent?
    Physical Practices
    October 30, 2022 at 6:59 pm
    This is probably Frank and a bit of a fishing expedition. It’s true that people had Qi or energy or kundalini energy. If you meditate or do Yoga, Qi Gong, or sitting Meditation, the energy will circulate. It’s normal and the life force. So that’s real. And nothing strange. Qi, Prana, Kundalini…. The kinks work out and yes, people had energetic experiences. This is common knowledge for any practitioner. Nothing weird

    Why minimize and normalize the guru induced awe and fervor experienced by the “loved ones” at the Movement Center run by the traumatizing narcissist, J. Michael Shoemaker? This mind bending technique was part and parcel of how Shoemaker coercively controlled his “loved ones”. For someone not a member of a high demand, high control group, often called a cult, this behavior is “weird”.

    Here is a description of an awe and fervor experience by a new member of Shoemaker’s destructive cult, taken from one of Richard Read’s In the Grip of the Guru articles.

    “(Dana) Swift closed her eyes in meditation. When something touched her forehead, she jumped. It was Chetanananda, holding two fingers between her eyebrows.

    The guru was giving shaktipat, funneling energy into her. Some disciples groaned at his touch and keeled over. Others convulsed. A few responded with loud screams that struck Swift as primal, they were so eerie.”

    How do we become committed to beliefs? We are all susceptible to different levels of fervor – whether we are believers or atheists. With an awe experience, it is possible for a sudden change in belief. An understanding of fervor is lacking in most assessments of membership in authoritarian cults. The conditions of mania and temporal lobe epilepsy show how the brain functions and possible aspects of fervor. The importance of the vestibular system, which affects balance during awe experiences, can give devotees the feelings of floating. At the heart of this new understanding are ‘feelings of knowing’ – how we become certain of beliefs without real evidence. Membership in destructive cults is often linked to an awe experience. The three videos linked below by Yuval Laor, show the mechanics of awe , fervor and belief in cults. Shoemaker used all of these techniques to manipulate and exploite his “loved ones”.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JF7ImlGUgCQ

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cp87I9EQ07o

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mooPulJT-hM

    Being aware of these mechanisms of action on the brain of an indoctrinated cult member explains how the free will to consent is eroded away for the individual, leaving instead a desire to obey the cult leader and to become dependent upon him. “They say their awe of him as a spiritual being, father figure, teacher and counselor left them incapable of true consent” taken from the Richard Read articles.

      • Anonymous
        November 10, 2022 at 9:29 am
        And sex partner, right? Willing to do anything to please him
        REPLY

        “Once I left, I heard about Keith using sex as a means to control people,” she says on the show. “I’ve heard of women, many women, signing lifelong vows to only have sex with Keith. I don’t think it’s OK for a man who’s the leader of a philosophical movement to be sleeping with all of the high ranks within his company, and his students within the company. It’s a conflict of interest, because they’re there to learn. And then you have the person who’s teaching them having sex with them as part of their growth? If that’s what he wants to do, that should be on their fucking website.”

        Sarah Edmonson, a survivor of Keith Raniere

        https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2018/05/200017/nxivm-details-allison-mack-branding-ceremony

        Coercive control means there is no consent, no “willing”, the ability to say no is taken away from the individual. Read Dr. Steve Hassan’s book, Combating Cult Mind Control and stop blaming the victims of J. Michael Shoemaker who drugs and strangles his “loved ones”. Get a grip, or are you still “In the Grip” like Richard Read wrote about in his articles that document the abuses of Shoemaker?

        https://frankreport.com/2022/10/08/swami-shock-2001-in-the-grip-of-the-guru-part-1/

  • A while back on Frank Report a commenter posted that Shoemaker’s cult was not Nxivm. https://frankreport.com/2022/10/23/two-missing-witnesses-wards-utmost-interference-investigate-liz-bazzanis-death/#comments
    You can go back and review the comment and the article that might have sparked this comment; https://frankreport.com/2022/10/19/two-cult-leaders-one-in-prison-similar-in-crimes/#comments

    The commenter wrote:
    WE ARE NOT NXIVM
    October 28, 2022 at 12:51 pm
    Must be frustrating when you are so short sighted you are looking at this story through your single NXIVM lens, picking the “characters” in your “narrative” for whatever network you hope to sell us to……..

    One commonality that was not covered the original analysis of why Raniere and Shoemaker share so much darknes, damage and abuse, was the mythology of the leader and the elaborate festivities that were put on by the “loved ones” to celebrate the birthday of “Vanguard” in the case of Nxivm and Swamiji, in the case of Shoemaker.

    “Vanguard” was gifted “Vanguard Week” and Shoemaker got special programs, like this moving duet by sisters Vienna and Tuscany.
    The Movement Center PDX
    stnSoerpdo558l8h9y8J1g08 1h08913269389a05c208fa9ufl58,gflm m ·
    The morning program concluded with Vienna and Tuscany Hill singing “For Good” [from Wicked] as a tribute to Swamiji. It was incredibly moving. Pretty much the whole room was in tears by the time they finished: “Because I knew you, I’ve been changed for good.”

    A elaborate birthday celebration for Shoemaker was woven into five days of alignment and flow
    The Movement Center PDX ·
    We are looking forward to the summer retreat with Swami Chetanananda and five days of contact, alignment and flow to nourish the deepest part of us. Join us in Portland July 23 to 28, 2019.
    We’ll have morning and evening meditation with Swamiji, morning teaching programs, a havan, Vajrayana practices, Lalita puja, darshan, hatha yoga, seva projects, and Swamiji’s birthday celebration.
    You can: register here: https://bit.ly/2vz0zKm

    And even Wangdu got into the action by summoning the life forces for Swamiji’s (Shoemaker’s) birthday.
    The Movement Center PDX ·
    With Lama Wangdu presiding, we summoned the life force blessings of the ten directions at the Long Life Puja this afternoon, performed in honor of Swamiji’s birthday.

    So, how are Raniere and Shoemaker alike? They are both traumatizing narcissists, who put together damaging, high control groups that preyed on vulnerable, idealistic individuals. They used fraud, coercive control, conditional “love”, fear, guilt, dependency and obedience to deceive, manipulate and harm their followers. Raniere branded, Shoemaker strangles.

  • There are two incidents of Theresa stiffing people for money. One involved a tradesperson. The other involved an individual. I highly suspect there are more than just two occurrences of this kind. She will skate out of paying whenever possible.
    Then she hides behind Swami’s robes. And, has always gotten away with it.

  • Go Prah! Telling it like it is. It is high time, that these destructive patterns, delivered by destructive people are exposed.

  • Karen Kroeber’s one strong woman. Good for her for getting out – and she had to leave her mother and sister in the process. Sad.

  • Time to leave your orange pumpkin. Otherwise you’ll be headed to prison along with him.

    Get out while you can. Shoemaker would throw you to the wolves to save himself-

    Get smart and save yourselves now.

  • To JP who likes to post as LC. You complain because I don’t post your insulting comments about Ruth, Jessica and Jayne who use their real names. If you use your real name I will happily post your comments.

      • You obviously have no idea how much truth that person contributed here.

        And Monica does blink a ridiculous amount.

        The readers here want to share about Chetananada. Not much else.

        Anyone know how to get hold of Richard Reed? Maybe he will run this story again!

        • Agree. She does blink. And she acts in a manner that indicates she is unwell, both mentally and physically. At least when convenient. When it’s not convenient, ie: when she’s ‘performing’ for her Guru, then she’s as sharp as a fucking tack. Shrewd, calculating and dangerous.

          • Does that add to the case against Shoemaker? Maybe… if she wants to come forward with her strangulation log.

        • Most readers/contributors here are working to get Michael Shoemaker in jail. All the other gossip and stories, incidents and relationship clashes have no bearing on that motive.
          We ALL know he’s an asshole, but that’s not against the law.

      • Moni most definitely does not have Tourette’s! Not even close.
        Now if you had said: she’s probably been strangled unconscious too many times and her brain malfunctions; then you would be closer to the bullseye

        But she also is a complete sociopath and loves to torment people. She would be first to approach new students to warp them the way she preferred: subservient. The real truth though is she is just a slave.

      • Vienna, one of Sophie (Sylvana) Maree Balsmelli’s daughters. I think she just got married recently at GB with Shoemaker officiating. They’re not his normal “type” but who knows, really.

          • Silvana also called Sophie (Sylvana) Maree (Marie) Balsmelli, is the mother of the young woman pictured with Shoemaker. Her two daughters, Tuscany and Vienna brought the Movement Center “loved ones” to tears with their performance for Shoemaker’s birthday. It seems there were many women who brought their daughers into the Movement Center activities. This has been described in the Read articles and in the Leaving Nityananda Letter. Family involvement in the Movement Center seems to have been common, especially mothers and daughters. creepy

            Sophie seems to have coordinated Movement Center activities in Orange County California. Here is an example.

            This course will draw on the teachings of Lama Tsering Wangdu Rinpoche, Swami Chetanananda, and the Longchen Nyingthig tradition.

            Recommended donation for the course: $50.00. Please make an offering in whatever amount you can.

            This program will be held at Unity of Tustin, 14402 South Prospect, Tustin. For information about the program, contact Sophie at 714-393-0978.

          • Who is Silvana? Aka Sophie (Sylvana) Maree Balsmelli, mother of Vienna and Tuscany. Her daughters brought the Movement Center “loved ones” to tears during their performance for Shoemaker. According to Richard Read articles and the Leaving Nityananda Institute letter, many wives and daughters were “given” to Shoemaker. We know that Liz, Laura, Karen, Kirstin and Sophie attended Shoemaker events with their daughters. Creepy

            Sophia coordinated Movement Center activities in Orange County,
            “This course will draw on the teachings of Lama Tsering Wangdu Rinpoche, Swami Chetanananda, and the Longchen Nyingthig tradition.
            Recommended donation for the course: $50.00. Please make an offering in whatever amount you can.
            This program will be held at Unity of Tustin, 14402 South Prospect, Tustin. For information about the program, contact Sophie at 714-393-0978.

  • Hey Frank: do you think Richard Reed still has that 5-page letter Shoemaker wrote to him? I sure would like to read that!!!

      • Frank I’d rather read something factual like this letter to Richard Reed!! 5 pages!!!! I wonder what he had to say!

        Anyone know how to Contact Mr.Reed?

        • Thanks for your message. I have retired from the Los Angeles Times and my position as a national reporter based in Seattle.

          And yet, once a journalist, always a reporter and writer. Therefore, please feel free to contact me at richread2020@gmail.com.

          Best, Rich

          Richard Read
          1200 Western Ave., 17G
          Seattle, WA 98101
          Mobile Tel 503-913-4189

          • Thank you, Mr. Read!!!
            Thank you for all you have done and contributed to outing Shoemaker and his crew.
            And thank you for making yourself available.

          • Lynn Palombo, who worked on these articles with Richard Read stills works at the Oregonian. You can try to reach her through the newsdesk, 503-221-8100. She might have more information and the letter.

  • It seems like the inner circle who’ve been around for decades are all quite happy.

    Who is still left at Gold Beach?

    • Are they happy? To me they look like empty shells, like they’re living half the life of the year before, like radioactive waste.

    • Well, Shoemaker is still there. He claims that he is “ Working out on Sunday this week…! It’s been six months of intermittent fasting 23 hrs a day… coffee in the morning..a meal at 12:30p… and water the rest of the day… I’m down 40lbs, but have not lost an ounce of strength…! Not bad!” Great, still in good shape to strangle a 110 pound “loved one”. It is noteworthy that he has not gained an ounce of empathy or common decency.

  • I have a genuine question. What responsibility does a mother have who had a sexual affair with the great swami and then lets her daughter start a relationship with him as well? What about a mother who watches it happen to her daughter in front of her? Status of a woman fucking him goes from zero to hero (well, it used to, now it’s equivalent of catching the plague) and by proxy to the mother. Some might say you are prostituting your daughters for privilege. Not me, of course.

      • Hmmm……Yes, if Nancy was having an affair with Keith then got pregnant with Lauren, then Lauren started sleeping with Keith 18 years later, and Lauren looks more like Keith than her father. I guess it could be equivalent.

    • Blame the mother? What kind of “spiritual group” is complicit with the abuse of mothers and daughters. What kind of “spiritual leader” strangles his “loved ones”, scams away their money, steals everything they built and runs away? What kind of legal system do we have that allows this type of abuse? For 50 years, Shoemaker has used his rotten group to protect him so he can harm, abuse, rape, dupe and control others. Thank you Richard Read for your work, thank you Frank Parlato for your articles, thank you everyone who has added your piece of the puzzle. There can no longer be any doubt that Shoemaker is a fraud and a shyster, a strangling salami monster.

      • There is absolutely no denying he is a fraud and that he injures and sucks the life out of people. He must be stopped, whatever it takes. How can anyone still believe they can improve their lives or achieve spiritual growth in the hands and direction of this sexually deviant, self-serving predator?

  • Spill the beans on Theresa and her debts. Make her squirm. She was always a money-grabbing greedy woman who treated people with derision and like her personal slaves, “for swami.”

  • Michael Shoemakers days are numbered. Too many coming forward, no longer living in fear of Sharon Ward. This story will implicate an inner circle who have remained loyal and brought young woman to be abused by Shoemaker.

    The toxic environment perfected over decades will be taken down.

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

Archives