The Buffalo News published a story on July 5 concerning Frank Parlato’s sentencing – which is currently scheduled to take place at 12:00 Noon on Monday, July 31st.
With Frank Parlato facing prison for tax conviction, 78 letters to judge seek leniency for ‘hero.’
By Patrick Lakamp
As character letters go, the ones for Frank Parlato Jr. come from about as diverse and devoted mix of supporters as can be found to weigh in on a criminal tax case.
An Albany woman recalled how he provided her a place to stay when she was on the run with her child from a cultlike group called Nxivm: “He saved our lives, literally.”
A disabled Vietnam War veteran said he “would have had to return to the streets” without Parlato’s mentorship.
An 82-year-old Niagara Falls woman living with her two German shepherd service dogs and her two parrots said he “has no need to keep in touch with me, but he does. That says a lot.”
The letters of support filed in U.S. District Court provide an interesting look into the life of the 68-year-old former real estate developer who publishes an opinion-based website in Niagara Falls.
People across the country extolled his past investigative work that helped expose Nxivm, a purported self-help organization near Albany whose leader was eventually sentenced to life in prison for sex trafficking and forced labor, among other charges. They also cited Parlato’s struggles during his nearly eight-year federal prosecution that led to an 18-count indictment, including fraud and money laundering charges, and an eventual plea to a single felony count of failing to file a tax form….
[The article goes on to discuss the case – which we will analyze in another post.]
‘He helps anyone’
Ahead of his sentencing on July 20, Parlato counts on 78 letters from his family, friends and supporters to help persuade the judge to keep him out of prison.
“They’re really different from so many different aspects of life and about so many different things that he’s done,” Greenman said. “They tell a better story than we can tell.”
A West Coast martial artist and fight choreographer under scrutiny after a Hollywood film said Parlato’s reporting put his reputation “in a true light.”
“He was like the father I never had,“ another woman wrote, recounting how Parlato counseled her, gave her a job and invited her to family dinners as she struggled to raise two children as a single mother.
Also among the letters is one from Parlato’s ex-wife, Deb Matte, who praised him as a good husband “who treated me well” despite “incompatibility issues.”
More than a decade after their divorce, she worked with him on the development project he’s most associated with, the One Niagara tourist center. Parlato had an ownership interest or managed the One Niagara building between 2004 and 2017. After taking over the mostly vacant office building, he filled in a 40-foot hole next to it that had become a blight.
“One Niagara went from nothing to probably one of the most, if not the most successful, retail venues in Niagara Falls,” Matte said in her letter.
But it’s the people he helped – not development projects – that she and the others mostly wrote about.
“He helps anyone who needs help unconditionally, no strings attached,” Matte wrote. “I’ve just honestly never met anyone like that. Never.”
That sentiment emerged as a common theme in the letters.
“Those letters are filled with acts of kindness, charity and benevolence to others less fortunate than him,” Paul Cambria Jr., his other defense attorney, said in a sentencing recommendation. “He has always been available for people in need. His guidance in counseling through the years to so many individuals perhaps tells more whom he is than from any other source.”
The unsupportive letters
The court should consider letters submitted by those other than Parlato’s supporters, the prosecutors replied when the judge asked them for input on how to handle the letters.
In his court filing Friday, Parlato said the letters are from individuals he wrote about in his investigative posts.
“The individuals may not have liked what I wrote about them, which resulted in the letters, but the information was true,” Parlato said….
*******************
The story refers to 78 letters of support. Here is a link to those letters.
The story also references two letters of non-support, one from Toni Natalie, and the second from CT attorney Edward Nusbaum.
Here are a few photographs of the development project, One Niagara, referenced in the story.
https://www.newsweek.com/president-biden-trampling-bill-rights-prosecuting-julian-assange-opinion-1813806
Welcome to the U.S. government.
This is how they want to treat truth tellers.
“This story was originally published on August 27, 2019
Written by Kristen Hare
… In 2011, the Times Union’s editor, Smith, decided it was time to take a deeper look at the cult down the street.
Odato, an investigative reporter, worked with features reporter Jennifer Gish for more than a year. (She declined to comment for this story.) Before their series could run, the Times Union tried sending questions to Raniere through certified and overnight mail.
When they got no answer, editors asked reporter Brendan Lyons to hand-deliver them. …
… Odato and Gish won awards for their series on Nxivm in 2013. Odato continued reporting on Raniere and the group. Then, in 2014, he left the paper. It started as a leave of absence after Nxivm filed a lawsuit against Odato and two other journalists — a blogger and contributing editor at Vanity Fair — Joe Pompeo reported for Politico.
“Nxivm’s suit reportedly alleges that the three writers and two other individuals may have used a former Nxivm client’s login information to gain unauthorized access to the Albany-based company’s computer server,” Pompeo wrote.
The case was thrown out in 2015. Odato did not return to the Times Union. (Poynter attempted to reach Odato but was unsuccessful.)
Lyons, who’d hand delivered the questions to Raniere in 2012, picked up the story along with reporter Robert Gavin. For the next several years, they covered Raniere and Nxivm through a tangle of ongoing court cases.
In 2017, Lyons saw a blog post from the Frank Report, which spent years reporting on Nxivm. The blog included news that women inside the group were getting physically branded as part of an initiation. Lyons reached out to his sources.
Those sources knew the Times Union had covered the story for years, Lyons said. And they knew that after those stories, authorities hadn’t stopped Raniere.
They told him they’d given the exclusive to The New York Times.
In the summer of 2017, New York Times reporter Barry Meier got a tip about something new happening inside Nxivm.
It took months to get former members to go on the record. In October of 2017, the Times published his story, which detailed how women recruited other women into a secret group with an internal hierarchy of masters and slaves; how they used nude photos, bank account information or personal secrets as leverage; and how they were branded with Raniere’s initials. His story included a link to the Times Union’s 2012 series.
“Each woman was told to undress and lie on a massage table, while three others restrained her legs and shoulders. According to one of them, their ‘master,’ a top Nxivm official named Lauren Salzman, instructed them to say: ‘Master, please brand me, it would be an honor,’” Meier reported. “A female doctor proceeded to use a cauterizing device to sear a two-inch-square symbol below each woman’s hip, a procedure that took 20 to 30 minutes. For hours, muffled screams and the smell of burning tissue filled the room.”
Two months later, the Justice Department started an investigation into Raniere, Nxivm and his inner circle.
Meier thinks the branding was the detail that finally made the difference.
“That was it. That’s what sort of broke the dam,” he said. “Absent that aspect of the story, probably our story would not have made that much of a difference.”
But the details of blackmail and branding, “of what was happening and what people were subjecting other people to and what members were accepting in order to be part of this organization, it was horrifying,” he said. And once that news hit the front page of The New York Times, Smith said, “it was more difficult for prosecutors to ignore it.”
“Nobody believed it,” said Hardin, the former alt-weekly reporter. “I think that’s an important part of this. Until that New York Times story broke, nobody believed any of it.” 🤔
“nobody believed any of” what?
https://www.poynter.org/the-sex-cult-next-door/
What most victims want is their voice. Unfortunately, many victims lose their voice. Frank has been the voice of countless victims.
I know because I’m one of them.
“Raniere’s organization also hired Doug Rutnik, father of Democratic Senator Kirsten Gillibrand, as a lobbyist in the mid-aughts. When Rutnik wanted to resign, he was sued and then ordered to sign a nondisclosure agreement.”
https://www.newsweek.com/roger-stone-nxivm-sex-cult-allison-mack-keith-raniere-907558
Frank is the Houdini of journalists.
Frank isn’t Houdini.
He’s a just a guy who blew the whistle to tell the world what was happening.
Writers at The New York Times should have told the world what was happening. Why didn’t they?
“This is criminal activity we’re talking about, and [the Bronfman sisters] have been financing the entire operation.”
https://observer.com/2010/08/poor-little-rich-girls-the-ballad-of-sara-and-clare-bronfman/
Houdini because most journalists who want to tell the truth are stopped.
What he has done is astounding.
So true.
“Consumer Buylines Inc., a locally based discount buying service with 200,000 members nationally, is being investigated by authorities in New York and Maine and has been sued by the Arkansas attorney general for allegedly using deceptive trade practices.
“They’re essentially operating what appears to be an illegal pyramid,” said Perrin Jones, a spokesman for the Arkansas Attorney General. “Everything depends on you bringing in more and more people until the thing collapses under its own weight.”
Pyramid schemes generally depend on investments by subscribers, rather than sales of goods or services, to make a profit. Pyramids are illegal in Maine, New York and Arkansas, officials said …
… The New York Attorney General’s investor protection bureau is investigating the company and subpoenaed its records in March, according to a Nancy Connell, a spokeswoman.
“We’ve gotten 16 complaints or inquiries in the Albany area,” said Connell, “half from people wondering if this is an investment they should make, and half were complaints from people saying they are not receiving what they thought they should have for their money.”
Raniere said his company had cooperated with New York officials over the past 11 months but denied ever being subpoenaed. He called “multi-level marketing” such as that practiced by Consumers Buyline “an industry that is frequently misperceived, and we are working to turn that perception around.”
The office of New York Attorney General Robert Abrams previously cooperated with Arkansas investigators, Connell said …”
https://frankreport.com/2016/01/17/blast-from-the-past-1992-article-about-consumers-buyline-was-raniere-lying-to-save-ship/
“Mind Control and the ESP Intensive
Mind control represents indoctrination without informed consent. It relies on calculated strategies to mislead and to misinform. It particularly relies on emotional manipulation.
Long hours: A group using mind control will attempt to maximize the influence of group leaders on participants, at the expense of any ongoing influence of friends and relatives. One way to quickly effect this change is to maximize the amount of time that group participants are with group leaders. ESP Intensive participants are signing up for sixteen ten-hour days, which will either be experienced successively, or in five-day segments. Although three hours a day are allotted for lunch and dinner breads as days go on.
Of further concern, the manual states in Italics, “We find our students don’t want to leave at the end of the day!” Since participants have been experiencing a day scheduled to start at 8 AM and end at 10 PM, under usual circumstances, most participants would be tired and eager to go to see friends and family, and get a night’s rest to prepare for another long day starting at 8 AM. This suggests to me that emotional appeals or other manipulation may occur to get everyone to stay around even longer.
Limitations in ability to get feedback from friends and family: Participants are told to promise not to tell non-participants of what they learn in the Intensive, as well as its methods. They will be unable to respond to routine questions they would be expected to receive, such as, “What did you learn today?” or “What’s going on at the seminar you are attending?” This serves as to distance the participant from his ongoing relationships. It also serves to prevent the participant from getting any feedback about what he is experiencing from people in the outside world, some of whom care about the participant very much.
Secrecy: Participants are told to promise not to share with non-participants their recollection of content or methods of the Intensive. Participants are mislead into feeling guilty for being a “promise breaker” if they talk about their personal experiences over the course of many hours. This effects a partial shutdown of communication with friends and family, and serves to strengthen a common bond with the other secret-sharers.
Effect of idiosyncratic vocabulary on communication: Further communication shutdown with friends and family occurs as numerous English words are redefined to fit the peculiar meanings of group leaders. The result is communications that are near incomprehensible to outsiders (e.g.: The mission of the human team is to build value and to uphold each other). This serves to embed the participant into the group and isolate him from outsiders.
Pre-emptive neutralization of criticism of the group by participants and their family/friends early on: What the group calls “shifter strategies” is given much attention in the Intensive. It is clearly taught that these represent undesirable behaviors that should be met with disapproval by other group members. Then end result is that if a participant criticizes things that the group does, he is a “suppressive.” Since it is likely that group outsiders will perceive aspects of the group’s activities as “manipulative” or as a “cult,” these two words are used as the sole examples of “abstract terms” that a Shifter will use. The clear purpose of this didactic exercise by the group is to encourage participants to ignore friends and relatives who are likely to criticize the group using these exact words. Finally, the Intensive attempts to impart a sense of superiority to participants simply for learning Espian theory (“Espians understand the model, but non-Espians do not”); such a sense of superiority would encourage participants to discourage criticism of their activity from others.
Paramilitary rituals and regalia: Paramilitary structure enhances the ability of leaders to control participants through a “chain of command.” [Keith Raniere] the leader’s title as “Vanguard” is a word with military origins, and participants are routinely expected to “thank” Vanguard at the end of each and every session. One’s rank in the group is constantly visible by scarf color and number of stripes on the scarf, and this is reinforced by a ritual two-handed handshake where the higher rank person’s hands go on top. Advancement includes ability to be a “coach,” which appears to be a monitor, (sometimes-daily monitor), for members lower in rank. Clearly a submissive relationship of sorts to one’s superior in rank is promoted.
Required daily contact with superiors is framed as personal growth: Since the paramilitary regalia makes it clear who is superior to who in rank, ongoing participants are required to make a daily brief phone call to “check-in” with a “coach.” Promotion to a higher level scarf cannot occur without approval from one’s coach, who becomes part of the group’s eyes-and-ears to see if participants are, for example, becoming suppressive. Moreover, promotion in this group is iced over with the title of showing “persistence” to a “long-term commitment.” Since daily checking in like this is an unnatural thing to do for most grown-ups, any discomfort will most certainly be met with the confrontation that they “need to be able to keep a long-term commitment.”
https://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/NXIVM/esp4.html
“… In 2003, according to former NXIVM consultant Joseph O’Hara, the organization paid a $500,000 deposit to International Program Group, a now-defunct California-based private-investigation firm whose owners advertised themselves as former C.I.A. agents. The job was to probe the history of Kristin Snyder, who committed suicide, leaving a note in which she claimed to have been “brainwashed” during a 16-day “intensive” NXIVM seminar in Anchorage, Alaska, earlier that year. “I’m sorry. … I didn’t know I was already dead,” the note read.
In a separate case in 2004, NXIVM contracted Interfor, whose founder, Juval Aviv, claims to be an ex-agent for Mossad, to orchestrate a sting on anti-cult activist Rick Ross. Interfor hired an actress to impersonate a concerned mother seeking to hire Mr. Ross to lead an intervention for her son on a cruise ship. The intention, Mr. O’Hara claims, was to throw Mr. Ross overboard. They went so far as to wire Mr. Ross a $2,500 deposit for his services before dropping the plan. …”
https://observer.com/2010/08/poor-little-rich-girls-the-ballad-of-sara-and-clare-bronfman/
Frank is one of the only people on the planet with the balls to call out corrupt people in power. The fact that some of these people decided to fight back by writing letters isn’t surprising.
It would be surprising if the judge doesn’t see it for what it is – people caught with their hand in the cookie jar who are seeking revenge on the one who busted them.
True.
The Government has to be scrambling here. If the sentencing would have went off as previously scheduled, there is a chance they could have slipped one past the goalie – Judge Richard Arcara. As it stands now, the whole Frank Parlato file is being reviewed in chambers.
It is only a matter of time before Judge Arcara realizes this case is a “nothing burger,” and AUSAs Kruly and DiGiacomo haven’t been totally honest (which could turn out to be the understatement of the decade).
I wonder if Trini Ross is going to have them go in pre-emptively and try to fix this. The WDNY US Attorney’s Office is in grave violation of RPC 3.8(h).
https://www.americanbar.org/groups/professional_responsibility/publications/model_rules_of_professional_conduct/rule_3_8_special_responsibilities_of_a_prosecutor/
I’ve seen Judge Arcara get heated a couple of times, and it’s not been pretty. If they don’t diffuse this bomb quickly, he is likely to go nuclear when he realizes the AUSAs made him an unwitting accomplice to a fraudulent plea deal and sentencing proceeding.
I don’t think assuming the posture of an ostrich will help here.
The next couple of weeks will be very interesting.
Did the New York AG’s offices let NXIVM persist — and ALSO persecute a NXIVM whistleblower? 🤔
A Times Union editorial asked:
“… What took so long?
And why does it so often take law enforcement and prosecutors from outside this area to investigate and try these sorts of complex cases? …”
The same Times Union editorial also wondered:
“Although Mr. Raniere lived and committed many of his crimes in Saratoga County, and NXIVM was based in Albany County, the case was investigated and tried by the New York Field Office of the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn — not the FBI office in Albany or the U.S. Attorney for the Northern District, nor the district attorneys here who could have brought state charges.”
https://www.timesunion.com/opinion/article/Editorial-How-did-NXIVM-persist-15683331.php
Having personally provided hard evidence regarding many of the criminal activities of Raniere and his top echelon followers to law enforcement officials in the Albany, NY area, I can confirm that they were well aware of what was going on (These law enforcement authorities included the Office of U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of New York, the Albany Office of the FBI, the Albany County District Attorney, the Saratoga County District Attorney, the New York State Police, the Albany Police Department, the Office of the NYS Attorney General, and the NYS Department of Taxation & Finance). The reasons why none of them did anything vary – but I believe they include blackmail, bribery, ineptitude, intimidation, and laziness.
At the top of the list of those who refused to do anything is P. David Soares, the Albany County District Attorney then and now. Actually, Soares did do something: he indicted me twice on bullshit charges that were dismissed as soon as they were reviewed by a judge that wasn’t influenced by NXIVM.
The Government has a big problem in this case. There is no factual basis for the crime under 26 U.S.C. § 2703 as a tax-reporting felony because they didn’t prove Frank Parlato knew about the legal duty to file an IRS Form 8300 in 2010. The best Judge Arcara can give Parlato is a misdemeanor. The Government knows it. They are trying to save face and ask for 24 months.
Also, these AUSAs – Kruly and DiGiacomo – are already in trouble for what they did with Parlato’s co-defendant Chitra Selvaraj. She was sentenced by Judge Arcara to a misdemeanor based upon the “non-payment” of $42,000 in taxes. The US Attorneys told Arcara that everything was legit and that Chitra owed the money, so the Judge sentenced her.
But Kruly and DiGiacomo lied. Parlato’s lawyers just submitted a copy of his tax returns showing that Parlato was a partner with Chitra in the company in question and Parlato paid the $42,000 in taxes years ago.
And what’s even better, this proof was submitted to the US Attorney’s Office in 2015 and has been in their file ever since. Parlato was represented by a lawyer you might have heard of back then – a guy named Dennis Vacco, the Former New York State Attorney General. Vacco handed the tax returns and the payment slips to AUSA Tony Bruce before he retired.
The Government’s lawyers knowingly allowed Judge Arcara to pass a sentencing based on non-criminal conduct. Kruly and DiGiacomo committed Fraud on the Court. When this comes to light, Judge Arcara will not be very happy.
Robert Abrams was the New York Attorney General from January 1, 1979 – December 31, 1993.
Was Mr. Abrams listed in the heading of the Consent Order and Judgement of September 3, 1996 instead of Attorney General Dennis C. Vacco because Mr. Abrams started the investigation of Consumers Buyline, Inc. before he left in 1993?
Dennis C. Vacco was New York Attorney General from January 1, 1995 to December 31, 1998.
The Consent Order and Judgement dated September 3, 1996 says,
“THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, by
ROBERT ABRAMS, Attorney General of the
State of New York,
Plaintiffs,
– against –
CONSUMERS’ BUYLINE, INC., KEITH
RANIERE, PAMELA CAFRITZ and
KAREN UNTERREINER,
Defendants.“
In 1996, a good AG office shut down Consumers’ Buyline, Inc.
Judge Teresi ordered Consumers’ Buyline, Inc., Keith Raniere, Pamela Cafritz and Karen Unterreiner to be “permanently enjoined from promoting, offering or granting participation in a chain distributor scheme in the State of New York in violation of GBL § 359-fff …”
Consumers’ Buyline Inc. was a pyramid scheme. They recruited members to recruit more members to recruit more members. Keith Raniere, Pamela Cafritz and Karen Unterreiner were told to not ever do that, ever again.
According to Wikipedia, AG Robert Abrams was “elected to four terms, resigning a year before the end of his fourth term … Abrams announced his resignation from the office of attorney general on September 8, 1993, to take effect on December 31. He had a year left in his term.” Wikipedia also says he joined the law firm of Stroock & Stroock & Lavan LLP after leaving the Attorney General office.
Did no New York Attorneys General speak with Mr. Abrams about NXIVM after he left the AG office?
Did Attorneys General Letitia James (New York Attorney General since January 1, 2019, AG Barbara Underwood and AG Eric Schneiderman not ever notice NXIVM Mission Statement #12?
NXIVM Mission Statement #12 says:
NXIVM members were to “promise to share and enroll people in ESP and their mission for [NXIVM member] benefit …”
According to Wikipedia, “On October 16, 2018, (former AG Robert) Abrams and Public Advocate Letitia James (running for New York State Attorney General) were at the steps of New York City Hall for a press conference where he announced his endorsement of James in the race. James … appointed Abrams as co-chair of her transition team.”
Did former AG Robert Abrams and Letitia James ever discuss The Times Union’s question?
It’s an important question.
➡️ “How did NXIVM persist?” ⬅️
Maybe Mr. Abrams can offer some insight. For example, does he know how and why the Bronfman sisters got involved in NXIVM? Did he know the Bronfman sisters were funding a forbidden MLM/pyramid scheme? How and why did NXIVM start working with LDS Church members?
According to Wikipedia, former AG Abrams worked with Mormons to establish “joint programs between the two communities, including initiating a joint Jewish-LDS delegation to visit Israel in 2016 to commemorate the 175th anniversary of LDS Apostle Orson Hyde’s dedicatory prayer at the Mount of Olives declaring Jerusalem and its environs to be the land of the Jewish people.”
Can former AG Abrams help if he’s willing and able to share what he knows about attacks on NXIVM whistleblowers?
It looks like New York State Attorney General Offices had colorable authority to ignore NXIVM crimes committed in New York State for almost twenty years …
… and colorable authority to ignore NXIVM crimes committed across America for almost twenty years.
… and colorable authority to ignore NXIVM crimes committed in Mexico, Canada and a few other countries in the world for almost twenty years.
Starting about 17:46 …
Ronnie: Can you ever refuse to defend the state?
Bob: Well, that’s a very interesting philosophical question. It cuts a lot of different ways, you know, as long as there is colorable authority to defend the state, it’s the Attorney General’s obligation to defend the state. That’s your oath of office. You’re there to defend the state. If there, there is no authority to defend the state, you know, there can be a certain set of circumstances where you say, well, I’m not going to do it. The state still can get representation. It gets outside counsel.”
[A quick rough cut interrupts the conversation at that point.]
Ronnie: You’ve been involved in everything in so many things around the world. Right? It’s been as it — is it as gratifying? I mean, I know it’s gratifying some ways. Do you miss the excitement of the local politics?
Bob: Look, I did it for 28 years. I loved every day, every minute of it, you know, it was a rare privilege. I saw it, you know, a lot of people say, ooh, politics, government — and is enough to cause people to feel depressed these days. I understand that. But I saw government service as a calling. You know, there are certain people in our society who, who approach their work as a calling …”
As the host of “Eldridge & Co.” on CUNY TV, Ronnie spoke with former New York State Attorney General Bob Abrams about his life and his work in law and politics in New York. Ronnie’s interviews “cover the issues and institutions, the people and politics of New York City.”
Maybe discussion of the NXIVM crimes and court proceedings were off-limits? 🤔
All discussion of collusion, corruption and racketeering
in the family courts of New England has also been off-limits.
“… In a blog post on March 12, 2012, Jennifer alluded to trouble in her marriage: “I wish I were a strong person and that confrontation did not both scare and appall me.”
After the gradual breakdown of the marriage, in which Jennifer claimed Fotis was living an increasingly independent life, she filed for divorce on June 20, 2017, at Superior Court in Stamford. In the same month she started renting a house in New Canaan, about seventy miles southwest of Farmington, and moved there with her five children.
In her divorce documents, Jennifer wrote: “I know that filing for divorce, and filing this motion will enrage him. I know he will retaliate by trying to harm me in some way.” She also stated she believed he was having an affair with his colleague, Michelle Troconis, a native of Venezuela. Jennifer also alleged that Fotis had threatened to kidnap their children if she did not agree to his terms in the divorce settlement, and that he had bought a gun that year; Fotis denied making threats and claimed he bought the gun legally for home security. Both parents filed numerous motions claiming that the other was disparaging them.
Despite Jennifer’s requesting an emergency order of custody, the couple were given temporary joint custody of their children until the end of the divorce proceedings …
When Jennifer again requested an emergency order of custody in early 2018, the judge found that Fotis had broken numerous court orders. In March 2018 Jennifer was awarded sole physical custody of the children, while both parents were to share joint legal custody. …”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Disappearance_of_Jennifer_Dulos
September 1, 2018:
“New York’s attorney general takes on expanded role
… Prosecution powers
Historically, though, the office has limited ability to bring criminal cases. Former attorneys general blanch at the common misconception that they’re the “chief law enforcement officer” of New York. “The attorney general is the chief legal officer of the state,” Abrams said.
In most cases, according to Vacco, the attorney general’s latent prosecutorial authority can only be initiated with a referral from an executive agency, such as a district attorney, state agency or the governor.“
https://www.timesunion.com/news/article/New-York-s-attorney-general-takes-on-expanded-role-13199205.php
So, what happened with “NXIVM”?
Was it someone other than a district attorney, state agency or governor who asked state AG offices to investigate Frank?
Why didn’t a district attorney, state agency or governor ask state AG offices to investigate Keith, Clare, Sara and Nancy all those years? 🤔
There’s something very wrong somewhere and maybe former New York State AG Bob Abrams can help.
He’s been very politically active since leaving his post in the AG’s office. Has he offered his opinion about his AG’s office role in protecting people from Raniere vs the subsequent AG offices allowing Raniere and “NXIVM” to destroy so many lives?
Can someone reach out to Bob to ask him what he thinks of the Bronfman sisters’ lawfare against NXIVM whistleblowers?
This is important.
AG Abrams saw enough crimes in the Consumers’ Buyline, Inc. multi-level marketing pyramid scheme to investigate Raniere twenty years ago. Bob’s work on that case was to protect people from Raniere. What happened after that?
Did Bob leave the AGs office a year early because of something he saw in the Consumers’ Buyline, Inc. case — or was it something else?
What did Bob witness as the state AG on the Consumers’ Buyline, Inc. case?
After Bob left the AG’s office, why did every AGs who followed him allow Raniere, Salzman and the Bronfmans to do MORE of exactly what Bob said Raniere shouldn’t do?
Why did the AG’s offices after Bob allow The Vanguard and The Prefect to almost destroy the world?
They would have if they could have. Their numbers were growing exponentially. 😑
Former AG Abrams was the first New York AG to investigate Raniere. He’s been in close contact with the current Attorney General for several years.
Maybe he and AG James can explain to the public how and why NXIVM whistleblowers were prosecuted while New York AG offices after 1996 let Americans, Mexicans and Canadians be easy prey for Raniere’s MLM traps, branding, blackmail, brain experiments and cages.
Has The Times Union demanded answers to their questions?
Here’s the October 28, 2020 editorial, “How did NXIVM persist?” …
https://www.timesunion.com/opinion/article/Editorial-How-did-NXIVM-persist-15683331.php
Frank-
I hope you walk away a free man.
It’s disgusting that a criminal case was begun purely because the Bronfmans used their money and political contributions to influence politicians/DOJ.’
I hope Frank walks away a free man with a letter of appreciation, back pay, full benefits and a pension.
He did the New York AG offices’ work for them.
Anonymous 9:09pm
Well put!!!
ÁMEN. 🙏
I really hope the government will give this a guy a break! Looking at Frank’s life and all he’s been through, I’m not surprised he filed some tax returns late. I’ve done it myself.
I hope the judge will be able to see Frank’s good character. I only really know him via his writing on the Frank Report but as such I don’t believe Frank was conducting some kind of operation to defraud the government. I think he was just trying to survive.
I also believe Frank Parlato is possibly the most innovative and effective journalist of our time. I think he deserves a pulitzer prize, not a jail sentence.
AMEN.
Hear, hear, 2cents. the efforts of Nussbaum and Nathalie to endorse this corrupt and over the top character assasination of Frank will backfire in the face of the truth and solid witnesses to the truth – like Stephen Herbitts and all those who Frank saved when he brought down a real public enemy, a RICO cult no less.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11453859/Thousands-convicted-pedophiles-California-getting-year-prison-time.html
Priorities in the justice system.
Countless people need the Frank Report.
He’s being targeted
Duh.
He’s definitely being targeted but whatever happens he is going to keep reporting, keep telling the truth.
The judge can’t tell the world that the Bronfman sisters started the case against Frank. The prosecutors can’t say they kept the case going to discredit Frank after law enforcement offices let NXIVM loose on New York and the world for twenty years.
The worst people probably have some deceitful plan lined up to have the prosecutors convince the judge to throw him in jail. If the worst people can’t accomplish that, they’ll probably try to harm him in some other way. The worst people hate whistleblowers for a reason.
No one in New York was riding through towns ringing the bell as loudly as Frank rang the bell on Frank Report. May the judge acknowledge the punishment Frank’s already faced for blowing the whistle on the people who started NXIVM/ESP, those who kept NXIVM/ESP going all those years
and those who control so many through fear and deceit.
The people who ran the NXIVM projects and experiments acted like those who funded the Bolsheviks. The Bolsheviks eventually had no problem killing 100 million people. Brandon Porter seems to have been to NXIVM what Ivan Pavlov was in Stalin’s army. Another doctor was the brander, Nancy Salzman was the brainwasher and all the “slaves” were blackmailed blackmailers.
Some studying the history of war and genocide and think, “That could never happen in America.”
“.. In a Sept. 6, 2017, letter, the state Office of Professional Medical Conduct told Kobelt it would not investigate Porter, adding that ‘the issues you have described are not medical misconduct’ ..”
September 6, 2017.
How many experiments would have continued?
How far would it have gone?
https://nypost.com/2018/05/05/nxivm-doctor-charged-with-conducting-human-experiments/?utm_medium=SocialFlow&utm_campaign=SocialFlow&utm_source=NYPTwitter
It took me a long time to trust anyone with my story. I was so broken, terrified I could hardly talk without trembling and crying. Frank had deep compassion and incredible patience when he interviewed me….
Then..
He investigated everything I told him…
He went down the rabbits hole to help expose extraordinary corruption.
Calling out abusers can be extremely challenging for victims.
I was literally afraid for my life after his stories broke out. He could have also been afraid. His earnest, relentless pursuit of the truth outweighed any threats. This was heroic and an inspiration.
Having a felony is enough punishment he doesn’t deserve prison time
❤️
Frank Parlato is a maverick. He is an American hero.
Frank Parlato might “help everyone”, but he combs through discovery with an ultra fine tooth comb.
He personifies Joe Friday from the TV SHOW Dragnet with his “Just the facts ma’am” approach. He looks for the needle in every haystack, then he investigates the eye of the needle.
Mr. Parlato researches from every angle. He is a truth teller. He might have a huge heart, but be careful, he is going to find the whole truth. It’s his job to expose it.
Wishing Frank the best. Curious if Ms Catherine Oxenberg sent a letter to the judge? I hope she did. She relied on Frank a lot.
Exactly
I agree with all these people Frank is a gentleman I met him during nxium very nice guy I would also wrote a letter to the judge for sure he shouldn’t go to prison give him a break
He’s a bad ass.
Society and these dip shits on the benches have no idea what it is to be a man… thank you Frank for being YOU.
It seems like a lot of males don’t know what it means to be a man these days
Yeah soy boys
Frank has been nothing but helpful to me. We are on the way to exposing another NXIVM-like cult. Frank has been pivotal in making this happen. I know he has helped other survivors from other groups. Not many people do this. I believe Frank did this because he understood the similarities in these groups having borne the brunt of abuse from NXIVM.
There are naysayers who have not put themselves out like Frank has. I have little to say to those individuals.
Sending my best wishes to Frank. I am not surprised he has been supported with this number of letters.
I’m surprised that the most famous victims haven’t written letters.
Nope, they wrote books.
Building is magnificent!!! You built that !! I hope the judge sees through these earnest prosecutors to just try to convict you on something ! Continue to be the:
PEOPLE’S HERO
He is exactly that, the PEOPLE’S HERO.
Perfectly said.
If he is wrongfully convicted..,time to start the peoples hero blog…
The tax form was an error.
He paid his taxes. It’s just ridiculous that incarceration is even an option.
God bless America.
So fucking sleazy Frank. The “hero” using sexually exploited women to get him out of tax fraud. What do they even have to do with your shady real estate practices? You really are a special kind of piece of shit.
Pretty sure the Buffalo News is not and has never been owned by Frank Parlato.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Buffalo_News
he gave a voice to my horror stories. Had he not, they’d all still be silenced by all the people like you who don’t give a flying flute about humanity.
Eww what’s that stench ? One of the lying turds Parlato roasted?
whoever wrote this comment is one of the abusers or is just a lame🤭
Said Toni Nata-lie
The only recognition this commenter will ever get his whole life is a response to his little comment here.
Like a tiny little fly on a tigers back.
Nusbaum and the Bronfmans act like bullies, blackmailers and extortionists because that’s what they are.
Same with Epstein (who was “Intelligence”) and Maxwell etc. Who allowed Sara Bronfman and Joe Lieberman to interfere in Libya? Who allowed the “Rainbow Cultural Gardens” to experiment on young children’s minds? Why was Hunter Biden threatening China and doing something with bioweapons in The Ukraine?
Why did Joe Biden pretend to eat a child’s back in Finland? The guy has dementia and he’s dangerous.
Please America, pay attention to politics.
Get involved. This is serious. I hope and pray Judge Arcara is a good and smart judge.
Frank, thank you for your good work.
How can we help you?
They ARE BULLIES
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Hes OG.
How many conflicts of interest did Mr. Nusbaum not disclose to Judge Arcara when he wrote that letter to him?
Mr. Nusbaum withheld evidence from Judge Arcara. Mr. Nusbaum tried to mislead the New York courts. What penalties will Mr. Nussbaum suffer for withholding so many key facts in his letter to a judge in the New York courts? 🤔
Fuck Nusbaum. CT peditor. Ripping people off. Don’t use him in Connecticut. He’s a theif in the night.
America needs more justice and fewer laws.
Frank Parlato is a champion of Justice.
Hoping and praying good judges will stop the lawfare the Bronfmans, Nusbaum, NXIVM planners and political types etc. waged against Frank. Investigative journalists protect us, our families, our nations and our world — and lawsuits against journalists are so obviously political, now. Lawfare waged against Frank is lawfare waged on us all.
“Unless we can make the philosophic foundations of a free society once more a living intellectual issue, and its implementation a task which challenges the ingenuity and imagination of our liveliest minds, the prospects of freedom are indeed dark. But if we can regain that belief in power of ideas which was the mark of liberalism at its best, the battle is not lost.” Friedrich Hayek
https://archive.org/details/in.ernet.dli.2015.218162/page/n7/mode/2up
Well said.
Ed Nusbaum’s letter is damning – for him. He looks the fool. He might’ve been smarter to think twice it’s alright. Frank I think you could file a grievance against him for he threatened you. Not his silly fight threat but the threat to send a letter to the judge whose name he can’t spell right. If what you wrote was untrue why didn’t he sue you?
Seemed to indicate frank settled with him?
I imagine the non support letters are from mostly Dead-enders.
Toni and Ed are no surprise. Ill send old Eddy a bottle of Viagra, a spoon to freebase it in, a glass stem to smoke it from and a mirror so he can masterbate while staring at himself. That should cheer him up.
Six decades on earth, two 19-count indictments, major publicity where they’ve cast you in as negative light as possible…
And this has resulted in a single failure to report cash earnings in excess of 10,000, one time, in 2010- a full 13 years ago…
And 2 letters from individuals with zero credibility and an ax to grind for exposing their lies and fraud.
It’s time to consider what Stephen Herbits has to say about the genesis of charges against Frank Parlato.
Stephen Herbits stands for integrity.
Can Frank Report put out a story on Stephen Herbits? This man is a legend- a key figure in US history- and modest.
FP is a legend.
True that.