What is NXIVM (pronounced nek-see-um)? NXIVM was started in 1998 in the upstate NY area by disgraced multi-level-marketer Keith Raniere and bills itself as an organization for personal development that trains people in "human empowerment". In March 2018, Raniere and five of his top inner-circle were indicted by Federal authorities on a variety of charges related to racketeering, conspiracy, money-laundering, sex offenses, human trafficking, and more. The five other women have all pleaded out around April, leaving Raniere as the only person at the jury trial that started on May 7th. Raniere and his top lieutenants have long, deep ties to many NY politicians including Clinton, Gillibrand, Cuomo, and others. The news media is barely reporting this story for obvious reasons. Previous NXIVM updates can be found on my homepage Here.
Jaye's reaction to Marc Agnifilo's cross-examination Tuesday was...stoic. The defense was trying to portray her not as a victim, but a willing participant in the depraved acts of Raniere and DOS. She was firm and confident in her answers and not intimidated by implied proof of affections that Agnifilo.
We've known since last December that Clare Bronfman started a trust to pay for her co-defendant's legal bills. Naturally, Clare used her own (nearly limitless) money for her defense. What we now know is how much she forked over - around $14 million. That money is pretty much all gone now. The judge made an issue of this before the trial, expressing concern that the trial would last longer than the trust. As it turns out, once the five ladies pleaded out, the money has lasted long enough for Raniere's lawyers to get paid.
Keith Raniere just doesn't pay for anything himself. That was partially due to his inevitable legal jeopardy for a variety of financial crimes both past and present (qv Raniere's old business Consumer Buyline). A former IRS investigator testified on Raniere's use of his dead girlfriend's credit card and bank account long after she passed. The deceased is Pam Caffritz who died from cancer in November 2016. Raniere promised that he would heal her with his Vanguard powers, so she did not get any medical treatment until very late. She died leaving millions. Raniere ran up about $18,000 a month in credit card bills, then used Pam's checkbook to pay them off. He was paying for his own doctor bills, erectile disfunction medicine, restaurants, travel expenses and who knows what all. On cross-examination though, Marc Agnifilo entered documents into evidence that verified that Raniere was named executor of her estate and sole benefactor of her will. This was pretty much the first time Agnifilo had a very strong cross-examination. However Raniere got her money, and whatever he spent it on, was legally his. The details are in the second half of this article. If he hadn't been arrested, we imagine he would still be using her money. Just not paying any taxes with it.
Noted cult expert and founder of the Cult Education Institute, Rick Ross, testified Wednesday. He said once he started looking into NXIVM, he found many parallels with Raniere and L. Ron Hubbard, and NXIVM and scientology. The last witness Wednesday was FBI Agent Booth, a forensic examiner and IT specialist. He testified about a hard drive and camera taken from Raniere's place. He also discussed the meta-data on photos, and how a certain photo (of Camila) was taken in 2005, when she was fifteen. Notes from both testimonies are over here.
The judge said Wednesday that the prosecution would likely finish their case on Thursday or Friday. It doesn't look like Thursday, but things are certainly winding down. The next phase will be presenting closing arguments. The big questions right now are whether Agnifilo will even present a case for the defense, and whether Raniere might deliver the closing argument. Once both sides are done, the jury will go into deliberations sometime next week.
Another notable thing happened with the testimony of an FBI agent today. He mentioned Emiliano Salinas. A lot. Could there be some more legal action in the offing?
Bump
Thanks for the update. What are the charges again?
That's a scary consideration of raniere doing the closing argument. If he does, he'll probably take three hours, be so charming and convincing that he's the victim, the jury will wonder why he was ever charged. I wonder how many on the jury had any experience with psychopaths.
Thank you for the updates. Hoping the jury is as disgusted as I am learning about this pos.
Agnifilo says no defense because prosecution did not prove any of the charges.
More later.