NXIVM ( NEK-see-əm) was a cult led by Keith Raniere. NXIVM is also the name of the defunct company that Raniere founded in 1998, which provided seminars ostensibly about human potential development, and served as a front organization for criminal activity by Raniere and his close associates. Following Raniere's multiple convictions in 2019 for racketeering and sex offences, the Department of Justice seized ownership of NXIVM-related entities and their intellectual property through asset forfeiture.
The NXIVM Corporation was based in the New York Capital District and had centers throughout the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The subsidiary companies of NXIVM recruited based on the multi-level marketing model and used curricula based on the intellectual property ("tech") of Raniere called "Rational Inquiry". Courses attracted a variety of notable students including actors as well as the children of the rich and powerful. At its height, NXIVM had 700 active members.
Over its existence, former members and families of NXIVM clients, alarmed by Raniere's behavior and NXIVM's practices, spoke to investigative journalists of Forbes, Vanity Fair, The New York Observer, and the Times Union of Albany describing the organization as a cult. The organization was criticized in similar terms by Rick Alan Ross of the Cult Education Institute and activists and academics. In 2017, former members Sarah Edmondson, Bonnie Piesse and Mark Vicente, as well as Catherine Oxenberg (mother of member India Oxenberg) spoke to The New York Times and revealed grave concerns about Raniere and NXIVM, including the existence of a secret society called "DOS" in which women were branded, made to record false confessions and provide nude photographs for blackmail.
Following the New York Times exposé, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York investigated the organization, and in 2018 brought criminal charges against Raniere, co-founder Nancy Salzman and her daughter Lauren, actress Allison Mack, Seagram heiress Clare Bronfman, and bookkeeper Kathy Russell. The U.S. Attorney's Office argued in its Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act prosecution that NXIVM and its subsidiaries existed to promote, enhance and protect Raniere and members of the enterprise. The indictment alleges that Raniere and his co-defendants comprised an organized racketeering enterprise by recruiting others into NXIVM and DOS for financial and personal benefits and committed crimes ranging from sex trafficking to forced labor and visa and wire fraud. All defendants except for Raniere pled guilty.
Raniere chose to go to trial in 2019. Prosecutors revealed a decades-long pattern of grooming, sexual abuse of girls and women, physical and psychological punishments against dissenters, and hacking and vexatious litigation against enemies. Raniere was convicted on the top charge of racketeering and racketeering conspiracy as well as several other charges. Judge Nicholas Garaufis sentenced Raniere to 120 years imprisonment. Co-conspirators Clare Bronfman, Nancy Salzman, and Allison Mack were given lesser prison sentences. Lauren Salzman and Kathy Russell were each given non-prison sentences. Following Raniere's conviction, he continues to direct a small set of loyal members from his prison cell, encouraging continued recruitment. At his direction, members of the group danced outside Raniere's jail and staged protests against individual prosecutors. Based on statements of support, it was estimated that about 50 to 60 persons remain loyal to Raniere.
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