NXIVM

NXIVM was a <a href="/facts/Cult/PHvIWkYy">cult</a> led by <a href="/facts/Keith_Raniere/AEfjUDWo">Keith Raniere</a>, who is now a convicted <a href="/facts/Racketeering/3XySEW9F">racketeer</a> and <a href="/facts/Sex_offender/3RHfhut6">sex offender</a>. NXIVM is also the name of the defunct company that Raniere founded in 1998, which provided seminars ostensibly about <a href="/facts/Human_potential/socvGeRw">human potential</a> and served as a <a href="/facts/Front_organization/GehX8Qql">front organization</a> for criminal activity by Raniere and his close associates.
NXIVM was based in the <a href="/facts/Capital_District_(New_York)/Pf99u0pT">New York Capital District</a> and had centers in the United States, Canada, and Mexico. The subsidiary companies of NXIVM engaged in recruitment based on the <a href="/facts/Multi-level_marketing/P5frBGnS">multi-level marketing</a> model and used curricula based on teachings ("tech") of Raniere known as "Rational Inquiry". Courses attracted a variety of notable students, including actors and children of the rich and powerful. At its height, NXIVM had 700 active members. Alarmed by Raniere's behavior and NXIVM's practices, former members and families of NXIVM clients spoke to investigative journalists and described the organization as a cult. In 2017, former NXIVM members revealed damaging information about Raniere and NXIVM to <a href="/facts/The_New_York_Times/T9marWVX">The New York Times</a>; that information included the existence of a NXIVM-connected <a href="/facts/Secret_society/xq3AkToK">secret society</a> called "<a href="/facts/Keith_Raniere/AEfjUDWo">DOS</a>" in which women were <a href="/facts/Human_branding/dPBJwcJ5">branded</a>, made to record false confessions, and made to <a href="/facts/Sextortion/EA869G0n">provide nude photographs</a> for <a href="/facts/Blackmail/KJjm5fgJ">blackmail</a> purposes.
Following the New York Times exposé, the <a href="/facts/United_States_Attorney_for_the_Eastern_District_of_New_York/CzwdrCTK">United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York</a> investigated the organization, and in 2018 brought criminal charges against Raniere and other NXIVM leaders and participants containing allegations of <a href="/facts/Sex_trafficking/Kja2tpzw">sex trafficking</a>, <a href="/facts/Forced_labor/rXsxuDq5">forced labor</a>, <a href="/facts/Visa_fraud/3RBlIBYe">visa fraud</a>, and <a href="/facts/Wire_fraud/YcyoDGhC">wire fraud</a>. All defendants except Raniere pleaded guilty. Raniere was tried in 2019. Prosecutors revealed a decades-long pattern of <a href="/facts/Child_grooming/fJQodhk4">grooming</a>, <a href="/facts/Sexual_abuse/33W0q0IS">sexual abuse</a> of girls and women, physical and psychological punishments against dissenters, and <a href="/facts/Hacking_of_consumer_electronics/MzfGgbT6">hacking</a> and <a href="/facts/Vexatious_litigation/TJsrmhud">vexatious litigation</a> against enemies.
On June 19, 2019, Raniere was convicted on the top charge of racketeering and racketeering conspiracy as well as several other charges and was sentenced to 120 years' imprisonment. Following Raniere's conviction, the <a href="/facts/United_States_Department_of_Justice/2SuTuevo">Department of Justice</a> seized ownership of NXIVM-related entities and their <a href="/facts/Intellectual_property/PqHW9mVP">intellectual property</a> through <a href="/facts/Asset_forfeiture/TLHxU5pG">asset forfeiture</a>. Defendants Clare Bronfman, Nancy Salzman, and Allison Mack were given lesser prison sentences, and defendants Lauren Salzman and Kathy Russell were each given non-prison sentences. Since Raniere's conviction, he has continued to direct a small set of loyal members from his prison cell, encouraging continued recruitment.

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NXIVM