The infamous Nxivm sex cult had enemies – kept a list of them – and collected information on them, according to testimony at the trial of one of the group’s leaders.
By: Anders McClean
The group’s leaders went so far as to collection banking information on those he considered opponents, including, interestingly, New York State Senator Charles Schumer.
These insights came to light last year, when federal agents rifled through the home of one of the cult’s senior leaders, Nancy Salzman. Kept in a clear plastic box with a red lid in her basement, FBI investigators uncovered reams of financial reports bearing the names of journalists, judges, cult experts and more, including then state attorney general, Eliot Spitzer and New York’s Senate majority leader, Joseph Bruno.
According to FBI sources, much of the information contained in the folders was not accurate.
“The vast majority of the individuals that had folders inside the box were individuals that had some type of criticism of Nxivm and or the defendant,” an FBI official testified in court. Keith Raniere, Nxivm’s leader, is being tried on racketeering and sex trafficking charges.
The prosecution officially closed its case on Friday. The defense decided not to call any witnesses.
“Earlier in the trial, a witness identified only as Daniela said Nxivm tried to obtain personal information and banking records of people on a “list of enemies” who members believed wanted to destroy the group,” the New York Times reported. “She added that she hacked into the computer accounts of several people at the behest of Mr. Raniere and a Nxivm member named Kristin Keeffe.”
As part of that effort, Daniela said, “she obtained years of emails from the account of the liquor magnate Edgar M. Bronfman Sr., whose daughter, Clare Bronfman, was a senior member of Nxivm,” the Times piece continued. “Among those whose names appeared on folders in Ms. Salzman’s basement were journalists with The Albany Times Union, which had run investigative stories about Nxivm, and four federal judges who had presided over cases involving the group.”
Last week, Smallville actress and accused sex cult slave Allison Mack, together co-defendants in the case, including Salzman, signed away rights to various properties located in the alleged cult’s stomping grounds — including Mack’s abode at 7 Generals Way in Clifton Park.
“One of Mack’s slaves, identified only as “Nicole,” testified during Nxivm leader Keith Raniere’s sex trafficking trial that she was branded with his initials at the townhouse,” according to Fox News.
