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Officials in New York State plan to review why regulators and others did not act after women involved with a secretive group reported they had been branded with a cauterizing device or traumatized during an “experiment,” said a spokesman for Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo.
The review will also examine whether state officials should now pursue those complaints, said that spokesman, Richard Azzopardi. The women were former members of an Albany-based group called Nxivm that offers self-improvement courses.
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Mr. Azzopardi said in his statement: “The allegations in this article are disturbing. Counsel’s Office will be reviewing this matter to determine if applicable laws, regulations and procedures were followed by the agencies cited in this report and that review will determine if further action is warranted.”
In a letter
[www.documentcloud.org]
the State Department of Health said it would not look into Dr. Roberts because she had not been acting as a doctor treating a patient when the branding is said to have happened. (see footnote)
Medical regulators also declined to act on a complaint against Dr. Porter because it had concluded his activities did not meet the agency’s definition of “medical misconduct,” their letter shows.
[www.documentcloud.org]
The New York State Commissioner of Health, Dr. Howard Zucker, did not respond to two emails sent to him on Wednesday.
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The state attorney general's office is investigating a nonprofit foundation associated with the NXIVM corporation that allegedly sponsored brain-activity and other human behavioral studies without any apparent oversight, according to court records.
The nonprofit Ethical Science Foundation was formed in 2007 by Clare W. Bronfman, an heiress of the Seagram Co. business empire who has described herself as the operations director of NXIVM. Bronfman, who owns a horse farm in Delanson, is listed in public records as the trustee and donor of the Ethical Science Foundation.
At the request of the attorney general's office, a state Supreme Court justice recently signed an order directing Bronfman and Dr. Brandon B. Porter, who is involved with NXIVM and conducted the human studies, to turn over all documentation associated with the research, including any written communications, videos, conclusions, consent forms and the names and addresses of "individuals associated with Ethical Science Foundation who participated in any manner with the studies."
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The woman also provided the Times Union with a written outline detailing her involvement in the study of obsessive compulsive disorder. She was with NXIVM from 2012 until June 2017 and said she had been diagnosed with OCD in 2000 and took medication to treat the condition.
In August 2016, during a NXIVM retreat in the Lake George region, Salzman, who co-founded NXIVM with Raniere and has a nursing background, "informed me they were still interested in using me for the OCD study. She told me that ... Dr. Brandon Porter would connect me to a brain wave cap and measure my brain activity while the (NXIVM executive success program) technology was used on me."
The woman said that she had been required to have her psychiatrist write a letter acknowledging her care would be transferred to Porter. She said Porter and Salzman were involved when she took part in two brain-activity studies in the fall of 2016.
Later, the woman said, after she had uploaded information about her participation in the study on a Facebook post, Salzman contacted her.
"I remember her telling me in that call that I was not to speak of being part of the study," she said.
In a follow-up session with Porter, she said, he asked her how she felt about her weight, what part of her body she obsesses about, and about "murder, harming myself, harming others and other more depraved topics."
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Emiliano Salinas, son of former Mexican president Carlos Salinas, and head of NXIVM Mexico, has issued an official statement retracting and withdrawing support of Nxivm leader, Keith Raniere....Raniere was arrested last week in Mexico and deported to the US where he faces US charges of sex trafficking and forced labor.
Emiliano Salinas is reportedly under investigation by the FBI in the Eastern District of New York, and is believed to have been a longtime co-conspirator with Raniere committing crimes of bulk cash smuggling and tax evasion both in Mexico and the USA.
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The cult was based in Knox Woods, a housing development in Halfmoon where members are believed to have bought some 25 homes.
Raniere would often be seen taking late night walks with young girls - who were chosen to accompany him only if he wanted to bed them.
Other residents in the development became so disgusted by his antics that one even turned her hose on him when he walked by.
One resident told DailyMail.com: 'He dresses like a schlub, always in a royal blue shirt and shorts or sweats in the winter.
'A few times I even saw without a shirt. He is certainly no more than 5'8', his body is sort of square - seeing him shirtless is not a pretty sight.'
He had a small townhouse - known by neighbors as 'Keith's f**kpad' - where he would take his women for sex.
'Some slaves were told that they had to collateralize all aspects of their lives, including signing over any assets, disclaiming their faith and doing things that would ruin their careers and relationships if the collateral were released,' FBI Special Agent Michael Lever wrote in his complaint to the court.
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Nxivm gave big political donations, to both Republicans and Democrats, to state senate leader Joseph Bruno and Hillary Clinton, covering all the bases, trying to buy protection from investigators. It worked for years. Not any more.
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Raniere and Mack were charged with 18 U.S. Code § 1591 - Sex trafficking of children or by force, fraud, or coercion. Minimum 15 years to life sentences on the federal level. The indictments of them both list the charges, easily found online. Mack is rolling over, she would not have gotten bail otherwise; he received no bond. She held the women down while they were being branded, and is listed on the indictment as 'Co-conspirator 1.'
Now the Bronfman sisters but especially Claire and the Salzmans (mother & daughter) need to be charged as well. Underage groomed exploited teenagers from foreign countries, sent to the cult to work as nannies or some other flimsy BS--those are the ones who deserve sympathy.
Mack is 35, old enough to know better, old enough to have looked up this turd's past. She did have the internet. The media has been writing about him with the latest incarnation since 2003 in Forbes, a Vanity Fair expose in 2010, a ton of articles in between.
There is also a child, adopted apparently by Raniere, being raised by one of these women. He is the golden child, the product of Raniere's teaching ideas, we'll see what comes of that horrible situation.
Clare Bronfman was funding human experimentation, a la Clockwork Orange, which involved showing women things like decapitation videos, to study their reactions. These people are truly sick. The other big question is how was this allowed to progress in spite of complaints, vexatious litigation, lawsuits dismissed because they were either absurd or Claire was caught lying, parents going to state officials, telling them what was going on.
Nxivm gave big political donations, to both Republicans and Democrats, to state senate leader Joseph Bruno and Hillary Clinton, covering all the bases, trying to buy protection from investigators. It worked for years. Not any more.