40 ICSA TODAY 38
gave contradictory and misleading testimony. The patents
were assigned to a company in Spokane, Wash.—Global
Technologies, Inc.—and listed Raniere and three others as the
inventors, records show. The patents detailed technology to
allow teleconferencing over standard telephone lines while
users could exchange data and other electronic information
without interruption. ...The court awarded $300,295 to AT&T
and $143,719 to Microsoft in attorney fees and costs. The
appellate decision was handed down as Raniere remains in the
custody of U.S. marshals in an unrelated criminal case in which
he is charged with sex trafficking and conspiracy to commit
forced labor. Raniere has been incarcerated without bond
since he was deported from Mexico on March 25 and taken
into custody by federal law enforcement officials in Texas. He is
being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn
a hearing in his case is scheduled to take place April 27. It’s
unclear if Raniere has financial assets to pay the penalty in
the civil case. The Justice Department said that for the past 18
months Raniere had been using a credit card and bank account
in the name of a former NXIVM associate and girlfriend, Pamela
Cafritz, who died in November 2016. Federal prosecutors said
the bank account has about $8 million, but have not said
whether they would move to seize the account.” (Albany Times
Union, 04/19/18)
Heiress takes over alleged sex cult after actress’s arrest
“Now that Smallville actress Allison Mack has been arrested on
sex trafficking and forced labour charges, the so-called sex cult
she allegedly helped create has a new leader, former insiders
say. Heiress to Canadian liquor fortune Clare Bronfman is
now in charge of an estimated dozen or more ‘slaves’ spread
between New York and Toronto, according to former N[XIVM]
publicist Frank Parlato—though that could potentially
change if Mack is granted bail this week. The alleged sex cult
is an offshoot of N[XIVM], a pyramid-like self-help organization
founded by Keith Raniere. Women recruited into the secret
group were branded with Mack and Raniere’s initials and
allegedly blackmailed into unwanted sex. Women were then
required to recruit more ‘slaves’ into the group, which at one
point boasted more than 50 members. ...Raniere claims
to have one of the highest IQ scores on Earth and requires
students to call him ‘Vanguard’ and bow to him. He was
arrested in late March on sex trafficking and forced labour
charges and was not granted bail. According to a criminal
complaint and US prosecutor statements this week, Mack
helped ‘groom’ women for sex with Raniere. Her ‘slaves’ are
required to hand over naked photos as ‘collateral’ which they
believed would be released if they spoke out about the group.
The women are also kept on near-starvation diets and coerced
into free labour at all hours of the night and day—a practice
Parlato says has eased slightly in Raniere’s absence. ...Mack will
find out early this week whether or not she will be released on
bail. US prosecutors have asked for ‘substantial secured bond’
as well as house arrest and electronic monitoring ‘given the
serious risk of flight and danger to the community that the
defendant poses.’” (VICE News, 04/23/18)
Judge denies bail for founder of alleged sex cult
“A federal judge in New York has denied bail for an alleged sex
cult founder in his sex-trafficking case after questions were
raised about an heiress who has bankrolled him. Lawyers
for Keith Raniere had sought his release on Tuesday on $10
million bond, but the judge sided with prosecutors who
argued he could flee with the help of benefactors known to
include Clare Bronfman, an heiress to the Seagram’s liquor
fortune. Assistant U.S. Attorney Moira Penza labeled a person
fitting the description of Bronfman as a co-conspirator in the
case.” (NBC News, 6/12/18)
NXIVM suspending all operations
“NXIVM announced it is suspending all operations until further
notice. The Capital Region cult says it will be in touch with
more information for anyone currently enrolled in upcoming
events and programs. ‘While we are disappointed by the
interruption of our operations, we believe it is warranted by
the extraordinary circumstances facing the company at this
time. We continue to believe in the value and importance of
our work and look forward to resuming our efforts when these
allegations are resolved.’ Actress Allison Mack, 35, of Brooklyn,
N.Y., is facing trafficking charges for her involvement in NXIVM.
Keith Raniere, 57, of Waterford, N.Y., is the leader of the cult
that masquerades as a self-[help] group, was arraigned on
similar charges. According to NXIVM, the company’s mission
is to ‘raise human awareness, foster an ethical humanitarian
civilization, and celebrate what it means to be human.’” (News
10, 6/12/18)
Scientology exhibit at city hall draws criticism
“Scientology books and iconography sat in an interfaith
display case in Edmonton’s city hall last Thursday. The religion,
which has seen controversy in some countries and that was
founded… by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, has
a church in Edmonton [Canada], and is a member of the
interfaith group that runs the space in a partnership with
the city. However, when an image of the display surfaced
on the city’s subreddit, users quickly took exception to
Scientology’s inclusion in the government building. … The
Edmonton Interfaith Centre for Education and Action counts
around a dozen religions—Indigenous religions, Sikhism,
Christianity, Scientology, etc.—as members. Each member
gets around a month to showcase their faith in the cabinet,
which has been used in this capacity for around 12 years,
says John Dowds, chaplain with the City of Edmonton. ...
According to its coordinator Netta Phillet, the Interfaith
Centre requires [that] a member religion be 50 years old,
have existed in Edmonton for 25 years, [and] be practiced
on three continents—Scientology meets all these criteria.
Additionally, members need to be a recognized religion in
Canada, and cannot promote hatred, Dowds says. While Phillet
has heard concerns about Scientology before, she says that
all religions in the world have a sordid history, and the centre
practices inclusion, not exclusion. ...Sociology professor at the
University of Alberta, Steven Kent has researched the Church
gave contradictory and misleading testimony. The patents
were assigned to a company in Spokane, Wash.—Global
Technologies, Inc.—and listed Raniere and three others as the
inventors, records show. The patents detailed technology to
allow teleconferencing over standard telephone lines while
users could exchange data and other electronic information
without interruption. ...The court awarded $300,295 to AT&T
and $143,719 to Microsoft in attorney fees and costs. The
appellate decision was handed down as Raniere remains in the
custody of U.S. marshals in an unrelated criminal case in which
he is charged with sex trafficking and conspiracy to commit
forced labor. Raniere has been incarcerated without bond
since he was deported from Mexico on March 25 and taken
into custody by federal law enforcement officials in Texas. He is
being held at the Metropolitan Detention Center in Brooklyn
a hearing in his case is scheduled to take place April 27. It’s
unclear if Raniere has financial assets to pay the penalty in
the civil case. The Justice Department said that for the past 18
months Raniere had been using a credit card and bank account
in the name of a former NXIVM associate and girlfriend, Pamela
Cafritz, who died in November 2016. Federal prosecutors said
the bank account has about $8 million, but have not said
whether they would move to seize the account.” (Albany Times
Union, 04/19/18)
Heiress takes over alleged sex cult after actress’s arrest
“Now that Smallville actress Allison Mack has been arrested on
sex trafficking and forced labour charges, the so-called sex cult
she allegedly helped create has a new leader, former insiders
say. Heiress to Canadian liquor fortune Clare Bronfman is
now in charge of an estimated dozen or more ‘slaves’ spread
between New York and Toronto, according to former N[XIVM]
publicist Frank Parlato—though that could potentially
change if Mack is granted bail this week. The alleged sex cult
is an offshoot of N[XIVM], a pyramid-like self-help organization
founded by Keith Raniere. Women recruited into the secret
group were branded with Mack and Raniere’s initials and
allegedly blackmailed into unwanted sex. Women were then
required to recruit more ‘slaves’ into the group, which at one
point boasted more than 50 members. ...Raniere claims
to have one of the highest IQ scores on Earth and requires
students to call him ‘Vanguard’ and bow to him. He was
arrested in late March on sex trafficking and forced labour
charges and was not granted bail. According to a criminal
complaint and US prosecutor statements this week, Mack
helped ‘groom’ women for sex with Raniere. Her ‘slaves’ are
required to hand over naked photos as ‘collateral’ which they
believed would be released if they spoke out about the group.
The women are also kept on near-starvation diets and coerced
into free labour at all hours of the night and day—a practice
Parlato says has eased slightly in Raniere’s absence. ...Mack will
find out early this week whether or not she will be released on
bail. US prosecutors have asked for ‘substantial secured bond’
as well as house arrest and electronic monitoring ‘given the
serious risk of flight and danger to the community that the
defendant poses.’” (VICE News, 04/23/18)
Judge denies bail for founder of alleged sex cult
“A federal judge in New York has denied bail for an alleged sex
cult founder in his sex-trafficking case after questions were
raised about an heiress who has bankrolled him. Lawyers
for Keith Raniere had sought his release on Tuesday on $10
million bond, but the judge sided with prosecutors who
argued he could flee with the help of benefactors known to
include Clare Bronfman, an heiress to the Seagram’s liquor
fortune. Assistant U.S. Attorney Moira Penza labeled a person
fitting the description of Bronfman as a co-conspirator in the
case.” (NBC News, 6/12/18)
NXIVM suspending all operations
“NXIVM announced it is suspending all operations until further
notice. The Capital Region cult says it will be in touch with
more information for anyone currently enrolled in upcoming
events and programs. ‘While we are disappointed by the
interruption of our operations, we believe it is warranted by
the extraordinary circumstances facing the company at this
time. We continue to believe in the value and importance of
our work and look forward to resuming our efforts when these
allegations are resolved.’ Actress Allison Mack, 35, of Brooklyn,
N.Y., is facing trafficking charges for her involvement in NXIVM.
Keith Raniere, 57, of Waterford, N.Y., is the leader of the cult
that masquerades as a self-[help] group, was arraigned on
similar charges. According to NXIVM, the company’s mission
is to ‘raise human awareness, foster an ethical humanitarian
civilization, and celebrate what it means to be human.’” (News
10, 6/12/18)
Scientology exhibit at city hall draws criticism
“Scientology books and iconography sat in an interfaith
display case in Edmonton’s city hall last Thursday. The religion,
which has seen controversy in some countries and that was
founded… by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, has
a church in Edmonton [Canada], and is a member of the
interfaith group that runs the space in a partnership with
the city. However, when an image of the display surfaced
on the city’s subreddit, users quickly took exception to
Scientology’s inclusion in the government building. … The
Edmonton Interfaith Centre for Education and Action counts
around a dozen religions—Indigenous religions, Sikhism,
Christianity, Scientology, etc.—as members. Each member
gets around a month to showcase their faith in the cabinet,
which has been used in this capacity for around 12 years,
says John Dowds, chaplain with the City of Edmonton. ...
According to its coordinator Netta Phillet, the Interfaith
Centre requires [that] a member religion be 50 years old,
have existed in Edmonton for 25 years, [and] be practiced
on three continents—Scientology meets all these criteria.
Additionally, members need to be a recognized religion in
Canada, and cannot promote hatred, Dowds says. While Phillet
has heard concerns about Scientology before, she says that
all religions in the world have a sordid history, and the centre
practices inclusion, not exclusion. ...Sociology professor at the
University of Alberta, Steven Kent has researched the Church
