NXIVM
NXIVM was an American multi-level marketing company based near Albany, New York, that offered personal and professional development seminars through its "Executive Success Programs".[1] The company has been described as a cult and a pyramid scheme that also served as a recruiting platform for a secret society (variously called "DOS" or "The Vow") in which women were branded and forced into sexual slavery.
|
In early 2018, NXIVM founder Keith Raniere and his associate, actress Allison Mack, were arrested and indicted on federal charges related to DOS, including sex trafficking.[2] Others associated with NXIVM were also charged with federal crimes. As of April 2019, five people associated with NXIVM—Mack, NXIVM co-founder Nancy Salzman, Lauren Salzman, Seagram heiress Clare Bronfman, and bookkeeper Kathy Russell—had pleaded guilty to various charges.[3][4] Raniere's federal trial began on May 7, 2019. On June 19, 2019, he was convicted of sex trafficking and racketeering.