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Clare Bronfman

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Clare Bronfman
Born
Clare Webb Bronfman[1]

1979 (age 44–45)
New York, United States
OrganizationNXIVM
Criminal charges
Criminal penalty
  • 81 months imprisonment
  • 3 years supervised release with special conditions
  • $200 special assessment
  • $96,605.25 restitution
  • $500,000 fine
  • $6 million forfeiture money judgment
Criminal statusConvicted
Parents
Relatives
FamilyBronfman family
Websitevia Internet Archive

Clare Webb Bronfman (born 1979) is an American heiress, convicted felon and former leader of NXIVM, a multi-level marketing company and cult based near Albany, New York. She is the youngest daughter of billionaire philanthropist and former Seagram liquor chairman Edgar Bronfman Sr. After a brief equestrian career, Bronfman began involvement in NXIVM, a business engaged in criminal activities during 1998–2018, which led to indictments on federal charges, including sex trafficking.

In April 2019, Bronfman pleaded guilty to conspiracy to conceal and harbor illegal aliens for financial gain, and to fraudulent use of identification.[2] The prosecution requested a sentence of five years in prison.[3][4] In September 2020, Judge Nicholas Garaufis sentenced Bronfman to six years and nine months imprisonment.[5]

Background

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Bronfman is a daughter of Canadian billionaire Edgar Bronfman Sr. and Rita Webb, the daughter of an English pub owner from Essex, England. Bronfman's parents met in Marbella, Spain.[6][7] The couple married in 1975, two years after Edgar Bronfman's divorce from his first wife. Webb gave birth to Sara the following year, and had Clare two-and-a-half years later.[6] Shortly after Clare's birth, Webb (who had renamed herself Georgiana) asked Edgar for a divorce. They remarried in 1983, but again divorced. After their parents' second divorce, the girls visited their father at his estates outside Charlottesville, Virginia, and in Westchester County; his home in Sun Valley; and his apartment on Fifth Avenue. However, they resided in England and in Kenya with their mother.[6][8] Bronfman is of Jewish ancestry on her father's side.[9]

Equestrian career

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In December 1999, Bronfman competed in the Millstreet Indoor International Horse Show.[10] In May 2001, Bronfman won the Grand Prix at CSI-A Eindhoven (NED).[11] On September 23, 2001, Bronfman's team placed seventh in the World Final of the Samsung Nations Cup Series (Jumping).[12] On May 26, 2002, Bronfman won the Grand Prix in Rome (ITA); her team placed sixth in the competition.[13] In October 2002, Bronfman placed 13th at the CSI-A competition in Bremen.[14]

On October 1, 2018, after her involvement with the NXIVM group came to light, Bronfman was permanently banned by the United States Center for SafeSport, which investigates and issues sanctions to members of Olympic sports accused of sexual misconduct. This rendered her ineligible for any involvement with the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF), which governs horse sports in the United States.[15]

NXIVM involvement and criminal prosecution

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Nxivm Indictment

Through her sister Sara, Clare Bronfman became involved in 2002[16] in NXIVM's personal advancement program and "Executive Success Program" ("ESP") workshops.[8] The sisters became committed followers and financial backers of NXIVM founder Keith Raniere, relocating to upstate New York to work as NXIVM trainers.[17][18] Clare Bronfman also served as event coordinator for "Vanguard Week," an annual festival celebrating Raniere's birthday, stating that "the purpose of 'V Week' is to get the chance to experience a civilized world... [and] craft for ourselves a more fulfilling, purposeful life."[17]

Conflict with father

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Clare and her sister introduced their father, billionaire Edgar Bronfman, Sr., to NXIVM. Edgar broke with the group after learning that Clare had given Raniere and Salzman a $2 million "loan" at 2.5% interest. In October 2003, Forbes magazine featured Raniere on its cover along with the title "The World's Strangest Executive Coach". The article quoted Edgar Bronfman, Sr. as stating that he thought NXIVM was "a cult".[19] Clare Bronfman eventually became "NXIVM's operations director and one of its largest financial contributors".[2] Raniere reportedly blamed Clare Bronfman for the bad publicity, faulting her for telling her father about the $2 million loan. Ultimately, Clare Bronfman would spend $150 million on NXIVM.[20]

Clare Bronfman installed keylogger software on her father's computer, allowing NXIVM members to access his email for years thereafter.[21] From 2007 to 2009, Clare Bronfman, allegedly at the direction of Raniere, employed private firms to investigate perceived enemies of the group, including six American federal judges.[22]

Collaboration with the Dalai Lama

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Eager to distance themselves from cult allegations in the press, NXIVM members sought the endorsement of the Dalai Lama, spending $2 million on the project.[20] Clare, along with her sister Sara, and NXIVM founder Keith Raniere formed an organization called the World Ethical Foundations Consortium.[23][24][25]

Clare and Sara were credited with being able to bring the Dalai Lama to Albany to participate in the World Ethical Foundations Consortium's inaugural event on May 6, 2009.[8][26] On May 6, 2009, the Dalai Lama traveled to Albany, NXIVM's hometown, to give a talk; during the event, he presented Raniere with a khatag (the ceremonial white scarf with the symbolic meaning of "purity" in Tibetan Buddhism) onstage.

The Dalai Lama additionally wrote already in April 2009, the foreword to Ranieri's occult book entitled The Sphinx & Thelxiepeia.[27][28] Eight years later, it would be revealed Clare's sister Sara had a 2009 sexual relationship with Lama Tenzin Dhonden, the Dalai Lama's gatekeeper who arranged the appearance, who as a monk had taken a vow of celibacy.[29] Amid accusations of corruption, Dhonden was replaced.[30][31]

Media investigations

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In June 2017, NXIVM member Sarah Edmondson revealed the existence of a "secret sisterhood" within NXIVM to Frank Parlato, who published the story on the Frank Report.[32] Edmondson revealed that within the secret group, female members were allegedly referred to as "slaves," branded with the initials of Raniere, subjected to corporal punishment from their "masters", and required to provide nude photos or other potentially damaging information about themselves as "collateral".[33][34][35][36][37]

In July and September 2017, Clare Bronfman was contacted by multiple women who were part of DOS, demanding return or destruction of their collateral, but she failed to respond.[21] In July 2017, she contacted the New York City Police Department and the Vancouver Police Department, attempting to have criminal charges filed against DOS whistleblower Sarah Edmondson.[21] In September, she and Raniere drafted letters which were ultimately sent by attorneys in Mexico to DOS whistleblowers, threatening them with criminal prosecution.[21]

Arrest and guilty plea

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I am troubled by evidence suggesting that Ms. Bronfman repeatedly and consistently leveraged her wealth and social status as a means of intimidating, controlling, and punishing...I don't know how many other multimillionaires are out there, ready to devote the limitless resources at their disposal to supporting pyramid schemes run by dangerous criminals.[5]

Federal judge Nicholas G. Garaufis when sentencing Bronfman in September 2020

In 2018, Raniere and associate Allison Mack were arrested and indicted on several federal charges involving a cult alleged to operate within NXIVM; the charges included sex trafficking, sex trafficking conspiracy, and conspiracy to commit forced labor.[38][39][40][41][42] Bronfman was arrested by federal agents on July 24, 2018, in New York City, and charged with money laundering and identity theft in connection with NXIVM activities. She pleaded not guilty in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn. She was released on $100 million bond and placed on house arrest with electronic monitoring. Also charged were Bronfman's long-time mentor and NXIVM president Nancy Salzman; Salzman's daughter, NXIVM executive board member Lauren Salzman; and former NXIVM bookkeeper Kathy Russell.[43]

On April 19, 2019, Bronfman pleaded guilty to conspiracy to conceal and harbor illegal aliens for financial gain and fraudulent use of identification. The prosecution asked for five years in prison, and she agreed to forfeit $6 million.[2][4] On September 30, 2020, she was sentenced to six years, nine months in prison by a federal judge.[5] In addition, she was fined $500,000 and was ordered to pay restitution to victim "Jane Doe 12" in the amount of $96,605.[44]

A week after her sentencing, her lawyers asked that she be freed from the Metropolitan Detention Center, Brooklyn, while she appealed her sentence. Her lawyers called it "disparate with the sentences received by other individuals who pleaded or were found guilty of similar non-violent crimes", particularly since the prosecution had asked for only five years. Bronfman also had a liver condition that made her a higher risk for contracting COVID-19 in prison, they said.[45] Her lawyers and the judge had already agreed that she could serve her sentence at a minimum security facility near the New York area.[46] She spent the early part of her sentence at FDC Philadelphia, a temporary/in-transit federal prison facility normally used to house inmates prior to or during court proceedings.[47] Bronfman was then transferred to Federal Correctional Institution, Danbury. She was then transferred back to FDC Philadelphia.[48]

Bronfman was released to a halfway house in the Bronx on May 4, 2024.[49]

Civil lawsuit

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In January 2020, several NXIVM individuals, including Clare and her sister Sara, were named defendants in a civil lawsuit filed in federal court by 80 former NXIVM members. The lawsuit details allegations of fraud and abuse and charging the NXIVM organization of being a pyramid scheme, exploitation of its recruits and conducting illegal human experiments and making it "physically and psychologically difficult, and in some cases impossible, to leave the coercive community."[50][51][52]

References

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  1. ^ "Chronicle". The Idaho Statesman. Boise, Idaho. July 12, 1997. p. 16. Retrieved April 24, 2024.
  2. ^ a b c Lyons, Brendan J. (April 20, 2019). "Bronfman, Russell plead guilty in NXIVM case". Times Union.
  3. ^ Gavin, Robert (May 21, 2020). "Clare Bronfman, citing pandemic, asks for delay in NXIVM sentencing". Times Union. Retrieved September 2, 2020.
  4. ^ a b Gavin, Robert (September 14, 2020). "Feds want Clare Bronfman to serve five years in prison". Times Union. Retrieved October 2, 2020.
  5. ^ a b c Hong, Nicole (September 30, 2020). "Clare Bronfman Is Sentenced to 81 Months in Nxivm 'Sex Cult' Case". The New York Times. Retrieved September 30, 2020.
  6. ^ a b c Andrews, Suzanna (November 2010). "The Heiresses and the Cult". Vanity Fair. Retrieved April 24, 2011.
  7. ^ Kandell, Jonathan (December 22, 2013). "Edgar M. Bronfman, Who Built a Bigger, More Elegant Seagram, Dies at 84". The New York Times.
  8. ^ a b c Tkacik, Maureen (August 10, 2010). "Poor Little Rich Girls: The Ballad of Sara and Clare Bronfman". The New York Observer. Archived from the original on January 18, 2012. Retrieved April 24, 2011.
  9. ^ "Jewish heiress Clare Bronfman arrested for involvement in alleged sex cult". Cleveland Jewish News. July 18, 2018. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  10. ^ Mulvihill, Frank (December 1999). "Millstreet Indoor International Horse Show". Ireland's Horse Review. Archived from the original on March 24, 2012. Retrieved June 4, 2011.
  11. ^ Parkes, Louise (May 28, 2001). "Snowjumping - Lennon on Song". The Independent. London. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  12. ^ "Warm Reception For U.S. Riders in Nations Cup Final". USA Equestrian. Archived from the original on January 25, 2013. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  13. ^ "Clare Bronfman Wins The Grand Prix At CSIO Rome". Equiworld Magazine. May 2002. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  14. ^ "US Show Jumping Riders Off to a Good Start in the European Indoor Circuit". Equiworld Magazine. October 2002. Retrieved November 29, 2011.
  15. ^ "US Equestrian: Safe Sport". US Equestrian. Retrieved June 4, 2021.
  16. ^ Kranc, Lauren (September 30, 2020). "Seagrams Heiresses Clare and Sara Bronfman Funded NXIVM For Years. Here's Where They Are Now". Esquire. Retrieved September 9, 2021.
  17. ^ a b Köhler, Nicholas (September 9, 2011). "How to lose $100 million". Maclean's. pp. 58–63. Archived from the original on February 1, 2014. Retrieved April 24, 2011.
  18. ^ Berman, Phyllis; Gillies, Andrew T.; Novack, Janet; Egan, Mary Ellen; Blakeley, Kiri (June 24, 2006). "The Bronfmans And the Cult". Forbes. Retrieved July 24, 2006.
  19. ^ Freedman, Michael (October 13, 2003). "Cult of Personality". Forbes. Retrieved July 25, 2018.
  20. ^ a b Yakowicz, Will (May 31, 2019). "From Heiress To Felon: How Clare Bronfman Wound Up In 'Cult-Like' Group Nxivm". Forbes. Retrieved October 2, 2020.
  21. ^ a b c d U.S. v. Bronfman, 18 (E.D.N.Y 2020-09-14).
  22. ^ Lyons, Brendan J. (September 19, 2015). "Legal papers: NXIVM officials probed finances of 6 federal judges, Senator Schumer, others". Times Union. Retrieved October 2, 2020.
  23. ^ Odato, James (January 31, 2011). "Papers reveal NXIVM secrets". Times Union. Archived from the original on March 2, 2011. Retrieved April 28, 2011.
  24. ^ "Ethical Humanitarian Foundation - Keith Raniere, Founder". Ethical Humanitarian Foundation. Archived from the original on January 25, 2012. Retrieved April 28, 2011.
  25. ^ "Ethical Humanitarian Foundation - Mission". Archived from the original on November 17, 2011. Retrieved May 25, 2011.
  26. ^ DeMare, Carol. "Canada Tibet Committee". Archived from the original on March 24, 2012. Retrieved June 8, 2011.
  27. ^ Parlato, Frank (February 11, 2018). "Keith Raniere revamps website, keithraniere.com". FrankReport.com.
  28. ^ Kurup, Neetha (September 27, 2020). "'The Vow' Episode 6: Bronfman sisters got Dalai Lama to endorse Keith Raniere and NXIVM amid allegations". meaww.com. Retrieved October 2, 2020.
  29. ^ Oxenberg, Catherine (August 7, 2018). Captive: A Mother's Crusade to Save Her Daughter from a Terrifying Cult. Simon and Schuster. ISBN 9781982100674.
  30. ^ "Suspended Lama Tenzin Dhonden Had A Lover Too!". Tibetan Journal. November 1, 2017. Retrieved August 13, 2018.
  31. ^ Carroll, Rory (November 29, 2017). "Controversial monk and Dalai Lama aide replaced amid corruption accusations". The Guardian. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  32. ^ Parlato, Frank (June 5, 2017). "Part 1: Branded Slaves and Master Raniere; Sources: Human branding part of Raniere-inspired women's group". Frank Report.
  33. ^ Meier, Barry (October 17, 2017). "Inside a Secretive Group Where Women Are Branded". NY Times. Retrieved October 18, 2017. In a letter, the agency said it would not look into Dr. Roberts because she was not acting as Ms. Edmondson's doctor when the branding is said to have happened.
  34. ^ A&E Cults and Extreme Belief S1E1, aired May 28, 2018, last accessed May 30, 2018, https://www.aetv.com/shows/cults-and-extreme-belief/season-1/episode-1.
  35. ^ "Former NXIVM member says she was invited into a secret sorority, then branded". ABC News. December 16, 2017. Retrieved February 10, 2018.
  36. ^ Barcella, Laura (March 28, 2018). "NXIVM: What We Know About Alleged Sex Trafficking, Forced Labor". Rolling Stone. Retrieved April 20, 2018.
  37. ^ "Who is Keith Raniere? Self-help guru accused of sex trafficking". Newsweek. March 28, 2018. Retrieved April 22, 2018.
  38. ^ Siemaszko, Corky (May 4, 2018). "Self-help guru denies enslaving, branding women in Nxivm sex cult". NBC News. Retrieved May 15, 2018.
  39. ^ Swenson, Kyle (March 3, 2018). "Feds say self-help guru coerced followers into sex, had them branded with a cauterizing pen". The Washington Post.
  40. ^ "NXIVM female sex "slaves" allegedly branded with secretive group leader's initials". CBS News. Associated Press. March 27, 2018.
  41. ^ Long, Colleen; Hajela, Deepti (20 April 2018). "Smallville Actress Arrested for Role in Alleged Sex Cult that Branded and Enslaved Women". Time. Archived from the original on 22 April 2018. Retrieved 19 May 2018.
  42. ^ Helmore, Edward (April 22, 2018). "Smallville's Allison Mack was allegedly a 'top member' of cult that abused women". The Guardian. London. Retrieved April 24, 2018.
  43. ^ "Seagram heiress Bronfman pleads not guilty in NXIVM 'sex slave' case". NBC News. July 24, 2018. Retrieved April 20, 2019.
  44. ^ Chung, Gabrielle (September 30, 2020). "Seagram's Heiress Clare Bronfman Sentenced to 81 Months in Prison in NXIVM Case". People. Retrieved October 1, 2020.
  45. ^ Goldberg, Noah (October 15, 2020). "NXIVM sex cult funder Clare Bronfman wants to be released after only a week behind bars". New York Daily News. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  46. ^ Gavin, Robert (October 6, 2020). "Judge, NXIVM's Clare Bronfman agree on minimum-security Connecticut 'camp'". Albany Times-Union. Retrieved December 18, 2020.
  47. ^ Gavin, Robert (July 13, 2021). "Seagrams heiress keeps paying as NXIVM's Keith Raniere adds big-name lawyers". Times Union. Retrieved May 31, 2022.
  48. ^ Luthmann, Richard (April 1, 2023). "Clare Bronfman Transferred Back to Philadelphia FDC". Frank Report. Retrieved November 25, 2023.
  49. ^ Gavin, Robert (May 6, 2024). "NXIVM's Bronfman released to halfway house in NYC". Times Union. Retrieved May 9, 2024.
  50. ^ Lyons, Brendan J. (January 27, 2020). "Lawsuit targets Keith Raniere and NXIVM associates". Times Union. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  51. ^ Cachero, Paulina (January 30, 2020). "80 people have signed onto a lawsuit claiming NXIVM cult leaders exposed them to 'human fright' experiments, forced labor, and human trafficking". Insider. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  52. ^ Hong, Nicole (January 29, 2020). "Nxivm 'Sex Cult' Was Also a Huge Pyramid Scheme, Lawsuit Says". The New York Times. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
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