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Nancy Salzman

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Nancy Salzman
Born (1954-07-16) July 16, 1954 (age 70)
Alma materUnion County College
Associate Degree in Nursing
Known forCo-founder of NXIVM
Criminal statusIncarcerated at RRM Pittsburgh (Halfway House) (Released March 2024)
Children2 (including Lauren Salzman)[1]
Conviction(s)Racketeering conspiracy
Criminal penalty42 months imprisonment and a $150,000 fine

Nancy L. Salzman (born July 16, 1954) is an American convicted felon and the co-founder of NXIVM, a multi-level marketing company and cult based near Albany, New York. A former nurse, Salzman worked with Keith Raniere in the development of the organization beginning in the 1990s.[2]

Background

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Salzman was raised in Cranford, New Jersey[3] and graduated from Cranford High School in her hometown in 1972.[4]

She has had experience with hypnosis[5] and NLP.[5] Salzman is listed in the Nursys database as having a nursing license in the state of New York from 1983 to its expiration in 2019.

NXIVM

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Before Keith Raniere met Salzman, Raniere operated a pyramid scheme called Consumers' Buyline Inc. that was shut down by the Attorney General of New York in September 1996.[6] In 1997, Raniere joined forces with Salzman in developing Executive Success Programs, which would eventually be rebranded as NXIVM.[5] At NXIVM, Salzman had considerable authority as president of the company and was referred to as "Prefect" by cult members. As the second-in-command, Salzman helped create and promote Raniere's teachings and ideology and recruit individuals into NXIVM.[7][8] Former members have accused Salzman of being Raniere's abettor and protector and helping Raniere control members and avoid accountability within the organizations.[9][10]

According to prosecutors, Salzman was essential to the NXIVM criminal enterprise. Salzman had an immense influence on NXIVM, which included conspiracy to commit identity theft and conspiracy to alter records. Between 2005 and 2008, Salzman participated in the unlawful surveillance and investigation of perceived critics and enemies of Raniere and NXIVM. Salzman unlawfully surveilled these perceived enemies in an attempt to gain an advantage over them and stop them from criticizing the company. In Salzman's home, law enforcement agents recovered a box containing purported private banking information of many individuals perceived to be critics and enemies of Raniere, including journalists, judges and an expert on cults. Salzman also conspired to obstruct justice by altering videotapes in a civil suit between NXIVM and a former student by editing and removing portions of session videos in favor of the company. In 2003, NXIVM filed a copyright infringement suit against a former student, her parents and a cult deprogrammer. The former student filed counterclaims against NXIVM in 2008, alleging NXIVM had misrepresented the nature and effectiveness of its programs. During the pending litigation, Salzman and others altered the videotapes to remove segments that they believed would have supported the former student's claims and to make it look as if the videos were unedited. These altered videotapes were then produced in discovery by NXIVM's attorneys with the false claim that they were provided in "unedited fashion".[11][12]

In March 2018, FBI agents raided Salzman's house, located on Oregon Trail in Waterford, New York, on a search warrant and seized large amounts of cash totaling $520,000 stuffed in bags, envelopes and shoe boxes, including one shoe box that held more than $390,000. Agents also seized numerous computers, data-storage devices, cameras, various mobile phones and BlackBerrys, and small amounts of Mexican and Russian currency.[13][14]

On July 24, 2018, Federal agents arrested Salzman, her daughter, Lauren Salzman, bookkeeper Kathy Russell and Clare Bronfman on an indictment with charges of conspiracy racketeering.[15] In July 2018, the court found that Salzman, Keith Raniere, Clare Bronfman, Allison Mack, Kathy Russell, and Salzman's daughter had committed identity theft, extortion, forced labor, sex trafficking, money laundering, wire fraud and obstruction of justice.[16]

In March 2019, Salzman pled guilty to charges of conspiracy racketeering under the jurisdiction of the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York.[17][18] Salzman was scheduled to be sentenced on July 10, 2019. Her sentencing, however, was pushed to a later date.[19] On July 9, 2021, it was announced that Salzman's sentencing date will be held on August 2, 2021.[20] This was later moved to September 8, 2021.

In January 2020, several NXIVM individuals, including Salzman and her daughter Lauren, were named defendants in a civil lawsuit filed in federal court by 80 former NXIVM members. The lawsuit charged that the NXIVM organisation was a pyramid scheme that exploited its recruits, conducted illegal human experiments, and made it "physically and psychologically difficult, and in some cases impossible, to leave the coercive community."[21][22][23]

In September 2021, Salzman was sentenced to 42 months in prison and a $150,000 fine for racketeering conspiracy. Salzman also agreed to forfeit several real estate properties, more than $500,000 in cash and a Steinway grand piano.[24][25][12] Salzman reported to Federal Correctional Institution, Hazelton in West Virginia on February 21, 2022,[26][27] and was released on March 19, 2024.[28]

References

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  1. ^ Lyons, By Brendan J. (March 17, 2019). "Guilty plea ends Salzman's long allegiance to Raniere". Times Union. Retrieved June 20, 2019.
  2. ^ Meier, Barry (March 12, 2019). "Co-Founder of Cultlike Group Where Women Were Branded Pleads Guilty". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
  3. ^ Gavin, Robert. "Unsealed letters show Keith Raniere's cruelty to top NXIVM ally", Times Union, October 12, 2021. Accessed February 5, 2022. "Nancy Salzman, a native of Cranford, N.J, known in NXIVM as 'Prefect,' co-founded the purported self-empowerment company with Raniere in 1998."
  4. ^ Parlato, Frank. "Some stray thoughts on Nancy Salzman" Archived 2022-02-06 at the Wayback Machine, ArtVoice, December 14, 2018. Accessed February 5, 2022. "What year did Nancy Salzman graduate high school? Online, the year is reported as 1974. She apparently went to Cranford High School in Cranford, NJ."
  5. ^ a b c Nicolaou, Elena (2020-10-27). "The Vow's Nancy Salzman Has Pled Guilty to NXIVM-Related Charges". Oprah Magazine. Retrieved 2020-12-19.
  6. ^ "UNITEDSTATESDISTRICTCOURTEASTERNDISTRICTOFNEWYORK" (PDF).
  7. ^ Saul, Emily (May 8, 2019). "Video shows Nxivm cult leader preaching about sex with children". New York Post.
  8. ^ KELLER, AARON (August 18, 2021). "Government Seeks 'High End' Sentence for Keith Raniere Associate and NXIVM President". Law & Crime.
  9. ^ Moynihan, Colin (September 7, 2021). "Nxivm's Second-in-Command Helped Build a Culture of Abuse, Survivors Say". The New York Times.
  10. ^ PULLANO, NINA (September 8, 2021). "Prison time for woman in command at NXIVM cult". Courthouse News.
  11. ^ Lampen, Claire (2018-07-25). "Seagram's Heiress Clare Bronfman, 3 Others Arrested In Nxivm 'Sex Cult' Case". Gothamist. Retrieved 2020-12-19.
  12. ^ a b "NXIVM President Nancy Salzman Sentenced to 42 Months' Imprisonment for Racketeering Conspiracy". Department of Justice. September 8, 2021. Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
  13. ^ Lyons, Brendon (March 27, 2018). "FBI raids NXIVM president's house as Raniere appears in federal court". Times Union. Retrieved March 19, 2021.
  14. ^ Lyons, Brendon (April 11, 2018). "Half-million in cash was seized from NXIVM president's house". Times Union. Retrieved July 5, 2021.
  15. ^ Katersky, Aaron (July 24, 2018). "Federal agents arrest NXIVM co-founder Nancy Salzman". ABC News. Retrieved March 14, 2021.
  16. ^ "Founder Of "Nxivm," a Purported Self-Help Organization, and Five Others Charged in Superseding Indictment with Racketeering Conspiracy". Department of Justice. 2018-07-24. Retrieved 2020-12-19.
  17. ^ Hughes, Steve; Lyons, Brendan J. (2019-03-13). "NXIVM President Nancy Salzman pleads guilty as Raniere faces new charges". Times Union. Retrieved 2020-12-19.
  18. ^ Legaspi, Althea (2019-03-14). "NXIVM Co-founder Nancy Salzman Pleads Guilty to Racketeering Conspiracy". Rolling Stone. Retrieved 2020-12-19.
  19. ^ "A Timeline of the Nxivm Sex Cult Case". The New York Times. November 27, 2020. Retrieved March 14, 2021.
  20. ^ Gavin, Robert (July 9, 2021). "NXIVM's Salzman can't attend first grandchild's birth, judge says". Times Union. Retrieved July 25, 2021.
  21. ^ Lyons, Brendan J. (January 27, 2020). "Lawsuit targets Keith Raniere and NXIVM associates". Times Union. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  22. ^ 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.
  23. ^ Hong, Nicole (January 29, 2020). "Nxivm 'Sex Cult' Was Also a Huge Pyramid Scheme, Lawsuit Says". The New York Times. Retrieved August 20, 2021.
  24. ^ Moynihan, Colin (September 8, 2021). "Sex Cult Leader's Top Deputy Sentenced to 42 Months in Prison". The New York Times. Archived from the original on September 8, 2021. Mr. Raniere was convicted on several charges and sentenced to 120 years in prison; Ms. Salzman pleaded guilty to a single count of racketeering conspiracy, and former Nxivm members have described her as an enabler who made Mr. Raniere's abuse possible.
  25. ^ Walsh, Joe (September 8, 2021). "NXIVM Cult Leader Sentenced To 42 Months In Prison". Forbes.
  26. ^ "Find an inmate - Register Number: 25533-052". Federal Bureau of Prisons. February 25, 2022.
  27. ^ Gavin, Robert (February 22, 2022). "NXIVM's Nancy Salzman reports to federal prison". Time Union.
  28. ^ "Find an inmate - Register Number: 25533-052". Federal Bureau of Prisons. May 30, 2024.
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