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Investigation into a pyramid scheme reveals a sex trafficking cult

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organization that has accumulated
a massive amount of charges
brought against it by the FBI.
Charges include identity theft,
extortion, blackmail, forced labour,
sex trafficking, money laundering,
wire fraud, and obstruction of
justice—to name just a few. Worse
yet, the case has some pretty
high-profile names attached to
it and contains some very key
testimony from former victims
that have investigators calling the
organization a modem-day cult.
To unpack all of this, we have
to look way back to 1998, when a
man by the name of Keith Raniere
created the company NXIVM
and began offering “Executive
Success Programs” (“ESPs”), a
series of workshops that people
could take in order to actualize
their professional potential. The
workshops were very similar to
those cheesy ones you hear about

By Brittney MacDonald — Life & Style Editor

Content warning:
This article contains descriptions
of sexual and physical abuse.

that aim to draw people in and give
them a pep talk about being bold
and unafraid in their career path.
NXIVM utilized ESP and
other programs like it to become
an overall life coaching brand.
Their business model claimed
that they helped people overcome
psychological barriers to aid
them in achieving success both
professionally and privately. The
company’s website states that it
aims “to raise human awareness,
foster an ethical humanitarian
civilization, and celebrate what it
means to be human.” The entire
system relied on people becoming
members and then buying into
the workshops provided. From
an outsider’s perspective, they
made some pretty ostentatious
claims. In a promotional interview
Raniere did with Marc Elliot
in 2017—available on Keith
Raniere Conversations on
YouTube—Raniere even claims
that his process might help people

suffering from autism. Of course,
these miracle processes were never
really disclosed, since all NXIVM
members were required to sign a
non-disclosure agreement.
However, a Forbes article
in 2003 revealed that NXITVM
members were instructed to use
very specific language with regard
to their psychological obstacles
and how they addressed each other.
Raniere himself was to be never
referred to by name. Instead he was
called “Vanguard”—a point that
became key later on in the FBI’s
investigation. The Forbes article
also mentioned specific rituals
for greeting and for opening and
closing meetings.
One of the biggest features
was an element of hierarchy, or
as NXIVM members referred to
it, “goals.” Members would wear
coloured sashes to indicate what
goal level they were at—with
people achieving higher goal levels
by completing workshops and

recruiting more members.

The pyramid scheme aspect
comes in with the cost of the
workshops themselves. Workshops
were a minimum of $5,000 and
could be upwards of $25,000
per day. At higher levels you had
a greater chance of receiving a
commission for recruiting new
members—some members even
eamed a regular salary. To get
to that point, however, members
would have to pay exorbitant
amounts. This left many in
debt. They would then work off
that debt by performing tasks
for the organization itself—yet
they'd still be required to take
more workshops, which would
continually grow their existing
debt. This recruitment mechanism
fits into the definition of a pyramid
scheme.

With the high cost and huge
claims of the workshops, Raniere’s
programs managed to entice some
notable names. NXIVM drew in