Keith Allen Raniere (/rænˈjɛəri/ ran-YAIR-ee; born August 26, 1960)[2] is an American cult leader who was convicted of a pattern of racketeering activity, including human trafficking, sex offenses and fraud.

Raniere co-founded NXIVM, a purported self-help multi-level marketing company offering personal development seminars and headquartered in Albany, New York.

[6][15][16] On June 19, 2019, a jury in the Eastern District of New York convicted Raniere of racketeering for a pattern of crimes, including the sexual exploitation of a child, sex trafficking of women and conspiracy to commit forced labor.

[44] In 1996, Raniere signed a consent order with New York State resolving the case against CBI;[40] without admitting wrongdoing, he agreed to pay a $40,000 fine.

"[45]Raniere and Salzman founded Executive Success Programs (ESP), a personal-development company offering a range of techniques aimed at self-improvement.

[50] In October 2003, Raniere was featured, cloaked in shadows, on the cover of Forbes magazine, accompanied by the appellation "The World's Strangest Executive Coach".

[51] The "devastating" cover story, penned by Michael Freedman and entitled "Cult of Personality", was later described as "a gold mine of previously unpublished information".

[39] It discussed Raniere's title of "Vanguard"; detailed the failure of CBI; and included a quote from Edgar Bronfman accusing the organization of being a cult.

[52] NXIVM teachings drew upon diverse influences, including Ayn Rand ("parasites"), L. Ron Hubbard ("suppressives"), Milton Erickson's hypnosis, Isaac Asimov's science fiction, Rudolf Steiner, Tony Robbins and neuro-linguistic programming.

[40][62][63] In November 2010, Vanity Fair published an article, "The Heiresses and the Cult", in which Natalie, another former partner of Raniere, recalled that he "had insisted she keep the body of her dead puppy in her garage freezer and look at it daily".

[66] In 2015, Keeffe publicly alleged that Raniere directed the Canadian investigative firm Canaprobe to obtain financial information on six federal judges and a United States senator as well as a reporter, an editor and the publisher of the Times Union.

The trial court ruled that Raniere's "conduct throughout this litigation, culminating in his untruthful testimony at the hearing on the motion to dismiss, demonstrates a pattern of obfuscation and bad faith".

[31] Raniere offered to tutor the girl, whose mother worked for CBI, and one of his live-in partners, Pamela Cafritz, hired her to walk their dog and encouraged her to visit their townhouse.

In addition, Daniela testified that Cafritz coached each sister to refuse to answer questions about paternity to prevent his abuse from becoming known to any nurse who might be a mandated reporter.

The abusive relationship with Raniere continued into her adulthood, where his control and demands led to her developing an eating disorder, self-harming and attempting suicide.

[132][133] DOS members were subject to corporal punishment, which included being forced to hold painful poses, stand barefoot in the snow, take cold showers and whip each other with a strap.

[134][135] FBI agent Michael Lever reported that DOS slaves were forced to adhere to extremely restrictive diets to satisfy Raniere's preference for "exceptionally thin" women.

[155] On March 26, Mexican Federal Police located Raniere in a luxury villa outside Puerto Vallarta, arresting and deporting him as persona non grata.

[169] The charged acts included: In opening statements, prosecutors contended that Raniere was not a mentor but a "predator" who targeted people looking to improve their lives and took advantage of them once he gained their trust.

"[174] Prosecution witnesses included NXIVM member Lauren Salzman; filmmaker Mark Vicente; victims "Sylvie", "Daniela", "Jay" and "Nicole"; and cult educator Rick Alan Ross.

[184] In the summer of 2020, with the pandemic preventing in-person visitation to the MDC, Raniere's remaining followers, including Clyne, began assembling to dance near the jail.

[186] A July 16, 2020, intelligence analysis memorandum from the Bureau of Prisons Counter Terrorism Unit stated that Raniere instructed Chakravorty to get more women to dance "erotically" outside the MDC.

A frustrated Raniere instructed his followers to help get him moved back by ingratiating themselves to prison staff, including offering coffee and donuts as they left their shifts.

[184] Ahead of his sentencing, prosecutors submitted a number of Raniere's communications and disciplinary issues in prison as evidence of remorselessness and of his continued control over his followers.

[191][192] Prosecutors argued in their sentencing memorandum that Raniere "concealed his abuse behind the smoke screen of his supposed 'personal growth' programs—a charade he continues to this day".

[194][195][196] On July 20, 2021, Raniere made a virtual appearance from his USP Tucson prison cell for a hearing on restitution, the last remaining material from the trial.

This included payments to cover the cost removing the DOS-related scarification, ongoing mental health care and making labor trafficking victims whole.

The lawsuit details allegations of fraud and abuse and charges NXIVM with being a pyramid scheme, exploitation of its recruits, conducting illegal human experiments and making it "physically and psychologically difficult, and in some cases impossible, to leave the coercive community.

[207] The Department of Justice, Bureau of Prisons and authorities at USP Tucson moved to deny the injunction, on grounds that Chakravorty is not a paralegal but merely "an ardent former ESP and NXIVM coach with whom [Raniere] is banned from associating.

"[208] Judge Raner Collins granted the Department of Justice's motion to dismiss the suit on grounds that Raniere failed to exhaust administrative remedies in line with the Prison Litigation Reform Act, and for insufficient service of process.