July 20 2021- 9:36p.m.
A federal judge ruled that 21 people should receive a total of $3.46 million in restitution from Keith Raniere, the founder of Nxivm, for being victims of his racketeering, sex trafficking and forced labor crimes.
He wore a white mask and dark green prison uniform as he told the court that he had not yet seen the government’s submission for Tuesday’s restitution hearing, partly because of restrictions related to the documents, and partly because he hired a new legal team.
“I don’t know who the victims are. I don’t know what they are asking,” Raniere said.
Raniere is accused of creating, within the self-help company Nxivm, a secret all-female group known as DOS, whose members served as “slaves” and “masters.”
As part of the restitution decision, US District Judge Nicholas Garaufis, who presided over Raniere’s trial, ordered during the tense restitution hearing Tuesday that Raniere return the “collateral” that he still controlled or has access to, once he has exhausted his appeals.
Raniere said at the hearing that he has “never handled the collateral.”
Garaufis said more than 100 victims of Raniere’s had submitted claims seeking about $133 million, but that he narrowed the scope of the restitution payments to 17 victims for a total of about $3.46 million, which he ordered Raniere to pay immediately.
The judge awarded money to victims, many of whom were involved in DOS or part of the sex trafficking and human trafficking charges Raniere was convicted of. Many of the victims’ identities were not revealed, as they were also mentioned in trial with pseudonyms.
The victim who received the highest amount of restitution was the girl at the center of child pornography charges that Raniere was convicted of.
Prosecutors said the girl was 15 when Raniere began having a sexual relationship with her, and coerced her to submit sexually explicit photographs when she was a minor. She was ordered to receive more than $500,000, which includes money to have her brand removed, for uncompensated labor and expenses related to the case.
NXIVM founder Keith Raniere sentenced to 120 years
