Canadian paying fees in sex cult case, U.S. lawyers say

Heiress said to be covering costs of fellow defendants

American prosecutors in the sex cult racketeering case of NXIVM founder Keith Raniere claim Canadian co-defendant Clare Bronfman, the Seagram’s heiress, has been paying the legal fees of their fellow defendants and even witnesses, and allegedly advising them to keep silent.

This is a “potential conflict of interest” that is “compounded” by the fact Bronfman is not just a benefactor, but also a defendant, United States attorney Richard P. Donoghue claims.

The main concern, he writes, is that this arrangement could affect the defence counsel’s advice about whether to seek leniency by cooperating with the government, and whether to testify in their own defence, “where such testimony might implicate Clare Bronfman.”

Bronfman, Raniere and their four co-defendants, including actor Allison Mack, are accused of what prosecutors describe as a “long-running racketeering conspiracy, among other crimes.” Charges include sex trafficking, identity theft, tax evasion and involuntary servitude.

Salacious details of the group’s rituals have emerged over recent months, including an alleged practice of branding the skin of women recruited as sex slaves.

The letter to the judge, sent Friday and seen by the National Post, says the lawyer fees for all defendants other than Bronfman “have been, and will continue to be, paid from an irrevocable trust to which Clare Bronfman is the primary contributor.”

It claims the government has been in contact with the lawyers for the trustee, who confirmed the funds were paid according to certain guidelines, but declined to turn over the trust’s documents to the government.

“The government has learned that the legal fees of multiple witnesses and potential witnesses are also being paid by Bronfman or the trust, and that there have been efforts to pay the legal fees of other witnesses,” the letter reads.

One witness, for example, told the government that, after she received a subpoena to testify before a grand jury, a lawyer for one of the defendants put her in touch with another lawyer who said Bronfman was covering his fees. This lawyer allegedly instructed the witness to invoke the Fifth Amendment, which grants a right against self-incrimination, and if she did not, he “would not feel comfortable continuing to represent” her.

Bronfman, 39, is reported to have a personal wealth of nearly $200 million. She is part of the family that made its fortune with the Seagram’s distillery business.