US heiress charged in sex slave case

Bronfman accused of racketeering and using wealth to fund Nxivm cult

NEw YORk: An American heiress to a liquor fortune was arrested and charged in connection with a secretive society of women sex slaves, before being released on a US$100mil (RM406mil) bond, US prosecutors said.

Clare Bronfman (pic), 39, a philanthropist and former equestrian show jumper, is the daughter of Edgar Bronfman, the late Canadian chairman of liquor giant Seagram whose net worth was estimated at US$2.6bil (RM10.5bil).

Bronfman appeared before a judge in Brooklyn, New York, on Tuesday and was released with an ankle bracelet after prosecutors argued that she was a flight risk.

She was a member of the executive board of Nxivm, a purported selfhelp group accused of presiding over a secretive society of women sex slaves that shot to notoriety for its initiation rites branding them with the founder’s initials.

She is accused of using her wealth to fund Nxivm and charged with racketeering conspiracy, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years, and identity theft with a stat- utory maximum sentence of 15 years.

Her lawyer Susan Necheles argued that her client “did nothing wrong”.

“Nxivm was not a criminal enterprise but instead was an organisation that helped thousands of people,” she added in a statement.

Three other women from Clifton Park, New York, were arrested and charged, and similarly entered not guilty pleas, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors also unveiled further charges against Keith Raniere, 57, the Nxivm founder who has already been charged with sex trafficking and forced labour conspiracy.

Raniere, who was arrested in Mexico in March, is accused of creating a secret society called DOS – a pyramid scheme of women “slaves” and “masters” with him as the sole man at the top.

Prosecutors had branded Bronfman an “extraordinarily high” flight risk owing to her vast wealth, access to a private jet, ownership stake in a private island in Fiji and because her mother and sister live overseas.

Allison Mack, a television actress best known for her role in Smallville, was also arrested in April on sex trafficking charges for allegedly recruiting women to the purported mentorship group, whom US prosecutors say were forced to have sex with its leader.

Members were allegedly treated as slaves – branded with Raniere’s initials while being pinned down naked and filmed at initiation ceremonies.

Some were forced to adopt lowcalorie diets as Raniere preferred exceptionally thin women, and none were allowed to sleep with anyone but him, prosecutors said.