Frank Parlato Jr.

Last updated

Frank Parlato Jr.
Born (1955-04-25) April 25, 1955 (age 69)
OccupationPublisher
Known forFrank Report
The Lost Women of NXIVM
The Vow

Frank Parlato Jr. (born April 25, 1955) is an American publisher. [1] [2] He publishes the Frank Report, Artvoice , and The Niagara Falls Reporter . Parlato is widely credited for bringing attention to the NXIVM cult when he published the article "Branded Slaves and Master Raniere" on June 5, 2017. [3] [4] [5]

Contents

NXIVM and federal case

In 2007, Parlato was hired to work for NXIVM as a publicist. [6] He was fired the following year, and went on to blog about NXIVM on his own website, the Frank Report. [7] In 2019, he received wide media coverage for his efforts to bring down the NXIVM cult. [8] Earlier in 2015, Parlato was federally indicted on 19 counts, including fraud, money laundering, and conspiracy related to his management of the One Niagara Center in Niagara Falls, New York. [9] [10] [11] In 2018, prosecutors dropped the portion of the charges against him that related to defrauding Seagram's heirs. [12]

The Buffalo News, noting the changes in the United States District Court for the Western District of New York superseding indictment, reported that Seagram's heir Clare Bronfman went from the accuser in Parlato's case to the accused when she was arrested in 2018, also observing that Parlato broke major stories that led to her arrest. [13] Parlato and the United States government reached a plea deal on August 5, 2022. [14] Parlato pleaded guilty to a single count of failure to file an IRS form in 2010 for the receipt of more than $10,000 in cash. [15] On July 31, 2023, Parlato plead guilty to one count of felony tax evasion was sentenced to five months of home detention. [16] [17] [18]

Frank Report

The Frank Report began publishing blogs and stories on November 30, 2015, ten days after Parlato was indicted. One of his first blogs on the Frank Report detailed his own indictment, some of which were "fueled by Clare Bronfman & NXIVM’s legal team" after he left the cult. A common tactic NXIVM used was to go after defectors with an onslaught of civil and criminal charges, often smearing and bankrupting their targets which Frank was originally hired to be a part of.[ citation needed ] The Frank Report has published thousands of articles about NXIVM, [19] DOS, [20] Keith Raniere, [21] and other issues including cults, criminal justice, and legal journalism.

NXIVM, DOS, and cult reporting

In 2019, Parlato was the lead investigator and consulting producer of the two-hour Investigation Discovery documentary The Lost Women of NXIVM. [22] He also appeared in five episodes of HBO's docuseries The Vow: "Building Character", "Class 1 Data", "Blame & Responsibility", "The Wound", and "The Fall". Parlato also appeared in episode four of Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult . [23] In both docuseries, Parlato is credited with helping women who the cult called "slaves" escape and ending the practice of human branding within the cult subgroup called DOS.

In the Starz TV docuseries Seduced, Inside the NXIVM Cult, India Oxenberg credits Parlato for preventing "slaves" from being branded and required to have sex with NXIVM leader Keith Raniere. In the final episode of Seduced, "Exposed", Oxenberg said: "As soon as the [Frank Report] posts started coming up, there were a ton of questions and a lot of chatter. My slaves left immediately after that. And none of them had to complete the seduction assignment or be branded. That was a huge relief." [24] Her mother, Catherine Oxenberg, who first revealed the existence of DOS to Parlato, [25] confirmed that Parlato's stories prompted women to leave the group. In Seduced, she says that as a result of seeing Parlato's blog, "[a] lot of DOS slaves started to defect." [26]

Catherine Oxenberg, India Oxenberg's mother, told Gretchen Carlson on the Lifetime special Beyond the Headlines: Escaping the NXIVM Cult, [27] which was about Parlato's work to expose the group that branded and blackmailed women and whose leaders were convicted of racketeering, sex trafficking, state law extortion, and sexual exploitation of a minor. [28] [29] Several former leaders of DOS blame Parlato for destroying their sorority and the NXIVM community, blaming him for writing "distorted and highly-biased" stories based on the "skewed narrative" of a few whistleblowers, including Sarah Edmondson. Parlato's stories "effectively ended DOS. Everything ceased." [30]

Other reporting

Prior to his investigative work on NXIVM, Parlato, through The Niagara Falls Reporter , reported extensively on the no-bid contract that the Maid of the Mist Steamboat Company enjoyed while running boat cruises on the American and Canadian sides of the falls. [31] He reported that the Niagara Parks Commission circumvented efforts by Ripley's Entertainment and Alcatraz Media from bidding on the boat tour concession while secretly approving a 25-year renewal of the Maid of the Mist Steamboat Company's license, while cutting its payment to the parks commission. [32] [33]

In a series of articles, Parlato revealed that on the New York side, Maid of the Mist Steamboat Co. was operating rent free, [34] and that the company tried to trademark the name Maid of the Mist despite its use in tours and ferries since 1846. [35] [34] At one time, Parlato owned the One Niagara Building and took issue with having to pay taxes while the Seneca Nation, a sovereign tribe, did not. He accused Senecas of "sucking the life out of Niagara Falls". Parlato sold the building and moved on while the Seneca remained. [36]

The stories were "hard-hitting and effected change". [37] The Ontario Parliament ordered the Maid of the Mist lease canceled and the boat tour put out to tender. The result was a winning bid by Hornblower Tours that was $300 million higher than the Maid would have paid had its lease not been canceled. [38] [39] [40] Responding to critics who said he and his Niagara Falls Reporter publication had an unconventional style, Parlato told The Buffalo News : "We don't follow anybody's rules; we follow our own rules." [31]

Federal prosecution

Following a four year investigation, Parlato and business partner Chitra Selvaraj were federally indicted in the United States District Court for the Western District of New York in November 2015. [41] Charges included fraud, money laundering, and tax evasion relating to Parlato's ownership and management of the One Niagara Building (former headquarters of Occidental Petroleum). [42] The matter was still in pretrial phase, with Parlato released on bond, when he was summoned by the federal court in Buffalo to appear November 2021 following an alleged incident in Florida with a girlfriend involving "battery, false imprisonment, and witnessing tampering". [43] [44] The event was investigated as a bail violation. [45] The arrest warrant was rescinded, and the Court ordered Parlato undergo an anger management evaluation. [45]

Parlato accepted a plea agreement in August, 2022, pleading guilty to the willful failure to file the IRS form 8300 (26 U.S.C.   § 7203 and § 6050I) when he accepted a cash rent payment of $19,000 from commercial tenants of the One Niagara Building. [46] The agreement also requires Parlato forfeit $1,000,000 originally seized during the investigation and to pay over $180,000 in restitution to the IRS. [47] A sentencing date has been postponed several times, most recently to July 31 , 2023[ needs update ]. [48] [49]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Catherine Oxenberg</span> American actress (born 1961)

Catherine Oxenberg is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Amanda Carrington on the 1980s prime-time soap opera Dynasty. Oxenberg is the daughter of Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia and her first husband, Howard Oxenberg (1919–2010). She twice played Diana, Princess of Wales on screen, in The Royal Romance of Charles and Diana (1982) and Charles and Diana: Unhappily Ever After (1992), and has appeared in many other films.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allison Mack</span> American actress (born 1982)

Allison Christin Mack is an American actress. She played Chloe Sullivan on the superhero series Smallville (2001–2011) and had a recurring role on the comedy series Wilfred (2012–2014).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nicki Clyne</span> Canadian actress

Nicki Clyne is a Canadian actress, known for her role as Cally Henderson on the SyFy television series Battlestar Galactica. Clyne was a member of NXIVM, a multi-level marketing company founded by Keith Raniere that has been described by former members, the media, and cult experts as a cult.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buffalo crime family</span> Organized crime group based in New York, US

The Buffalo crime family, also known as the Magaddino crime family, the Todaro crime family, the New York State crime family, the Buffalo Mafia, the Upstate New York Mafia, and the Arm, is an Italian-American Mafia crime family based in Buffalo, New York. Criminal investigators assert that the family operates throughout Western New York, Erie, Pennsylvania, and Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The Buffalo family is purported to hold strong connections with the Hamilton-based Luppino and Papalia families. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, the current boss of the Buffalo crime family is Joseph A. "Big Joe" Todaro Jr., having assumed the role after his father, Joseph E. "Lead Pipe Joe" Todaro Sr., retired.

Sarah Edmondson is a Canadian actress and podcaster. She is known for supporting roles on Hallmark Channel, and as a voice actress, most notably in Geronimo Stilton as Thea Stilton and as Lina in the Bratz movies.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rick Alan Ross</span> American anti-cult activist (born 1952)

Rick Alan Ross is an American deprogrammer, cult specialist, and founder and executive director of the nonprofit Cult Education Institute. He frequently appears in the news and other media discussing groups some consider cults. Ross has intervened in more than 500 deprogramming cases in various countries.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">NXIVM</span> North American cult and pyramid scheme

NXIVM was a cult led by convicted Keith Raniere, a convicted racketeer and sex offender. NXIVM is also the name of the defunct company that Raniere founded in 1998, which provided seminars ostensibly about human potential development, and served as a front organization for criminal activity by Raniere and his close associates. Following Raniere's conviction in 2019, the Department of Justice seized ownership of NXIVM-related entities and their intellectual property through asset forfeiture.

TheNiagara Reporter is a weekly opinion-based newspaper and website hosted in Niagara Falls, New York. It was founded on June 28, 2000 by journalist Mike Hudson. The newspaper is currently owned by Frank R. Parlato, Jr., who additionally serves as one of the newspaper's contributors. The paper conducts investigative reporting which focuses on public corruption, politics, and local news.

Gerald Steven Pigeon, usually cited in newspaper accounts as Steve Pigeon, is a Democratic politician from Western New York. A controversial figure in contemporary Western New York politics, Pigeon was Erie County Democratic Chairman from 1996 to 2002, parlaying his clout to become an advisor to State Senator Pedro Espada Jr., Tom Golisano, and Clare Bronfman of NXIVM. He is a convict serving concurrent sentences for federal and state corruption charges to which he has confessed. He is also accused of sexual assault of a child, which he denies.

<i>NXIVM Corp. v. Ross Institute</i> 2004 US Federal Court of Appeals decision

NXIVM Corp. v. The Ross Institute, 364 F.3d 471, was a United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit decision that held that the defendant's critical analysis of material obtained in bad faith, i.e., in violation of a non-disclosure agreement, was fair use since the secondary use was transformative as criticism and was not a potential replacement for the original on the market, regardless of how the material was obtained.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Keith Raniere</span> American cult founder and convicted felon (born 1960)

Keith Allen Raniere 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. Operating from 1998 to 2018, NXIVM had 700 members at its height, including celebrities and the wealthy. Within NXIVM, Raniere was referred to as "Vanguard".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clare Bronfman</span> American heiress

Clare Webb Bronfman is an American heiress, convicted felon and former leader of NXIVM, a multi-level marketing company and cult based near Albany, New York. She is the youngest daughter of billionaire philanthropist and former Seagram liquor chairman Edgar Bronfman Sr. After a brief equestrian career, Bronfman began involvement in NXIVM, a business engaged in criminal activities during 1998–2018, which led to indictments on federal charges, including sex trafficking.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sara Bronfman</span> Marketing executive

Sara Rosner Bronfman is the daughter of the billionaire former Seagram chairman Edgar Bronfman Sr. Bronfman was a leading funder and a member of the leadership team for the controversial multi-level marketing company and cult NXIVM, as was her sister, Clare Bronfman.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emiliano Salinas</span> Mexican businessman (born 1976)

Carlos Emiliano Salinas Occelli is a Mexican venture capitalist and businessman. He is the son of former Mexican president Carlos Salinas de Gortari.

Artvoice began in Buffalo, New York, in 1990 as a free weekly print publication and quickly grew from 10,000 circulation to 65,000 circulation. A national newspaper auditing company gave the paper an audited monthly readership of 250,000, the readership is greater than the circ because as a weekly it gets passed around for days. Artvoice covered arts, theater, music, food, sports, politics, urban development and environmental issues in the Buffalo region. Artvoice first published content on Artvoice.com in 1996 and was one of first newspapers to include video on its website. It was founded by Jamie Moses in June, 1990. In 2010, Artvoice celebrated its 20th anniversary in its June edition with a time frame of the history of the publication.

Marc Elliot is an American former motivational speaker and a loyal follower of Keith Raniere and his organization NXIVM, a purported self-improvement company which has been widely accused of being a criminal organization and a cult. Elliot has claimed the group helped him overcome Tourette syndrome. Since Raniere was sentenced to 120 years for racketeering and other crimes, Elliot has advocated for the conviction to be overturned.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">India Oxenberg</span> American actress

India Riven Oxenberg is an American actress and documentary film producer. A granddaughter of Princess Elizabeth of Yugoslavia, she is a relative of the House of Karađorđević, the former royal family of Serbia and, later, Yugoslavia. Oxenberg began her career as a child actress, with small roles in film and television projects that her mother, Catherine Oxenberg, and then-stepfather, Casper Van Dien, were involved in. As a teenager, she was a cast member of the reality television series I Married a Princess.

Nancy L. Salzman is an American convicted felon and the co-founder of NXIVM, a multi-level marketing company and cult based near Albany, New York. A former nurse, Salzman worked with Keith Raniere in the development of the organization beginning in the 1990s.

<i>The Vow</i> (TV series) 2020 American true crime documentary series

The Vow is an American true crime documentary series directed by Jehane Noujaim and Karim Amer that revolves around the cult NXIVM and its leader Keith Raniere. The NXIVM documentary series premiered on August 23, 2020, on HBO. In October 2020, the series was renewed for a second season, which premiered on October 17, 2022.

The Lost Women of NXIVM is a two-hour documentary premiered on Investigation Discovery on December 8, 2019. Former NXIVM publicist Frank Parlato, who first revealed that NXIVM was branding women, takes a deep dive to answer the questions surrounding the tragic deaths and mysterious disappearances of five women who all had connections to NXIVM. The documentary exploring what happened to the women who were members of personality cult of imprisoned racketeer and sex offender Keith Raniere, who either vanished or died in mysterious circumstances. The documentary stars narrator Michelle Wong, investigator and whistleblower Frank Parlato, former NXIVM consultant Roger Stone, and archive footage of NXIVM founder Keith Raniere.

References

  1. "Buffalo News: Frank Parlato Speaks Out on Plea Deal Outside the Courthouse". August 6, 2022.
  2. "Niagara Falls businessman pleads guilty to tax charge, will forfeit $1M". August 5, 2022.
  3. frankparlato (June 5, 2017). "Part 1: Branded Slaves and Master Raniere; Sources: Human branding part of Raniere-inspired women's group". Frank Report | Investigative Journalism From Frank Parlato. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  4. Italiano, Laura (March 29, 2018). "Alleged sex-cult leader used 'Smallville' stars to recruit women: witness". New York Post. Retrieved March 31, 2021.
  5. Dickson, EJ (May 6, 2019). "NXIVM Insiders Tell Us What to Expect From Keith Raniere's Trial". rollingstone.com. Penske Media Corporation. Retrieved April 11, 2021. ... Frank Parlato, a former NXIVM publicist turned whistleblower whose independent reporting is widely credited with helping to spur the FBI investigation into the group.
  6. Phillips, Hedy (October 6, 2020). "The Vow: Here's What We Know About Frank Parlato of the Frank Report". POPSUGAR Entertainment.
  7. "Frank Parlato From 'The Vow' Has Faced His Own Legal Troubles". Bustle. October 4, 2020.
  8. "Mainstream Media Notes the Man Who Took Down a Sex Cult". The Niagara Reporter. July 10, 2019.
  9. "TOP 10: Grand jury indicts Frank Parlato Jr., associate on federal charges (4)". Niagara Gazette. December 27, 2015.
  10. Fairbanks, Phil (November 20, 2015). "Developer and newspaper publisher Parlato indicted on fraud, money laundering". The Buffalo News.
  11. Pfeiffer, Rickand; Gambini, Philip (November 21, 2015). "Parlato facing 19-count federal indictment". Lockport Union-Sun & Journal.
  12. Fairbanks, Phil (May 24, 2018). "Feds drop charges that Frank Parlato Jr. stole from Seagrams heirs". The Buffalo News.
  13. Fairbanks, Phil (July 24, 2018). "Seagram's heir goes from accuser in Niagara Falls case to accused in NYC case". The Buffalo News. Retrieved September 21, 2021.
  14. https://www.courtlistener.com/docket/5304724/294/united-states-v-parlato/ [ bare URL ]
  15. "Parlato pleads guilty in One Niagara fraud case". August 5, 2022.
  16. "Buffalo News: Frank Parlato Speaks Out on Plea Deal Outside the Courthouse". August 6, 2022.
  17. "Frank Parlato sentenced to home confinement for five months; fined $10,000 for tax crime". July 31, 2023.
  18. Pfeiffer, Rick (December 22, 2022). "Judge grants second postponement of Parlato sentencing".
  19. Parlato, Frank (February 21, 2023). "Search Results For - NXIVM".
  20. Parlato, Frank (February 21, 2023). "Search Results For - DOS".
  21. Parlato, Frank. "Search Results For - Raniere" . Retrieved February 21, 2023.
  22. "Lost Women of NXIVM | Watch Full Episodes & More!". Investigation Discovery.
  23. ""Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult" Exposed (TV Episode 2020) - IMDb" via www.imdb.com.
  24. Oxenberg, India (2020). "Exposed (ep. 104)". Seduced:Inside the NXIVM Cult. Season 1. 80 minutes in. STARZ.
  25. Turchiano, Danielle (October 11, 2020). "Why HBO's 'The Vow' Doesn't Capture Catherine Oxenberg's Reunion With Daughter India".
  26. Oxenberg, Catherine (2020). "Exposed (ep. 104)". Seduced:Inside the NXIVM Cult. Season 1. 80 minutes in. STARZ.
  27. Oxenberg, Catherine (2019). "Escaping the NXIVM Cult". Beyond the Headlines With Gretchen Carlson. 25 minutes in. Lifetime.
  28. "Nxivm leader Keith Raniere sentenced to 120 years in prison". BBC News. October 27, 2020.
  29. Hong, Nicole; Piccoli, Sean (October 27, 2020). "Keith Raniere, Leader of Nxivm Sex Cult, Is Sentenced to 120 Years in Prison". The New York Times.
  30. "Press Release - February 22, 2021". The Dossier Project.
  31. 1 2 "Artvoice, Niagara Falls Reporter to combine resources". Buffalonews.com. October 3, 2015.
  32. "MAID OF MIST CORPORATION v. ALCATRAZ MEDIA, LLC, 06-MC-64E". Casetext.com.
  33. "Niagara Falls Reporter Analysis". Niagarafallsreporter.com.
  34. 1 2 "Astounding Difference in Price Paid, and Service Between Maid and Hornblower". Niagarafallsreporter.com. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  35. "Landmark Delaware North trademark battle hearkens back to Maid of the Mist". Jewishbusinessnews.com. January 28, 2016. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  36. "Lightning rod in the Falls Businessman Frank Parlato Jr. Stirs the pot, but does he make things better?". December 14, 2008.
  37. Sommer, Mark (October 3, 2015). "Artvoice, Niagara Falls Reporter to combine resources". The Buffalo News. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
  38. "Niagara Falls Maid of the Mist boat tours dumped by Niagara Parks Commission". The Toronto Star . March 9, 2012.
  39. "End of an era for Maid of the Mist - Hornblower awarded contract". Niagarafallsreporter.com. February 22, 2012. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  40. "Maid Of The Mist A New York Nightmare: Canadian Hornblower Niagara A Class Act". Niagarafallsreporter.com. July 8, 2016. Retrieved October 27, 2021.
  41. "Local Businessman And Associate Indicted On Fraud And Money Laundering Charges". www.justice.gov. November 24, 2015. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
  42. "Indictment" (PDF), United States of America v. Frank Parlato (Court Filing), no. 1:15-cr-00149, Docket 1, W.D.N.Y., January 20, 2015, retrieved January 25, 2023 via Recap ( PACER current docket view Lock-red-alt.svg)
  43. "Assault warrant rescinded for Parlato". March 3, 2022.
  44. "ORDER SUMMONS ISSUE FOR BAIL VIOLATION as to Frank R. Parlato, Jr. Signed by Hon. Richard J. Arcara on 11/15/2021. (JLV)" (PDF), United States of America v. Frank Parlato (Court Filing), no. 1:15-cr-00149, Docket 254, W.D.N.Y., January 20, 2015, retrieved January 25, 2023 via Recap ( PACER current docket view Lock-red-alt.svg)
  45. 1 2 Pfeiffer, Rick (March 3, 2022). "Assault warrant rescinded for Parlato". Lockport Union-Sun & Journal. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
  46. "Niagara falls businessman pleads guilty to tax charge, will forfeit $1,000,000 | Internal Revenue Service". www.irs.gov. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
  47. Besecker, Aaron (August 5, 2022). "Frank Parlato faces prison term after plea to IRS charge, agrees to forfeit about $1 million". Buffalo News . Archived from the original on August 6, 2022. Retrieved January 25, 2023.
  48. Pfeiffer, Rick (December 22, 2022). "Judge grants second postponement of Parlato sentencing". Niagara Gazette . CNHI . Retrieved January 18, 2023 via Yahoo.
  49. "Docket for United States v. Parlato, 1:15-cr-00149 - CourtListener.com". CourtListener. Retrieved January 25, 2023.