NXIVM member Clare Bronfman has asked to be let off house arrest claiming she is unlikely to flee and should not be ‘treated differently due to her wealth,’ new court papers reveal.
Documents obtained by DailyMail.com show Bronfman’s attorneys have proposed a new bail package which would allow her to walk free in exchange for the surrender of her passport, restricted access to her trust fund, and no contact with any of the defendants in the case – in addition to the $100 million bond secured against $50 million in property.
The billionaire Seagram’s liquor heiress was arrested on Tuesday and indicted on racketeering conspiracy charges.
Bronfman pleaded not guilty and was later released on a $100 million bond and required to wear an ankle monitoring bracelet after prosecutors labeled her a flight risk.
Clare Bronfman, 39, has asked to be released from house arrest two days after she was released on a $100m bond for racketeering conspiracy charges
Bronfman, pictured in court on Friday, has claimed she is unlikely to flee because doing so will only result in the loss of her $100 million fortune
The 39-year-old’s attorneys have now countered the prosecution’s claim, saying Bronfman is unlikely to flee because it would only cause ‘significant financial harm’ to her family and would result in the loss of her multi-million dollar fortune.
‘Most obviously, it would cause her to forfeit $100 million—the entirety of her net worth outside her trusts—based on the amount of the bond,’ legal documents state.
‘Finally, fleeing would cause significant financial harm to Ms. Bronfman’s closest family members. Her mother and brother-in-law, who have both come to New York from Europe to act as sureties on the bond, would be left destitute.’
The letter also states that Bronfman’s trust would immediately transfer $25 million to the court should she violate her bail terms.
It also emphasized that the advisors of her trust would not jeopardize their careers by distributing funds to a ‘fugitive’.
Bronfman’ has not been charged with a violent crime and should not be ‘treated differently due to her wealth, her lawyers stated.
In a Brooklyn Federal Court on Tuesday, Judge Nicholas Garaufis placed Bronfman under house arrest after learning of her $200 million worth and her property in Fiji.
Bronfman owns 80 per cent of the island of Wakaya, and is in the process of developing a resort there.
Prosecutors labeled Bronfman a flight risk due to her wealth and her properties overseas. She owns 80 per cent of the Fijian island of Wakaya
Bronfman’s lawyers argued that it is not possible for her to flee because she has surrendered her passport. Above is a general view of Wakaya
The island is believed to serve as a safe haven for the cult leaders in the event of prosecution, according to website Frank Report.
But her attorneys argued that while Bronfman has ‘significant foreign ties, including family members in England and France, and property in Fiji, there is no realistic possibility that she would manage to flee to any of these countries.’
‘The only country where she is a citizen is the United States. And she has already surrendered her passport to the Probation Department,’ documents state.
‘Moreover, each of the three foreign countries to which she has ties have extradition treaties with the United States.
‘Even if she were to flee to any of them, therefore, she would be extradited back to the United States.’
Bronfman’s lawyers also stated that while an ankle bracelet can help keep track of her location without subjecting her to house arrest, they ‘do not believe, for the reasons discussed above, that it is necessary in this case to prevent her from fleeing,’ either.
Unlike other NXIVM leaders Keith Rainere and actress Allison Mack, Bronfman has not been accused of sex trafficking.
Leaders of the pack: The heiress to the Seagram liquor fortune, 39, is accused of running a pyramid scheme in order to enrich Keith Raniere, the leader of Nxivm (Allison Mack on left in May, Keith Raniere in an undated video on right)
It was however, Bronfman and her sister Sara who helped woo Allison Mack when she considered joining the group according to multiple sources who previously spoke with DailyMail.com.
Bronfman has also been alleged to have financed the cult using her family’s multi-million dollar fortune.
‘Raniere and Bronfman conspired to commit identity theft arising out of a scheme to obtain the e-mail usernames and passwords of perceived enemies and critics of Raniere in order to monitor their electronic communications,’ states a release from the US Attorney’s Office.
‘Raniere and Bronfman participated in an identity theft conspiracy involving the use of credit card and banking information belonging to one of Raniere’s sexual partners after her death in November 2016. Bronfman sent Raniere regular emails documenting expenses charged to the woman’s credit card for Raniere’s ‘review and approval.’ Those expenses included payments to a chiropractor for Raniere’s benefit, as well as thousands of dollars’ worth of clothing and shoe purchases for the mother of Raniere’s child.
‘Bronfman encouraged and induced the illegal entry into the United States of an alien for Bronfman’s financial gain, engaging in international wire transfers to make it fraudulently appear that the victim had the financial resources to obtain an investor visa.’