Smallville alum Allison Mack has been named as a defendant along with NXIVM founder Keith Raniere and other top members of the alleged sex cult. Mack has pleaded guilty to charges of racketeering in the case.
The new suit claims the defendants instituted a Ponzi scheme to defraud recruits, conducted illegal experimentation on humans and exploited female recruits.
The suit claims Mack, Raniere and 13 others “exerted power over the plaintiffs; took their money; made it financially, physically and psychologically difficult, and in some cases impossible, to leave the coercive community; and systematically abused plaintiffs physically and emotionally.”
In 2017, NXIVM was exposed to be a pyramid scheme and cult that forced female members into sexual slavery. Raniere was arrested and indicted, then convicted of racketeering and sex trafficking. Mack was arrested in April of 2018 and charged with recruiting and branding women. The suit claims that Mack was “tasked with selecting attractive, trustworthy women who could become sexual partners for Raniere,” including women from college sororities. In one case, a recruit was abused in the past, and told that sex with Raniere would “help her get over trauma.”
She is awaiting sentencing and faces 20 years behind bar.
Several bold-faced names got swept up in the group, including the heiress to the Seagam Company fortune and the daughter of a former Dynasty star.