In 2017, a little-known consulting firm called NXIVM became the center of an international scandal. One day, no one had heard of the group at all. The next, people were calling it a cult. There were accusations of a secret society, psychological manipulation, imprisonment, occult sexual abuse. Then there was the group’s founder, Keith Raniere – a self-styled genius whose followers worshipped him and called him “Vanguard.” Suddenly, everyone wanted to know: where had this group come from? Who was Keith Raniere? And how had he hoodwinked so many people in this day and age?

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