The accused leader of the sex cult Nxivm insisted to a Brooklyn judge Thursday that he has no issue with his heiress co-defendant paying for his lawyers, too.
“I have the right to have an attorney that holds my interest above all others. I believe my attorneys do, and I have confidence in them,” Keith Raniere told Brooklyn federal court Judge Nicholas Garaufis as he was questioned about a group legal fund established by fellow Nxivm member and Seagrams heiress Clare Bronfman.
Prosecutors claimed that the irrevocable trust could be used by Bronfman to control her less wealthy cohorts, launching an inquiry by Garaufis — who recently informed Bronfman’s five co-defendants that funds in the account had dropped below 25 percent.
But Raniere on Thursday firmly declared that he was happy with his lawyers, Marc Agnifilo and Paul DerOhannesian, meaning they will remain as his assigned counsel.
Raniere, alongside onetime Smallville star Allison Mack, are accused of running a master-slave sex cult in which women were starved and branded with Raniere’s and Mack’s initials.
At least one of the women was allegedly instructed to have sex with Raniere, prosecutors say.
Opening statements are due April 29.