I think brainwashing is a wonderful term in terms of trying to define what happened to me. This special edition of nightline will be right back. Hows it going down there . Thats good. Lica misses you. Im over it though. laughter thats fine. I miss her more than you anyway. Hey, my window is closing. Yeah thats okay. Alright miles. I love you. phone hangs up yeah i love you too. This is a special edition of nightline. Reporter we are told the rendezvous was a secret. Five women summoned to a house outside albany, new york, one night this past march. Sarah edmondson says she was one of them, willingly participating in a strange initiation ritual led by a woman who told everyone to take off their clothes and put on a blindfold. Led us in blindfolded and sat us in a semicircle buck naked, no clothes, on a sheepskin rug. Reporter edmondson told authorities she thought they were going to get tattoos. Instead, she says, they found out they were all going to be branded. What was that like . It was worse than childbirth. Imagine a hot laser dragged across your flesh for 30 minutes without anesthetic. Reporter at this point, youre probably wondering how in the world did this happen . Sarah seems so normal. She lives in vancouver where she is a wife and mother with a successful film and television career. Do i know you . I dont think so. No, no, i never forget a face. Reporter her life changed after she crossed paths with a secretive Selfhelp Group nxium and its charismatic leader Keith Ranieri. Im an interesting person, im a controversial person, most importantly an unconventional person. Reporter according to Promotional Materials, even as a child ranieri was destined for greatness. Speaking in full sentences at age 1, reading at age 2, judo champ and concertlevel pianist at 13. I was told he was one of the smartest men in the world, just an incredible man. With that im going to pass the microphone over to mr. Ranie ranieri. Reporter so incredible, it seems, an honor name wont do. Participants say theyre taught to camerlmera theory vanguard. Vanguard, because hes the leader of a philosophical movement. Reporter at the heart of nexium training is intensives which former members say are like group therapy. Running as long as 14 hours a day and up to 16 days. Edmondson says she attended her first one in 2005. She says it cost over 2,000. I left my five day, my initial training, as if a veil had been lifted and i could see things more clearly in my life. Reporter in Promotional Materials and videos nexium claims more than 16,000 people worldwide have taken its courses. But participants are required to sign a confidentiality agreement. So what do we actually know about this secretive Selfhelp Group . According to former members, nexium has its own lingo. And the sessions came to involve practices such as chanting. A special handshake. Even bowing. To vanguard. Thank you, vanguard. Reporter former members, like mark vicente, say anyone unwilling to go along with the rituals would be scorned. If you questioned Keith Ranieri, the [ bleep ] hits the fan. Like what . You are prideful. How dare you. Dont you realize you owe everything to him. Reporter before he founded nexium, ranieris first big idea came in the 1990s, hawking memberships in an illfated networking marketing company. His name is Keith Ranieri, his product is consumers byline. Reporter consumers buyline featured eddie alvers of green acres fame and an awkward ranieri, pitchman. Good to see you. Good to see you. Its an amazing idea. Sometimes it even amazes me. But consumers byline is wonderful and its working. It really was a brilliant idea, based on the premise of as a group collectively, we can buy in bulk, we can save a lot of money. Reporter tony natali knew ranieri before he was vanguard. When you met him did he seem like a genius . He seemed like a geek. I asked him, you have a 240 iq, why are you doing this . He said, this is the platform that im going to use, and im going to change the world. Reporter but not everyone was buying what ranieri was selling. Attorneys general in several states began looking into consumers buylines practices. We told you about consumers buyline last may when the company was accused of being an illegal pyramid scheme reporter the company settled without admitting wrongdoing but agreed to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to the states. After that, the company went bust. By that time, tony natali was allin. She had left her husband and moved to albany with her young son to be with keith. They were together for nearly six years. Heres the smartest man in the world willing to help you through your emotional issues. Help you heal sexually, help you heal intellectually, you just have to trust me. Reporter she witnessed the early days of nexium. Ranieri had partnered with a woman named nancy saltzman, and together they created teachings known as rational inquiry and methods that in Court Filings natali later likened to brainwashing. He elicits all that information from you. My opinion is that what they do from there is they take that information and they utilize that. Where can i not build you up but break you down . Reporter over time, natali says her relationship with ranieri changed. He started to get aggressive, controlling, and worse. When i no longer wanted to have relationships with him any longer, he would force me, he would rape me. Reporter in a court filing she alleged that nexium was a cult, presided over by ranieri, and that he raped her repeatedly. In their filings, nexium lawyers say natalis allegations are false, they call them scurrilous, scandalous, slanderous. Sarah says when she was involved in nexium, ranieri taught women were to be subservient to men, and he practiced and he preached by having what amounts to a harem of women. Ive spoken to five different women in the harem. It was like having a normal boyfriend except you wouldnt know when youd see him next. Hed go off with another woman the next day. How does he do it . To be honest, he looks like a schlub. Right. My personal belief is that its one gigantic hypnotic induction. I think that theres a certain percentage of people that are susceptible. Reporter in fact, his followers are so devoted that they travel in from all over the world to celebrate ranieris birthday. An annual celebration known as vanguard week. Wishing vanguard a happy birthday. I loved vwe cek. My favorite time of year. I missed my best friends wedding. It was more important to be at vweek. I missed her wedding. You were deep in. I was deep in. Reporter she was in the group 12 years, rising through the ranks. During that time she says she got close to nancy saltsmans daughter lauren, who was her maid of honor. Shes like my therapist. In the ranking system shes above me. Reporter in march, after all their years together in nexium, sarah says lauren approached her about a new and mysterious opportunity. Lifechanging, but top secret. Reporter but edmondson claims lauren saltsman demanded highly compromising collateral first. In response she says she and some others ended up providing nude photos of themselves. Instantly all my alarm bells are going off. Absolutely. Why did you do it . Because i trusted her. Reporter only then did she gain entry. And the first step is making a vow of obedience to her, as me being a slave, her being my master. Slave . She used the word slave . She used the word slave. Did you object . Of course, every stage of the way. She said, its a metaphor, its a reporter all of which led to the night she and other women submitted to being branded by this woman she says, danielle roberts. The woman on the table screamed out in pain, twisted and turned and yelled and the woman i was with holding her legs down, we looked at each other and wept. Why didnt you let go and run out of there, even naked . It didnt seem like a choice at the time. Could you stand up and point where the brand is . So its right here. Right under my underwehrlein. Reporter an attorney for dr. Danielle roberts tells abc news the allegations are unfounded. But edmondson did file a complaint on dr. Roberts with the new York Department of health. In response the agency said the issue she described are not medical misconduct. Edmondson believes ranieri should also be held accountable because she says she saw a text come in from him as she held lauren satsmans phone, filming the branding. When we were doing the branding, a text came through from keith. And it said, how are they all doing with each other . So he knew. He knew. He knew we were all being branded. Reporter ranieri did not respond to requests for an interview, but in a letter posted on the groups website says there is no merit to the allegations we are abusing, coercing, or harming individuals. Ranieri says that secret sorority is not part of nexium and im not associated with the group. The letter also says our experts say members of the sorority are thriving, healthy, happy, better off, and havent been coerced. But in edmondsons complaint she says she was told that the brand was a latin symbol. Later she says she realized it included the initials of nexiums leader and those of a fellow actress. The four elements were keiths initials from one side, a. M. For alison mack from dead on. I didnt see that at the time. Reporter coming up, vanguard goes hollywood. Why are so many young actors following the guru of albany . Why do you think so emotional for me . Yes. Reporter one stars fight to get her daughter back. Shes in danger, in my opinion. Shes in grave danger. Reporter stay with us. Cally. I tried hard to quit smoking. But when we brought our daughter home that was it. Now i have nicoderm cq. The nicoderm cq patch with unique extended release Technology Helps prevent your urge to smoke all day. Its the best thing that ever happened to me. Can you say thanks nicoderm cq . Every great why needs a great how. I want ycome on mom t easy. Go slow. Lets go mom slow down for the ones who keep pushing. Always unstoppable. Touch is how we communicate with those we love, but when your psoriasis is bad, does it ever get in the way . Embrace the chance of 100 clear skin with taltz. Taltz is proven to help people with moderate to severe psoriasis achieve completely clear skin. 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Reporter this nexium testimonial is a far cry from the role actress alison mack once played on smallville. Shes among several other young actors who have at least dabbled in nexium. But of these, mack is the only one confirmed to have stayed with nexium longterm, even ditching hollywood to move to albany where she became part of ranieris inner circle. She even appeared in this video with him. So one would say, authenticity is being as you are. Reporter his words literally moved her to tears. I dont know why that makes me want to cry. Its beautiful. Why . So emotional for me . I dont know, it seems like its something that i just i feel like i want it. Authenticity. Reporter Sarah Edmondson says it was mack who started the secret sorority in albany along with ranieri. As proof she pointed to her brand. The humiliation, the mutilati mutilation, theyre branding women with keiths and alisons initials. Welcome to team talk, im India Reporter another woman who may have had those letters seared onto her body was india oxenberg, also a young actress whose mother is in the business too. Katherine oxenberg, known for her role in dynasty. My names amanda bedford. Reporter later she appeared with a young india in this movie. Oxenberg hasnt seen her daughter in months and is both gripped with fear and racked with guilt. Because she herself brought india into nexium. They went to an introductory session together in 2011. I just couldnt wait to get out of there. And i said to india, what do you think . She says, this is for me. And i was shocked. How old was she at that time . 19. Pretty young, pretty impressionable. Reporter she says trouble started when india, seen here in this nexium video, started taking classes to become a coach. During this time, oxenberg says her daughter burned through her inheritance, largely she believes to pay for those classes. Once she moved to albany, she became very secretive. The end of last april, a defector called me and said, you need to save india. Reporter oxenberg says this is the first she had heard of that secret sore sortie. Once i found out about the branding, the slave, i went nuts. Reporter soon there was a rare opportunity to confront india. I said everything wrong. I said, darling, i believe youre brainwashed. Did she admit she had been branded . Uhhuh. I said, try and convince me that this is a good thing. And she said, its character building. And shes over 18, and so legally theres nothing i can do. Reporter india do not respond to our request for comment, but she recently posted on facebook a public rebuke to anyone questioning her condition saying, im absolutely fine, great, actually. You are absolutely convinced in the deepest core of you as a mother that your daughter is not great, shes not fine . Shes anything but fine. Shes in danger. In my opinion, shes in grave danger. Reporter but the more oxenberg speaks out, the more she could be leaving herself exposed to nexiums most common counterattack. Lawsuits. His weapon of choice is the legal system. Reporter terrorism by litigation is what ranieris exgirlfriend tony natali has called it in Court Filings. Shes one of a number of former members whom nexium has sued doggedly and repeatedly. She says so far the suits against her have been unsuccessful. I believe that the reason that you havent heard from more people is theyre afraid of being sued. Reporter Keith Ranieris group has claimed its litigation is just an effort to protect its they can wall property and reputation. Those efforts have likely cost them millions of dollars. But as reporter Brendan Lions found, legal filings allege Keith Ranieri has a secret weapon, the brothman sisters. Their late father was the multi billionaire philanthropist and seagrams distillery chairman. People have given up their life savings trying to defend themselves. Theyre up against the millions of dollars that the brothmans have at their disposal. Reporter ranieri might now be in mexico. Someone sent this photo of a man believed to be him in monterrey. Perhaps he is there because there are reports of new heat in new york state, a possible investigation by the office of the attorney general. But people who have crossed paths with ranieri are worried that the worst could be yet to come. What frightens me is where does he go from here . My biggest fear is the koolaid situation. Like jim jones . Yes, i do. Why . Thats a big step. Not from what hes done. I mean, the level of manipulation . If this is about power and control over people, one cannot minimize what this person is capable of. Our thanks to elizabeth for that report. We repeatedly reached out to Keith Ranieri, nancy lauren saltzman, alison bank and the brothman sisters for comment, none responded other than referring us to the groups website statement. Just this week clair brothman posted online a lengthy statement defending the group saying, ive seen so much good come from both our programs and from keith himself. Well be right back. This this this is my body of proof. Proof of less joint pain and clearer skin. This is my body of proof that i can take on Psoriatic Arthritis with humira. Humira works by targeting and helping to block a specific source of inflammation that contributes to both joint and skin symptoms. Its proven to help relieve pain, stop further joint damage, and clear skin in many adults. Humira is the 1 prescribed biologic for Psoriatic Arthritis. Humira can lower your ability to fight infections, including tuberculosis. Serious, sometimes fatal infections and cancers, including lymphoma, have happened; as have blood, liver, and nervous system problems, serious allergic reactions, and new or worsening heart failure. Before treatment, get tested for tb. Tell your doctor if youve been to areas where certain fungal infections are common, and if youve had tb, hepatitis b, are prone to infections, or have flulike symptoms or sores. Dont start humira if you have an infection. Want more proof . Ask your rheumatologist about humira. Whats your body of proof . From dennys. Com. Or pumpkin pie with every 20 order you can eat it wherever you want, even if you are in someone elses house. Santa. Enter promo code, freepie, on your next order at dennys. Com im worried. I have this medical bill. Oll, huh . Dave, you have anthem and they have people to talk to who are empowered to help any question you. Is, is he okay . Real people . Living and breathing. Hopefully not breathing like that. For all the things that keep you up at night, Anthem Blue Cross has a solution. Thank you for watching nightline. As always, were online 24 7 on our Nightline Facebook page. Thanks for the company, america. Have a good weekend. Good night
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