'I am not remorseful': NXIVM guru Keith Raniere complains to judge as he is ordered to pay $3.5 million to sex slave victims - including surgery costs to remove their brands of his initials

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The unrepentant former leader of the NXIVM cult was ordered on Tuesday to pay $3.5 million to 21 victims of a sex-trafficking scheme, including costs to surgically remove scars from branding rituals performed by his secret sorority.

Women in the NXIVM cult were branded with the initials of self-help guru Keith Raniere to symbolize their status as sex slaves.

The sex cult leader, 60, appeared by video from an Arizona prison and told the federal judge in Brooklyn that he was baffled by the restitution order.

Raniere was sentenced last year to 120 years in prison for his conviction on racketeering conspiracy and other charges.

He has continued to refuse to take responsibility for his actions, telling the court on Tuesday: 'I do believe I am innocent of the charges.'

'It is true I am not remorseful of the crimes I do not believe I committed at all,' said Raniere, known to cult members as 'Vanguard' and 'the smartest man in the world.'

The unrepentant former leader of the NXIVM cult was ordered on Tuesday to pay $3.5 million to 21 victims of a sex-trafficking scheme

The restitution includes costs to surgically removing scars from branding rituals performed by a secret sorority.

These are some of the signs which have been branded on women in the 'cult', according to whistleblower Frank Parlato. He says that the signs are designed to have the letters KR for Keith Raniere, or AM for Allison Mack

The NXIVM Executive Success Programs sign is pictured outside of the office at 455 New Karner Road on April 26, 2018 in Albany, New York

A judge also ordered Raniere to return 'collateral' - nude photos and other potentially embarrassing material - that was used to extort and manipulate the victims.

He denied he ever 'handled collateral' and claimed: 'I don't know anything about it.'

'I don't know who the victims are,' Raniere added at another point.

It was unclear if Raniere has the means to pay restitution that's also intended to cover costs of mental health treatment and unpaid labor.

The hearing on Tuesday was interrupted near the end when one of Raniere's lawyers, Marc Fernich, lashed out at U.S. District Judge Nicholas Garaufis for not granting a delay in the proceeding so that Fernich could go to a funeral.

'It's a lack of human decency and it's disgraceful,' the lawyer said.

The judge, who said the schedule actually gave Fernich enough time to attend, sat for a half hour in stony silence until the lawyer apologized. 

Last week, the Justice Department filed a largely unnoticed letter on behalf of Lauren Salzman - yet another defendant in the NXIVM cult - asking the court to impose a sentence below those set by advisory guidelines.

A woman is seen with the branding along her bikini line 

The group's former publicist claims the brands include Keith Raniere's initials and the actress' Allison Mack

Keith Raniere, center, sits with attorneys Paul DerOhannesian, left, and Marc Agnifilo during closing arguments at Brooklyn federal court in New York in 2019

Salzman has pleaded guilty to charges of racketeering conspiracy and is expected to be sentenced to between 87 to 108 months' imprisonment under sentencing guidelines.

'Lauren Salzman provided the government with detailed information regarding the criminal activities of her co-defendant Keith Raniere and his co-conspirators,' the letter reads.

The 'significant' information Salzman provided included details regarding DOS, the secret organization led by Raniere within NXIVM. 

'The provided credible, detailed testimony at Raniere's trial before this Court in May and June 2019. The extent of Lauren Salzman's cooperation and the significance of her assistance to the government were extraordinary,' federal prosecutors wrote.

Allison Mack, 38, is pictured leaving the federal court in Brooklyn  after she was sentenced to three years in prison and ordered to pay a $20,000 fine

As acknowledged in her guilty plea, Salzman was a first-line DOS 'master' who recruited several women into DOS as her 'slaves' starting around January 2017.

Prosecutors noted in the letter that first-line DOS “masters' including Salzman required prospective “slaves” to provide “collateral” to them - which the court has now ordered Raniere to return.

That collateral includes damaging confessions about themselves and loved ones whether truthful or not, rights to financial assets, and sexually explicit photographs and videos to prevent them from leaving the group or disclosing its existence.

Clare Bronfman, the 41-year-old heir to the Seagram's fortune, was sentenced to nearly seven years in prison in September for her role as Raniere's unwavering benefactor. Bronfman has continued paying his legal bills, court documents show.

Last month, Smallville actor Allison Mack, 38, was sentenced to just three years in prison for her role in recruiting sex slaves for NXIVM leader Keith Raniere.

Mack, who had faced up to 17 years in prison, was also ordered to pay a $20,000 fine. She had pleaded guilty in 2019 to racketeering and conspiracy charges after she, like Salzman, had recruited at least two women into becoming sex slaves.

She denounced Raniere during her sentencing hearing and apologized to her victims, saying: 'I made choices I will forever regret.'

'I'm filled with remorse and guilt. I renounced Keith Raniere and all of his teachings. From the deepest part of my soul, I am sorry,' she said.

However, her victim Jessica Joan appeared in court and rejected Mack's apology and described her as 'the Ghislaine Maxwell to Keith's Jeffrey Epstein.'

'Shine light on who Allison Mack really is. Allison is a predator, a danger to society, and has no remorse for her victims,' she said.

She added: 'She can blame Keith all she wants but she is the menace cut from the same cloth. She sought me out like a predator stalking her prey… Allison Mack and Keith Raniere are the most evil monsters I've ever met.'