Judge Questions Allison Mack, Sex Cult Co-Defendants About Shady Trust Fund

Allison Mack and her NXIVM sex cult co-defendants appeared in federal court on Thursday, where a judge questioned their motives for setting up a shady trust fund to pay their legal fees, RadarOnline.com can report.

Mack entered the courtroom wearing a gray turtleneck – something she’s likely not used to wearing while under house arrest in her parents’ California home – as eyewitnesses whispered in the courtroom that she looked “terrible.”

U.S. attorneys who filed a superseding indictment for racketeering against Mack, NXIVM founder Keith Raniere, as well as Lauren Salzman, Nancy Salzman, Kathy Russell and Clare Bronfman, got down to business. They alerted the judge about a secret trust fund the defendants have been using to pay their legal fees – trusted by their very own co-defendant, Seagram’s heiress Bronfman.

The judge questioned Raniere’s attorney, Marc Agnifilo, who spoke on behalf of all defendants, about why they’d hide this information.

“Do you think it’s significant for the court to know who created the trust?” the judge asked.

“On June 12, I told your honor,” Agnifilo said. “I told the government there was an irrevocable trust. We didn’t discuss the source.”

The judge said he wanted to know who, besides Bronfman, was funding the money, which is being used to pay off legal bills for Mack, Raniere, and the rest of the defendants.

Agnifilo explained that the trust was created before Bronfman was arrested and became a defendant in the case. As RadarOnline.com readers know, the government unsealed the superseding indictment against all six defendants on July 24.

Mack, Raniere and the four others face time in jail for charges of racketeering, forced labor conspiracy, sex trafficking, and other serious crimes.

U.S. attorneys on Thursday claimed that no matter what evidence is provided to the court by Agnifilo, they believe finding out who runs the trust and funds it is “appropriate.”

The judge agreed. He claimed that without knowing the “full details” of the defendants’ financial dealings, it is assumed those behind the alleged secret trust are “inappropriately influencing the work of the trial counsel.”