James Loperfido

James Loperfido testified for the prosecution about consulting, accounting and tax work he performed for NXIVM from approximately late 2004 through late 2006. On Day 16, he described related corporations and identified Raniere as the principal decision-maker despite uncertainty about formal ownership. The court struck his broad answer about tax nonpayment for lack of personal knowledge; he then described unpaid-tax matters he had handled.

His testimony also addressed access to his laptop. He said he sometimes left it unattended at NXIVM headquarters, never authorized installation of a device or key logger, and did not witness an installation. He learned about the key logger much later and recognized several entries in Government's Exhibit 1527. Separately, Daniela testified that she installed surveillance software while Kathy Russell distracted him, then monitored his communications and delivered selected information to Raniere or Kristin Keeffe.

On Day 17, cross-examination established that Loperfido had met Raniere only twice and relied on others for his account of commodities losses. He nevertheless described Russell consulting Raniere before making decisions. He acknowledged legitimate tax uses of multiple-company structures. He also qualified his account of pressure to take courses: he denied threats, could not recall an explicit firing warning, and did not know why his work ended. He said he obtained and projected an anti-tax documentary at Russell's request without knowing its subject beforehand, and continued the screening despite concerns about its content.

Loperfido also described pressure from Nancy Salzman and Russell to provide information about Joe O'Hara and end that client relationship. On redirect, he clarified that his involvement in a multimillion-dollar trading loss concerned its tax treatment, not the trade itself, and that the reported Bronfman source of the money was secondhand. He could not recall specific unhelpful aspects of NXIVM intensives. His testimony concluded, and he was excused.