NEW YORK - The co-founders of a self-improvement group that's accused of branding some of its female followers and forcing them into unwanted sex have pleaded not guilty to an updated indictment.
Keith Raniere and Nancy Salzman had a court appearance Wednesday along with one of the group's more high-profile adherents, TV actress Allison Mack.
On Tuesday, an heiress to the Seagram's liquor fortune was arrested in the investigation into the upstate New York group, called NXIVM (NEHK'-see-uhm.)
Clare Bronfman is a daughter of the late billionaire philanthropist and former Seagram chairman Edgar Bronfman Sr.
She's accused of taking steps to help Raniere exercise control over members, including identity theft, interception of electronic communications and money laundering.
All of the defendants deny any wrongdoing.
