Famed American Internet businessman Jeffrey Peterson, in hiding, says ‘Arizona Mafia,’ Carlos Salinas and NXIVM Mexico — out to kill him

This story is reminiscent of when Catherine Oxenberg called to tell me her daughter had been branded. I published it and it became worldwide news and led to the arrest of Keith Raniere.

A few days ago, someone who said his name was Jeffrey Peterson called and said his life was in danger – because of Carlos Salinas and NXIVM.

When Catherine Oxenberg first called – I did not know who she was and was unsure if the woman on the phone was telling the truth or perhaps posing as someone she was not.  NXIVM is known for tricks and deception.

But it turned out she was who she said she was – and the rest was history.

When Jeffrey Peterson called me – I did not know who he was. I later found out.  I cannot personally verify everything herein – but there is enough independent corroboration  from outside sources – to lead me to believe this is a true story  and it may be even bigger than the branding story – in the hierarchy of high crimes.

To cut to the chase – I now suspect the long rumored Mexican – American NXIVM activities – may have been to facilitate money laundering on a larger scale than I previously suspected.

This will be an unfolding story.

First about Peterson. Unless he is an impostor – which based on multiple interviews with him and independent verification I was able to make – is something I highly doubt. However, in the world of Salinas-Bronfman-Raniere, it is always a possibility. [I’ve only spoken to Peterson on the phone – for he says he is in hiding].

But, if he is who he says he is, then this is “THE” Jeffrey Peterson, the 45 year old tech and start up wizard, the former CEO and Chairman of Quepasa, {now MeetMe].

Peterson says he is being targeted on both sides of the US-Mexican border – after refusing to join the Mexican branch of NXIVM and is living in exile outside the USA and Mexico.

He calls a group of individuals in high places in the Arizona legal and government [deep state] community – including Clare Bronfman’s lawyer, Dennis Burke – the “Arizona Mafia” and says they are part of the organized conspiracy to destroy him.

He implies he was once a part of this group.  His story may help unravel what was really going on in Mexico – with Keith Raniere, Emiliano Salinas, Alex Betancourt [and their Prorsus Capital] and of course, Emiliano’s father, Carlos Salinas.

This might help explain why Emiliano Salinas is the special target of the FBI and DOJ in the Eastern District of New York in the NXIVM case.

Personally, I always felt that much more was going on in Mexico – with a shady cast of characters.  An added dimension is that Carlos Salinas may have had much more “use” for NXIVM.

And I am not referring to NXIVM teachings.

In any event, this story will take some time to unfold.  Peterson seems to know more than he is saying – so far.

Take it all – as usual – with a grain of salt. But let’s try to digest what we know:

First of all – Peterson is an American. He has a strong connection to Mexico and seems to know some of the highest ranked players there and Mexicans in America. He also seems to know many of the “Arizona Mafia” – that group of “Deep State” members of Arizona’s federal law enforcement who enrich themselves – some believe with gun running and drugs – the two principle export and import products along the Arizona border.

Peterson may have information on Fast and Furious – which seems to have been an illegal, corrupt operation of the US deep state officials in federal domestic law enforcement and intelligence communities – to raise money outside of congressional oversight – by selling guns to Mexican criminals [read Salinas’s people] and aid and abet the illegal infusion of drugs for sale in the USA.

No one went to jail for Fast and Furious crimes – for all the perpetrators seem to be above the law – but one member of the Arizona Mafia – Dennis Burke – now Clare Bronfman’s attorney –  took the fall – and had to resign his post as the highest ranking federal law enforcement officer in Arizona, the US Attorney for the Arizona District.

Getting back to Peterson. He was founder of Quepasa, the first publicly traded Hispanic internet community and social network in the United States. Quepasa’s partners and investors included SONY Corporation, football star John Elway, the Telemundo television network, and Gloria Estefan.

Peterson’s history with Quepasa was controversial. He was the founder and CEO and, despite being the largest stockholder, he was fired as CEO but remained on the board of directors. This was in 1999, shortly before the company went public on the Nasdaq Stock Market.  The company – without his leadership  – floundered following the dot-com crash of 2002 – and Peterson took over Quepasa as CEO, led the company back to a period of growth, then sold Quepasa to an investment group led by a venture capitalist group Richard L. Scott Investments for about $200 million in March of 2006.  Scott is now Governor of Florida.

Peterson is considered the pioneer of Hispanic internet in the United States. And the company he founded, Quepasa, changed its corporate name in 2012, to MeetMe  and subsequently acquired the Skout, if (we), Tagged, and hi5 social networks and internet brands. As of mid 2018, the renamed parent company, the Meet Group, had a market value of about U.S. $300 million.

Peterson’s later venture – seems to have something to do with NXIVM

In April 2013, Peterson and partner, Michael Silberman, launched Mobile Corporation. The company was a start-up venture focused on developing a freelancing platform for Mobile technology.  The board members included Univision Online CEO Javier Saralegui; the son of  Atari Founder Nolan Bushnell – Brent Bushnell;  Senior Advisor to Mexican billionaire [and close Salinas’ ally] Carlos Slim – Marco A. López Jr.  and notably – for purposes of NXIVM and the case against it – former U.S. Attorney and now current attorney for Clare Bronfman — Dennis Burke.

Notable investors in Mobile Corporation included the venture fund of Silicon Valley’s Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati law firm, Salt Lake City businessman Phil Marriott, Texas land Commissioner George P. Bush, and notably, for purposes of NXIVM. and the case against it – Prorsus Capital – a company named and guided by Keith Raniere – and operated by Emiliano Salinas, and his lover, Alejandro Betancourt, and other NXIVM underlings.

I believe – and have evidence to support it – that Prorsus Capital is a front for a money laundering company for the Salinas family to launder drug and gun running profits – much of it through Luxembourg. {more on that in a later post].

Peterson’s Mobile Corp. established headquarters in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Shortly after, the company began developing branch offices at Plaza Carso in Mexico City, Nogales, Sonora Mexico, and in the Philippines.  On October 10, 2014, Mobile Corporation named former U.S. Presidential Candidate and Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean as its Global Advocate. Dean was the previous Governor of Vermont, and also joined the Advisory Board.

It was around that time that trouble struck for Peterson.  One of his financiers – Emiliano Salinas – asked, or rather demanded, that Peterson become a member of NXIVM – according to Peterson.

Take it with a grain of salt, if you will, but I can think of some reasons why Emiliano might have been ordered by Raniere or his father, Carlos, to insist that Peterson become a member. We’ll get into that later.

But a number of problems began to erupt between Peterson and board members.  Among the people Peterson was working with were David Lopez, father of Latina singer and actress Jennifer Lopez.  In 2017, an article in the Arizona Republic newspaper questioned numerous disagreements with members of Peterson’s board of directors and reported that there was a dispute between Peterson and David Lopez.

Political activities

Jeffrey Peterson with President Bill Clinton in 2010

To complete our little biographical picture of Peterson, he has been a huge donor to Democrats. His political affiliations have often been related to Hispanic interests. Peterson was a close associate of Hispanic marketing executive Lionel Sosa.

His big donations – and his business activities – directly or indirectly – helped him get important appointments.  In 2003, Peterson was appointed to the Arizona-Mexico Commission by former Arizona Governor Janet Napolitano. In 2005, he was appointed to the Executive Committee.  In 2005, Peterson was appointed to the cross-border transactions committee of the Arizona Department of Real Estate, which focused on international real estate transactions between residents of Arizona and Mexico. In the same year, he was appointed as chairman of the Technology Subcommittee of the 2006 Executive Bond Committee, by Phoenix Mayor Phil Gordon.

Peterson was also active in Democrat agendas and financially supported the March 25, 2006, and April 10, 2006 marches organized by immigrants and was a co-host at a June 1, 2006 fundraiser for Arizona Senatorial candidate Jim Pederson, featuring former president, Bill Clinton. Peterson held a fundraiser at his home for Barack Obama featuring Democratic National Committee Chairman Howard Dean and actress Scarlett Johansson in 2008.  Peterson was named as co-host at a October 2016 fundraising event for Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton featuring Chelsea Clinton at a private residence in Phoenix.  In other words, he was – for a time – a darling, a stalwart of the Democratic Party. [Later, we will explore the connections between the Democratic Party- Salinas – and NXIVM].

His connections run deep. In 2013, Peterson was appointed to the Board of Directors of the U.S. Philippines Society, a Washington, D.C.-based private sector initiative chaired by U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte and former AIG Chairman Maurice “Hank” Greenberg.  According to Maricopa County’s property records, Peterson owned a residence in the same condominium complex as Arizona Senator John McCain.  In 2007, a scholarship fund was established at the University of Texas San Antonio in Peterson’s name – for Hispanic students pursuing technology related degrees.  He has reportedly partnered or invested with former MySpace CEO Richard Rosenblatt and Paypal co-founder Peter Thiel,  Mexican pop singer Pepe Aguilar, and was – at one time – and for many years – was known as one of Carlos Slim’s closest friends.

So this is a public figure.

He contacted Frank Report to tell me exclusively – that he now feels his life is in danger. This is what he told me:

Jeffrey Peterson says:

• His life has been threatened and feels he is in grave danger.
• In addition to threats on his life, his business partners and attorneys have been intimidated over the past several years.
• He has been in communication with “more than one branch of government” regarding the matters described.
• He currently fears for his life, and is living outside of the United States and Mexico.
• The State Department, Homeland Security and the FBI know where he is.

Peterson says some of his former colleagues – in Arizona and Mexico – want to silence him – permanently – because of what he knows about them – and the ties seem to run deep to NXIVM – Salinas.

Peterson told me, “They have more or less ruined my life at this point, which is clearly what they intended to do, but apparently the entire group, and the personalities in the background, and not willing to stop with simply ruining your life, especially if you hold information about them. I tried to quietly settle things with these people for a long time. But they won’t stop attacking me. What am I supposed to do? I can’t be quiet and live in fear any longer. They can continue the scorched-earth fear tactics in court and with their other veiled and direct threats. It’s been a part of my life for a long time now.

“At this point it’s about more than just me. People who are much smarter than me have been telling me that I need to tell the true story for a long time now. The story brings with it more issues and facts than anyone would ever possibly imagine. It is blatantly obvious to the American public that what these groups {NXIVM] were doing in New York was wrong. But it wasn’t just New York, and I’m not the only one who knows there is tremendous amount more to the story. I am 100 percent sure that others have been intimidated into keeping their mouths shut. I can’t begin to tell you how many people have told me that I will be assassinated if I speak. It’s not a joke. I’m being very serious. And I’m seeing it myself. But it seems like given what’s at stake for everyone on both sides of the border, there is a responsibility to speak the truth, regardless of what happens to me. It’s surreal.

“I’m the last person in the world who would ever want to take on these corrupt groups, they are seriously terrifying people. For the longest time, I tried to get them to leave me alone, so I could continue working on my projects, but I don’t have a choice anymore. By the way, Frank, in case anything happens to me, let me say for the record, ‘I’m not suicidal. Life would otherwise be great, but for this horrible situation.’

“What they want, more than anything, is to silence me at any cost, in the courts or otherwise. But they can’t silence me anymore. I mean, I guess given the record of the Salinas regime, people tell me they can silence anyone, but I’m going to try to speak the truth before they can add me to that list.”

***

So what could the reason be that certain people want to silence Peterson? He claims it all began after he refused to join Executive Success Programs (ESP) – the Mexican branch of NXIVM – at the urging of former ESP leader Emiliano Salinas – in 2014.

Peterson may be “The Man Who Knew Too Much”

Peterson says he declined to join NXIVM in 2014 – about the time he was developing his new company and got financing from Prorsus. He says he has been targeted with “retaliation, threats, negative propaganda and legal action by the Arizona Corporation Commission,” a state agency described in published reports as the “most corrupt agency in Arizona.”

Peterson said there is a link between “corrupt influences” in Arizona and former colleagues, who he said are known and in fact describe themselves – among themselves – as the “Arizona Mafia,” – and the Salinas political family of Mexico.

Peterson says a story was “planted” in the Arizona Republic newspaper in December of 2017, orchestrated by Emiliano Salinas and Dennis Burke, and others known to have ties with former Arizona Governor and former United States Secretary of Homeland Security, Janet Napolitano.

Presently, Burke is representing Canadian heiress Clare Bronfman in connection with possible federal criminal charges relating to the NXIVM cult.

Peterson told me about Burke – who he said was once his close friend – until he refused to cooperate with the NXIVM demand with its illegal Salinas implications:

“I’d guess that Burke is in there to horse-trade Clare Bronfman’s indictment, using her own inheritance money, to save the hide of Emiliano Salinas. Dennis Burke has been proven to be an underhanded liar who stabs people in the back – even if he first pretends to be their friend. That’s the kind of human being he was to me when he was pretending to be my friend for years; that’s who Dennis was in his Fast and Furious scandal, so it seems logical he might continue his Dennis Burke Arizona Mafia tactics.”

According to Peterson, the fundamental disagreements arose in 2014 over the relationship with the Salinas family, and “things went south and have only progressed downward.”

Peterson said, “I kept trying to work on the Mobile project but after the falling out with Salinas, things kept getting worse. Then they went from worse to awful, and from awful to a nightmare.”

Peterson claims that Emiliano Salinas and Burke influenced certain news reports about him – implying that money may have changed hands.

Peterson said, “The statements made in the Arizona Republic news article are materially inaccurate. It was a hit piece my lawyers feel was orchestrated by Emiliano Salinas and his friend, Dennis Burke….  The Arizona Republic article was a one-sided hit piece orchestrated by Dennis Burke, who apparently went out of his way to collect and coerce inaccurate statements from several of my former colleagues.”

Peterson added, the agenda is to shut him up about Emiliano Salinas –  “Dennis Burke keeps trying to stir up dissent in the Mobile project to create the appearance of impropriety in that project… so that no one will listen to me about Emiliano Salinas.”

Peterson added, “Burke…leaked documents to the Arizona Republic, and lied. Sound familiar? This guy has a history.”

Peterson said the campaign of retaliation against him by the “Arizona Mafia” has made it virtually impossible for him to continue working on the Mobile Corporation project.

“It seems like they don’t care if Mobile works or not. All they want is to discredit, smear and harm me, because I know so much about them and I’m no longer in their Mafia. And apparently a persistent smear campaign isn’t enough for them.”

Peterson said the civil case at the Arizona Corporation Commission was only part of a campaign to have him jailed “in any way possible” on fabricated charges in Arizona.

Creating fictitious criminal complaints is nothing new to NXIVM or Salinas. Several individuals who left NXIVM have been subjected to attempts of criminal prosecution by NXIVM.

Raniere went after his ex-girlfriend Toni Natalie, cult deprogrammer Rick Ross, blogger John Tighe, former NXIVM high rank member Kristin Keeffe, former girlfriend and MXIVM member Barbara Bouchey, and consultants Joe O’Hara and myself.

“It is not easy to walk away from these people…” said Peterson. “I’ve been through business disputes before, but this is the most horrible thing I’ve ever faced.”

Peterson repeatedly said he will soon reveal the depths of the ties between the “Arizona mafia” and the Salinas political family of Mexico.

“The concept of stylizing adversaries as  ‘criminals, then pressuring those adversaries with scorched earth tactics and any available element of the justice system they are able to influence, is from the second page of the Salinas family political playbook,” said Peterson. “It seems like – more or less – everyone in Mexico believes that actual murder, or at least the direct or veiled threat of assassination, is on page one of the Salinas book.”

During the Salinas presidency, many enemies were targeted with criminal charges and jailed amid accusations by the Salinas administration after Salinas assumed the Mexican presidency in 1988 under suspicion of electoral fraud.

Peterson said that only after he refused to join Executive Success Programs (ESP), the Mexican branch of NXIVM at the urging of ESP leader, Emiliano Salinas, that “some of the people I believed back then to be my closest friends were turned against me.”

***

Now, admittedly this article is light on the actual crimes of NXIVM and Salinas – and the Arizona Mafia. That is expected to follow.

The story – for the moment – is that Jeffrey Peterson – American millionaire and Hispanic-American internet pioneer – is in hiding – claims his life is in danger – because of Carlos and Emiliano Salinas – Dennis Burke – and others – and it started – he says – on the fateful day – he refused to join NXIVM.

According to Peterson – there is MORE TO FOLLOW

For more info on Peterson, see jeffreypeterson.com