New York: For years, Keith Raniere described himself as the smartest and most ethical person in the world. He compared himself to Einstein and Gandhi, and boasted that he had earned multiple academic degrees.

NXIVM founder Keith Raniere. Credit:YouTube

But during opening statements in Raniere's racketeering and sex trafficking trial in federal court in Brooklyn on Tuesday, a prosecutor told jurors that the image he projected as the guru of a cult-like group called Nxivm was a charade.

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"The defendant said he was a mentor, but he was a predator," said the prosecutor, Tanya Hajjar.