Lawrence Ray, who goes by Larry, is shown in a 2016 interview where he described being assaulted by a mafia boss. He is accused of manipulating his daughter's friends by turning them into a cult-like group A conman has been accused of turning his daughter's group of college friends into a cult by moving in with them once he got out of prison then dividing them with disturbing control tactics which included forcing them to have sex with each other, convincing them they had poisoned him and driving some to multiple suicide attempts. Lawrence Ray, 59, who goes by Larry, is a well-known New York scammer who has strong ties to disgraced former NYPD commissioner Bernie Kerik. His past is murky but, in addition to spending times behind bars for his role in a securities fraud scam, he has worked on Wall Street, owned nightclubs, been an FBI informant and inserted himself in into powerful networks by brokering meetings. After being released from prison in 2010 following a six month incarceration for breaching the terms of his custody agreement with his ex-wife, he moved in to his daughter Talia's college apartment while she was studying at Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York. Over the next four years, he drove her and her friends apart by manipulating them into disturbing alleged scenarios which include multiple suicide attempts, lawsuits, sex in front of him and self-harming. The allegations were laid out in a lengthy article by The Cut on Monday which includes testimony from some of the group. The issues began in September 2010 when Ray was released from prison after six months. He was jailed for contempt of court for disobeying a judge's order regarding his custody agreement with his ex-wife. In September 2010, Ray moved in to his daughter Talia's student apartment in Sarah Lawrence College, New York. They are shown when she was a teenager Isabella Pollok was Talia's best friend. In 2010, Ray started sleeping in her room, claiming she needed him because she was going through a break-up. She is still living with him in New Jersey He had previously been sentenced to five years of probation for his role in a securities fraud scam. Ray moved in to the roommates' home and at first charmed them by cooking meals and occasionally taking them out for dinner, paying for the outings with a wad of cash that he carried in a backpack. 'He did all of our cleaning and definitely took on the dad role in the house,' one former housemate, who gave her name as Juli Anna, said. At first, he slept on an air mattress in Talia's room but before long, he was sleeping in the same room as Isabella, his daughter's 19-year-old best friend who was going through a break-up and was coaching her, claiming she 'needed' him. Gradually, he began to exert control over the group, they said. According to some of the former roommates, Ray roped them all into what he framed to be a 'self improvement' program. It soon involved them taking part in group 'sessions' in the living room where he would counsel them and tell them they had been brought together by their shared obsession with suicide, one recalled. One involved them having to explain their past behavior and, at times, apologize to him for things he told them they had done to him. This is the student housing where Ray lived with the eight students in 2010. He at first charmed them by cooking them meals and taking them out but soon started controlling them with 'group' therapy and counselling sessions Sisters Yalitzia Rosario (left) and Felicia Rosario (right) were brought into the group by their brother, Santos. They are now estranged from their parents It was such an effective form of brainwashing, they recalled, that one of them - Barban Levin - once agreed to have Ray tie a 'garrote' of aluminium foil around his penis and testicles and tighten it. He forced Daniel, who was confused about his sexuality, to have sex with Isabella, in front of him on multiple occasions and once invited a friend to watch, Daniel claimed. Santos Rosario told his parents he would kill himself unless they could come up with money he owed Ray. The family gave him $200,000 over three years. Santos ended up in psychiatric care and in a homeless shelter The others included Claudia Drury, who he convinced was schizophrenic, and Santos Rosario. Santos had tried to kill himself once before meeting Ray but, according to those who spoke to The Cut, his problems worsened as a result of their contact. Even when Daniel and Claudia traveled to England to study abroad, they would Skype Ray and, according to Daniel, have sex on camera for him. During the summers, the group decamped to an apartment on the Upper East Side. It was owned by Lee Chen, a former friend of Ray's who eventually sued him to get him out of the property. Daniel clawed his way out of the group after a disturbing alleged incident where, he claims, he was told to put on a dress and sodomize himself with a dildo in front of the group while they laughed. Others, however, stayed. Over the course of their friendship, three of the women - Claudia, Isabella and Yalitza (Santos' sister who he brought into the fold) - tried to kill themselves. They all swallowed bottles of Tylenol pills and said afterwards that they felt badly about how they had treated him. Santos, whose parents say they gave Larry $200,000 over the course of three years, went to a mental health facility and has also spent time in a homeless shelter. Claudia, for a time, worked as a prostitute to try to repay Larry for 'damage' he said she had caused to properties. She has a disturbing website where she details how she, Yalitza and Santos tried to poison him, Talia and Isabella. Ray was former NYPD commissioner Bernie Kerik's best man (shown) and was friends with him for years until a dispute led him to exposing Kerik for corruption. He believes now that he is the victim of a conspiracy led by Kerik to harm him and his family Talia, pictured recently, has been brainwashed by her father into thinking that she was abused by her mother from a young age, friends say Santos' parents, who had to sell their home in the Bronx to give Ray money, say they have contacted the NYPD three times about their experiences with him but that because all of the youngsters are over 18, there is nothing they can do. Talia now lives with her father's stepfather in North Carolina. She has made repeated public appeals to reunite with her teenage sister Ava who she says she is being kept apart from by her mother, Teresa. She alleged in the past that her mother beat her and sexually abused her - claims that were found to be false in family court. Ray lives in New Jersey with Isabella and Felicia. The Cut interviewed him and he maintained his theory that he is being targeted as part of a wide conspiracy for exposing Kerik's corruption as the police commissioner. His attorney did not immediately respond to DailyMail.com's inquiries on Monday morning but he denied many of the allegations made in The Cut's piece.All rights reserved for this news site dailymail and under his responsibility