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Kevin Riford
In 2020, my family and I reported Buffalo, NY FBI Agent directly to the FBI for allegations of corruption. My family and I met with Burns at the Buffalo, NY FBI HQ about 5-6 times between 2019 – 2020. He gave us his personal card and said we could call at anytime. After reporting FBI Brian Burns, my family would be labeled “conspiracy theorists”. It was not long after that we would discover that FBI Brian A. Burns actually had numerous allegations of corruption lodged against him by other members of the community and beyond. I briefly wrote about this in another article: FBI Special Agent Brian Burns: Numerous Allegations of Corruption.
I realized that in my first article that I did not highlight all the allegations of corruption against FBI Agent Brian Burns. I’ll do that below, reiterating what I had already discussed in the first article.
#1 – David Pfaff
In 2016, Artvoice published an article documenting alarming conduct by Burns in a separate case involving attorney-client communications. According to the article, Burns told an attorney he could not represent his client (David Pfaff) claiming the attorney would be called as a witness — a move that raised ethical red flags.
The article continues:
“This suggests that there have been prior communications with the Court about this issue, without any notice to me or my client… Special Agent Burns showed me a copy of an email which I had forwarded to my client several years ago. Mr. Burns gleefully indicated that he had seized all my client’s emails, even though my client has never been served with a warrant.”
These allegations suggest possible witness tampering, unlawful search and seizure, and abuse of power — all involving a sitting FBI agent.
(Source: Artvoice – “Judge Piethttps://artvoice.com/2016/09/judge-pietruszka-role-assigning-counsel-witness-fbi-tried-flip-pigeon/ruszka had role in assigning counsel to witness FBI tried to flip against Pigeon”)
#2 – Frank Parlato
Frank Parlato, an investigative journalist known for his role in exposing the NXIVM cult, has long alleged that the FBI and Department of Justice (DOJ) have engaged in corruption and misconduct regarding both his own criminal case and the prosecution of NXIVM founder Keith Raniere.
Key Allegations of FBI and DOJ Misconduct
Parlato’s claims of corruption generally center on the following points:
- Evidence Fabrication: Parlato has argued that the FBI “concocted evidence” against him in his own legal case, specifically pointing to a “laundry list” of 38 alleged inaccuracies in an FBI affidavit. While federal judges rejected these claims in 2022, Parlato continues to publish reports alleging systemic dishonesty within the agency.
- Illegal Searches and Due Process: Through his platform, the Frank Report, Parlato has highlighted Keith Raniere’s legal challenges, which claim the FBI conducted illegal searches and that the DOJ knowingly used false evidence.
- Targeted Prosecution: Parlato characterizes his own long-standing legal battles—originally involving charges of wire fraud and money laundering—as a form of “authoritarian theater” by the DOJ. In August 2022, federal prosecutors dropped several major charges against him, including allegations that he stole from Seagram’s heirs Clare and Sara Bronfman.
Frank Parlato and Brian Burns are primarily linked through the federal criminal case against Parlato, in which Brian Burns served as the FBI Special Agent leading the investigation.
The relationship is characterized by significant legal contention:
- Affidavit Allegations: Parlato’s defense team filed motions accusing Agent Burns of including 38 “inaccurate” statements in an affidavit used to seize Parlato’s funds.
- Investigative Conduct: Parlato has publicly criticized Burns, claiming the agent ignored exonerating documentary evidence and “tampered” with evidence during raids related to the NXIVM case.
- Witness Solicitation: Anonymous reports on Parlato’s blog, the Frank Report, allege that Burns actively contacted individuals to seek “victim impact statements” against Parlato when none had initially come forward
#3- John Ford
The accusations against Brian Burns don’t begin in Buffalo.
Before transferring to New York, Burns served as an FBI agent in Tennessee, where his name surfaced again in connection with questionable conduct during a major corruption investigation known as the “Waltz” sting.
John Ford and Brian Burns are connected through the FBI’s “Tennessee Waltz” public corruption sting operation, where Brian Burns was the FBI special agent who testified against former state Senator John Ford in his trial.
A 2007 article from Tennessee’s ActionNews5 described troubling behavior involving Tim Willis, a convicted felon turned FBI informant. Burns admitted under questioning that Willis:
- Had not signed the Attorney General’s standard informant guidelines (which prohibit criminal activity)
- Smoked marijuana with an elected official while working as an informant
- Was paid thousands of dollars monthly even after the investigation concluded
- Used FBI office space to film his personal movie project, Street Life, without the agency’s knowledge
Burns told the court that the FBI didn’t learn about Willis’s use of their E-Cycle office as a movie set until after seeing it on the news.
(Source: ActionNews5 – “FBI Agent says bureau didn’t know about Tim Willis side project during Waltz”)
#4 – “Smoking Joe” – Joe Anderson
“Smokin’ Joe” Anderson: Joseph M. Anderson, a prominent Niagara County Tuscarora businessman from Western New York, was a key figure in a federal public corruption case involving former Niagara Falls Mayor Vince Anello. In 2011, he was sentenced to a $50,000 fine but avoided jail time for his role in the scandal.
On one occasion when I met with FBI Agent Brian A. Burns inside the Buffalo, NY HQ he told about how he was involved in incriminating Joe Anderson. He told me about all the Native American woman who go missing. He also told me about how he flipped Anderson to “work for him”. While I could not find any articles regarding both Anderson and FBI Agent Burns, I did find the one below. As you can see only a fine was paid for alleged federal crimes – that’s quite the bargain.
source: https://www.btpm.org/2011-02-25/anderson-fined-but-escapes-jail-time-in-corruption-case
#5 The Riford Family
In early 2019, Katie Riford and her children were reported as “missing” by the media, though in her affidavit submitted to Niagara County Family Court, Riford stated she was going into hiding with her children. Despite her absence from their Wheatfield, NY, home, the Niagara County Sheriff’s Office did not make a public statement for several months. It wasn’t until October 31, 2019 — at least seven months later — that WIVB News 4 Buffalo published an article, after Christina Little Riford, Katie’s sister, contacted local media outlets.
Christina and Kevin Riford, Katie’s siblings, spoke with WIVB’s Luke Moretti and Dan Telvock for over an hour, sharing their story, discussing various issues related to Katie, Family Court, the FBI, and other concerns. However, despite this extensive conversation, key statements made by FBI Special Agent Brian Burns were not included in the final article.
In their interview, WIVB News 4 Dan Telvock admitted he heard some of the statements made by FBI Special Agent Burns — though he referred to one audio as “scrambled.” Among the statements in question were remarks made by FBI Agent Brian Burns like “lock-pick the car,” “bring a handgun,” “investigate the grey car,” and “let’s kill him.” These disturbing comments were not included in the news article, despite Telvock acknowledging that he had heard some of them. In fact WIVB Luke Moretti and Dan Telvock did not mention the FBI at all in their published article.
You can listen to this portion of the discussion below regarding FBI Special Agent Brian Burns statements with WIVB News 4 Dan Telvock
Kevin Riford asks WIVB News 4 Dan Telvock if he can hear FBI Brian Burns statements. WIVB Dan Telvock responds “I can hear some of them”, referring to FBI Special Agent Brian Burns nefarious statements.
Why were these statements by FBI Brian Burns left out by WIVB News 4? Given their serious nature, shouldn’t they have been addressed in the WIVB News article? This omission raises questions about WIVB Channel 4 out of Buffalo, NY.
Here is the full conversation with FBI Special Agent Brian Burns
Below are the statements made by Buffalo, NY FBI Agent Brian Burns, which were obtained from the full conversation above.
17 min. 46 seconds: FBI Brian Burns states in the full conversation “investigate the grey car, over. it’s his sister”
17 min. 39 seconds: FBI Brian Burns states in the full conversation “lock-pick the car”.
5 min. 17 seconds: FBI Brian Burns states in the full conversation “bring a handgun”.
20 min. 12 seconds: FBI Brian Burns states in the full conversation “Lets kill him” with Kelly Marshal replying “OK”.
Below is the full conversation with Christina Riford Little, Kevin Riford, & Buffalo, NY WIVB CH. 4 Luke Moretti and Dan Telvock
Kevin Riford Calls the FBI to report Buffalo, NY Agent Brian Burns
As you can see, my family is not the only one with disturbing allegations against Buffalo, NY FBI Agent Brian Burns. Thanks for reading!