'Bad***' past of cheating lawyer's HBO star wife... and ruthless way she could now take down two-timing husband caught on camera kissing underling in Central Park

By DANA KENNEDY, SENIOR INVESTIGATIVE REPORTER Published: 17:29, 31 July 2026 | Updated: 17:42, 31 July 2026 Moira Penza, whose disgraced lawyer husband was caught cheating with an underling in Central Park last week, is not someone to mess with - in or out of court. Just ask jailed NXIVM cult leader Keith Raniere. At 42, the Queens-born Penza is a rising star in blue-chip Big Law - a former top federal prosecutor known for high-stakes cases who is now a partner with one of the most powerful litigation firms in Manhattan. With a proven track record of winning cases, Penza - described as a 'litigation star' - could now potentially be bracing for another kind of fight with her own spouse. Her husband of ten years, Nathaniel Cullerton, 45, has reportedly been suspended from his position as partner at another heavyweight law firm - Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz - after he was caught on camera kissing his 29-year-old colleague Kelsey Borenzweig. Now, Big Apple matrimonial lawyers are pondering whether Penza will set her sights on her two-timing husband. Penza had only been an assistant United States Attorney for 18 months in 2017 when she took note of a cover story in The New York Times about a cult-like group upstate where women were apparently being branded. 'Unbeknownst to them, the branding was the initials of a man named Keith Raniere, who was the head of this organization called NXIVM,' Penza recounted in a 2022 interview with her alma mater, Binghamton University. Moira Penza, whose disgraced lawyer husband was caught cheating with an underling in Central Park last week, is a former top federal prosecutor known for high-stakes cases who is now a partner with one of the most powerful litigation firms in Manhattan Penza is now a partner at Wilkinson Stekloff, one of the country's elite trial powerhouses Her husband, Nathaniel Cullerton, 45, was reportedly suspended from his position as partner at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz after he was caught on camera kissing a younger coworker Penza immediately spotted potential federal crimes like fraud extortion when researching NXIVM and, with the help of the FBI, she began interviewing victims. Ultimately, Penza would go on to lead a six-week trial that ended with Raniere being convicted and sentenced to 120 years in prison on racketeering and sex trafficking charges. 'My biggest fear was, until we arrested him, that there were women and children in danger,' Penza, who is now a partner at Wilkinson Stekloff, one of the country's elite trial powerhouses, said in the 2022 interview.  'To know that he is in prison for the rest of his life is very satisfying because I know that he is unable to hurt anyone else ever again.' Penza starred in two NXIVM documentaries, HBO's 'The Vow,' and 'Seduced: Inside the NXIVM Cult' on the Starz network after the bombshell trial. In the wake of the viral scandal involving her husband, one has to wonder whether Penza will go after her wayward spouse as ruthlessly as she took on Raniere and as successfully as she has done while representing major corporations in high-stakes litigation. The couple, who married in February 2016, reportedly at City Hall, have at least one child, and have built an enviable life together. They have a home in Wilton, Connecticut near where Cullerton grew up, as well as a three-bedroom $2.3 million prewar co-op on an exclusive stretch of Fifth Avenue opposite Central Park. The 42-year-old took down NXIVM cult leader Keith Raniere. After he was sentenced to 120 years in prison, Penza starred in HBO's 'The Vow' - a documentary documenting NXIVM and its downfall Penza, pictured in a social media picture with a friend, tied the knot with her husband in 2016 and the duo have built an enviable life together 'Ever since Belle Burden, a lot of people think divorce is glamorous and they want to write their own bestselling books,' one divorce lawyer who did not want his name used told the Daily Mail, referring to the old-money Big Apple lawyer who husband infamously dumped her during COVID. But Manhattan divorce lawyer Deana Balahtis told the Daily Mail that if Penza does decide to end her marriage, she will have to factor in that her husband may be out of a job for a while and any spousal support she might want could be impacted. 'If they do decide to split, they'll both hire high-powered matrimonial lawyers,' Balahtis speculated. 'If they're smart, they'll keep it quiet and negotiate a nice out-of-court settlement and both move on with their lives.' As news of her husband's infidelity continued to dominate headlines, those who have benefited from Penza's cutthroat legal expertise were singing her praises. Actress Catherine Oxenberg, whose daughter India became swept up by the NXIVM cult, was among them. Oxenberg waged a desperate campaign for years trying to rescue her daughter, who joined the cult believing it was a self-help group and eventually rose up in its ranks. India finally distanced herself from NXIVM and became a key witness for Penza's prosecution of the cult. 'I will never forget Moira and will be grateful to her for the rest of my life,' Oxenberg told the Daily Mail on Thursday. 'My daughter was in such a state when Moira took on the case and she was so kind to her and the other witnesses. The glamorous lawyer has represented major corporate clients in high-stakes litigation, including Altria in the JUUL litigation and Allergan in a multibillion-dollar antitrust case Notably, Penza spearheaded a six-week trial that ended with Raniere being convicted and sentenced to 120 years in prison on racketeering and sex trafficking charges In the wake of the viral scandal involving her husband, multiple matrimonial lawyers have pondered whether Penza will go after her wayward spouse as ruthlessly as she took on Keith Raniere (pictured) who is currently serving 120 years in prison 'When my daughter was being interviewed by the FBI to be a witness at the trial Moira would bring pastries every day from New York City bakeries for her and the others. She is a spectacular human being and an incredible prosecutor… the way she broke down the case so the jury could understand concepts like coercion and consent.' Actress Catherine Oxenberg, whose daughter India became swept up by the NXIVM cult, said she would 'grateful' to Penza for the rest of her life following her prosecution of the sex cult leader Oxenberg went on to gush about Penza's 'fearlessness.' 'She's so elegant but she's got real street smarts,' the actress said. Penza graduated from Cornell University Law School after Binghamton but the toughness that Oxenberg describes likely comes more from her family's colorful roots in the dive bar business than Ivy League circles. She is the granddaughter of Hank Penza, one of the most famous and beloved dive bar owners in New York who made his bones 'cleaning up' some of the roughest saloons in the city before acquiring the legendary Mars Bar, a block from the Bowery in the East Village, in 1982. 'The windows are broken, graffiti is everywhere, the place stinks of urine and worse,' a writer for the New York Observer reported in 2005. 'The unisex bathrooms look 100 years old.' Mars Bar was a world apart from the $2.3 million home Penza shares with her husband on an exclusive stretch of Fifth Avenue overlooking Central Park. Hank Penza, who died in 2015, had been shot at and stabbed at least twice during his years working in bars. 'He was the most legit bad-ass New Yorker ever,' artist Anthony Zito said after his death. 'His stories were the greatest. Whatever may have remained of the New York he knew left this earthly plane with him.' Penza, pictured with her brother, is a graduate of Binghamton University and Cornell University Law School  Moira's father, William Penza, and her uncle Mark followed Hank into the dive bar business. They ran the iconic Billymark's West on Ninth Avenue in Chelsea from 1999 to 2024. Mike Zieleniewski, who took over the lease and turned the place into 'Celly's' sports bar told the Daily Mail he has since renovated the place. 'When the Penzas had it the bar opened at 8am and basically never closed,' he said. 'It was pretty seedy but everyone liked the Penza brothers.' In 2018, a Village Voice profile described Billymark's as a haven for 'construction workers leaving Hudson Yards, USPS employees, and gallery scenesters.' 'Most of all, come to Billymark's for the disarming charm of the Penza brothers, who on any given night can be found belting out Marvin Gaye midpour, or loudly holding forth on topics ranging from the theater scene to professional basketball to the state of the neighborhood.' 'This is where everyone wants to be,' Billy Penza shouted across the bar on a recent night, according to the article. 'Some of the old-timers aren't so crazy about the changes, but I'm a Chelsea guy who still loves it here.' The closure of Billymark's West was even eulogized by the Paris Review. Billy was once described as 'the bartender you'll never see without his thick-framed glasses or striped short-sleeved button-ups the color of Easter.' Mark Penza had also been a session drummer for Debbie Harry and Blondie back in the day and some platinum Blondie records lined the bar walls. Moira's grandfather, father and uncles did not seem to mince words, at least according to the people who knew and remember them - and they didn't appear to hang out with swells from the Upper East side. When Hank Penza was once asked in an interview who he didn't want in Mars Bar, his answer wasn't drug users or punks. 'Stockbrokers, investment brokers, lawyers,' he said bluntly. 'They're all phonies.' The Daily Mail has reached out to Penza for comment.