Peter Nygård
Peter J. Nygård (born Pekka Juhani Nygård; born July 24, 1941) is a Finnish-Canadian fashion executive. In 1967, he founded Nygård International, a Winnipeg-based company that made women's apparel. In 2020, Nygård was accused of long-term sex trafficking, rape, and racketeering after the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) raided his company's offices in New York City. Later that year, he was formally charged and was arrested on sex trafficking and racketeering charges, including allegations of sex trafficking involving minors. In October 2021, Nygård was charged by Toronto police with multiple counts of sexual  assault and forcible confinement in incidents that occurred between the mid 1980s and mid 2000s; accusations of sexual misconduct by Nygård date as far back as 1968. Early life. Peter Nygård was born Pekka Juhani Nygård in Helsinki, Finland, on July 24, 1941. His parents emigrated to Deloraine, Manitoba, Canada, in 1952, when Nygård was around eleven years old. In 1964, Nygård graduated from the University of North Dakota with a business degree. Nygård International. Nygård established Nygård Apparel Manufacturing Company, later rebranded Nygård International, in Winnipeg in 1967. The company's Canadian headquarters were located on King Street in  Toronto, Ontario, while its world headquarters were located in Times Square, New York, New York, United States. Times Square was also the location of Nygård's fashion concept retail store, which opened on Friday, November 6, 2009. In February 2020, the headquarters of Nygård International was raided as part of a sex trafficking investigation against Nygård by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The company filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy in New York on March 18, 2020, and a Manitoba judge ordered a group of Nygård companies into receivership the following day. On April 30, a Canadian judge authorized an  accounting firm to sell off part of the business. 2020 sex trafficking arrest and lawsuits. On November 24, 2019, Bahamian police began investigating six allegations of rape made against Nygård. All the alleged victims were under 16. On January 27, 2020, Nygård faced two separate lawsuits after being accused of sexual assault. On February 13, 2020, 10 women filed a class-action lawsuit against Nygård in New York, alleging that he had raped them at his Bahamas residence. The alleged attacks took place between 2008 and 2015. The women also alleged that he maintained a sex-trafficking ring, and that  seven of the women were under 18 when the attacks took place. On February 14, 2020, it was reported that the Bahamian police were investigating the allegations made by four of the women in the class-action suit. On February 25, 2020, the New York headquarters of Nygård International were raided by the FBI and the New York City Police Department in connection with sex trafficking claims. After these, Nygård announced that he would step down from the company and divest his ownership interest. However, in March 2020, a judge said that there was no evidence Nygård had actually resigned , and that he still owned 100% of the shares of the Nygård group of companies. On April 20, 2020, 36 new women joined the class-action suit, bringing the total number of plaintiffs in the sexual assault case to 46. On June 17, 2020, it was reported that 11 more women had joined the class-action lawsuit, bringing the total number of plaintiffs to 57. On July 9, 2020, Nygard filed a motion to dismiss the claims of 52 of the plaintiffs, stating that "numerous deficiencies" barred their claims, and in particular that the claims of 50 of the plaintiffs  lacked any connection to New York. He also argued that the statute of limitations had expired for 38 of the plaintiffs. On August 17, 2020, Nygård was sued by two of his sons on accusations of directing a known sex worker said to be "his girlfriend" to rape them. On August 22, 2020, it was reported that the class-action suit had been placed on hold, the U.S. government having requested a stay of proceedings while the criminal investigation was ongoing. On December 15, 2020, it was reported that talent agent Jonathan Baram, the Warren & Baram Management LLC agency, and  Instagram model Suelyn Medeiros were named as alleged co-conspirators in Peter Nygård's alleged sex trafficking scheme in two separate lawsuits. On December 15, 2020, it was reported that Nygård had been arrested in Winnipeg for extradition to the US to face charges of sex trafficking by the US attorney's office in Manhattan. On February 5, 2021, Nygård was denied bail and faced extradition to the US. On February 18, 2021, it was reported that a new lawsuit had been filed by one of the class-action plaintiffs, which named Peter Nygård's niece, Angela Dyborn, as an  alleged co-conspirator in the alleged sex-trafficking scheme. On March 26, 2021, Nygård was denied bail for a second time. And in April 2021 it was reported that Nygård would face an extradition hearing in November 2021. On 1 October 2021, Peter Nygard agreed to be extradited to the U.S., to face the charges against him that were filed there. The same day Nygard was charged by Toronto police with six counts of sexual assault and three counts of forcible confinement. On December 17, 2020, two days after Nygård's arrest, it was reported that Discovery+ was releasing a  series about Peter Nygård's life entitled "Unseamly: The Investigation of Peter Nygård". The documentary aired in February 2021, and featured interviews with journalists, attorneys, family members and former employees of Nygård. On January 25, 2021, CBC Podcasts released the first episode of their podcast, "Evil by Design", about the allegations against Nygård. The podcast includes interviews with alleged victims. It was later adopted into a documentary series that appeared on CBC Gem. An Episode of Dateline about the Nygard case also aired in December 2021. Sexual Abuse Allegations. In addition to his alleged sex trafficking ring, over the years  Nygard has been accused numerous times of sexual abuse including rape, sexual assault and sexual harassment. Lawsuits. Nygård has been involved in numerous lawsuits before his arrest in 2020, including suits involving alleged abusive labour practices, tax evasion, and conspiring to murder Feud with Louis Bacon. In 2005, Nygård attempted to solve a parking overflow problem at Nygård Cay by laying down a 15-by-20-foot concrete slab on Louis Bacon's property. Bacon responded to this, suing Nygård and obtaining a court injunction to remove it. Two years later in 2007, Bacon installed industrial-grade speakers at the edge  of his property and pointed them at Nygård's house at night due to Bacon's complaints of noise at Nygård's house. In summer 2010, Bacon's house was raided by 11 Bahamian police officers, leading to the confiscation of the speakers, Bacon claimed it was the work of Nygård, a claim he denied. It has been said Nygård used fake news sites and YouTube videos to smear Bacon as a person who ran an international drug-smuggling operation, was a member of the KKK, having been charged with insider trading, and being involved in murdering the Point House  caretaker, Dan Tuckfield, after commissioning him to set the fire at Nygård Cay. (Tuckfield actually died of a heart attack.) In January 2015, Bacon filed a defamation lawsuit against Nygård over these claims. In January 2021, it was reported that Savvy Media Holdings acquired the rights to a couple of books relating to Nygård's feud with Louis Bacon, to make a feature film. Justin Lader was chosen to write the film. Nygård Cay. In 1984, he purchased a beach bungalow for $1.76 million and in 1987 built a compound at Lyford Cay in the Bahamas. On April 14 , 2010, Nygård announced he was planning a $50-million renovation of Nygård Cay, which would take two years to complete and repair the damage and employ 200 construction workers. But a letter from the Bahamian prime minister's office rejected his construction application, citing the improper expansion of his property through intentional accretion of land over the seabed. On September 28, 2018, Nygård Cay was seized by the Supreme Court of the Bahamas as part of a legal battle surrounding Nygård’s efforts to dredge the sea floor around the estate. In 2021 the property is in a general  state of disrepair. Personal life. Nygård has ten children with eight women. Nygård has been a longtime sponsor of amateur sports in the Bahamas. In June 2010, he was the main sponsor of the Amateur Boxing Federation of the Bahamas team for Continental Elite Boxing Championships invitation-only event in Quito, Ecuador. On December 15, 2020, Nygård was arrested in Winnipeg, Canada, under the . he was in jail awaiting extradition proceedings, and a potential extradition to the U.S. Honours. In 2012, Nygård was awarded a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal. In 2002, Deloraine, Manitoba where Nygård grew up unveiled  a commemorative plaque and named a park in his honour. In May 2020, the park’s name was changed to Prairie Sentinels Park, after Nygård was arrested under charges of sex trafficking and rape.