Canadian fashion mogul lured women and girls to bedroom suite at his Toronto HQ, prosecution alleges
Associated Press
Tue, September 26, 2023
- A sign is displayed above the storefront of Peter Nygard's Times Square headquarters, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020, in New York. Former Canadian fashion mogul Nygard pleaded not guilty Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023, to all charges against him in his Toronto sexual assault case, as jury selection for his trial got underway.
Leyland Cecco in Toronto
Associated Press
Tue, September 26, 2023
- A sign is displayed above the storefront of Peter Nygard's Times Square headquarters, Tuesday, Feb. 25, 2020, in New York. Former Canadian fashion mogul Nygard pleaded not guilty Thursday, Sept. 21, 2023, to all charges against him in his Toronto sexual assault case, as jury selection for his trial got underway.
(AP Photo/John Minchillo, File)
TORONTO (AP) — Former Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygard leveraged his wealth, assets and status over several years to lure young women and girls to a top-floor bedroom suite at his company’s Toronto headquarters where he forced himself on them, prosecutors alleged Tuesday as arguments at his sexual assault trial got underway.
Nygard invited all five complainants in the case — whose identities are protected by a publication ban — to visit his custom-built office building under pretenses ranging from tours to job interviews, with all the encounters ending in the bedroom suite, the prosecution said. There, he sexually assaulted them at different times, sometimes trapping or intoxicating them, the prosecution alleged in opening arguments.
“Five women, it took them years to come forward. 1 Niagara St., a custom-design office building with huge letters on the front: Nygard. The Toronto headquarters of a fashion empire,” assistant prosecution attorney Ana Serban said.
“But within these walls, behind all the trappings of success and power, there is a bedroom suite with a giant bed, a stone jacuzzi, a bar and doors — doors with no handle, doors with automatic, keypad-operated locks controlled by Peter Nygard.”
Nygard has pleaded not guilty to five counts of sexual assault and one count of forcible confinement in alleged incidents dating back to the ’80s, ’90s and mid-2000s.
The 82-year-old appeared in court sporting a suit with no tie, tinted glasses and with his long white hair tied back.
Nygard also is set to be extradited to the United States to faces sex-related charges there, but only once his criminal cases Canada are completed. Nygard was first arrested in Winnipeg in 2020 under the Extradition Act after being charged with nine sex-related counts in New York.
The first complainant in Toronto, the prosecution said, will testify she met Nygard in her 20s while on a flight to the Bahamas, where he allegedly flattered her, offered her a job and a stay at his property in the Caribbean country, which she declined. After recognizing him on TV later, the woman called him and was invited to 1 Niagara St. for a job interview, court heard.
“It ends in his top-floor bedroom suite. She grows uncomfortable, she tries to leave. He tackles her onto the bed, puts his full body into it, pins her down on her back and tries to undress her, rips her clothing,” Serban, the assistant prosecution lawyer, alleged. “She’s terrified.”
Nygard then allegedly penetrated the complainant with his fingers and ripped her blouse with his teeth, only stopping when his next appointment was announced on the intercom, Serban said.
Nygard founded the now-defunct Nygard International brand in Winnipeg in 1967.
Fashion mogul Peter Nygård allegedly used firm’s head office to assault women
TORONTO (AP) — Former Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygard leveraged his wealth, assets and status over several years to lure young women and girls to a top-floor bedroom suite at his company’s Toronto headquarters where he forced himself on them, prosecutors alleged Tuesday as arguments at his sexual assault trial got underway.
Nygard invited all five complainants in the case — whose identities are protected by a publication ban — to visit his custom-built office building under pretenses ranging from tours to job interviews, with all the encounters ending in the bedroom suite, the prosecution said. There, he sexually assaulted them at different times, sometimes trapping or intoxicating them, the prosecution alleged in opening arguments.
“Five women, it took them years to come forward. 1 Niagara St., a custom-design office building with huge letters on the front: Nygard. The Toronto headquarters of a fashion empire,” assistant prosecution attorney Ana Serban said.
“But within these walls, behind all the trappings of success and power, there is a bedroom suite with a giant bed, a stone jacuzzi, a bar and doors — doors with no handle, doors with automatic, keypad-operated locks controlled by Peter Nygard.”
Nygard has pleaded not guilty to five counts of sexual assault and one count of forcible confinement in alleged incidents dating back to the ’80s, ’90s and mid-2000s.
The 82-year-old appeared in court sporting a suit with no tie, tinted glasses and with his long white hair tied back.
Nygard also is set to be extradited to the United States to faces sex-related charges there, but only once his criminal cases Canada are completed. Nygard was first arrested in Winnipeg in 2020 under the Extradition Act after being charged with nine sex-related counts in New York.
The first complainant in Toronto, the prosecution said, will testify she met Nygard in her 20s while on a flight to the Bahamas, where he allegedly flattered her, offered her a job and a stay at his property in the Caribbean country, which she declined. After recognizing him on TV later, the woman called him and was invited to 1 Niagara St. for a job interview, court heard.
“It ends in his top-floor bedroom suite. She grows uncomfortable, she tries to leave. He tackles her onto the bed, puts his full body into it, pins her down on her back and tries to undress her, rips her clothing,” Serban, the assistant prosecution lawyer, alleged. “She’s terrified.”
Nygard then allegedly penetrated the complainant with his fingers and ripped her blouse with his teeth, only stopping when his next appointment was announced on the intercom, Serban said.
Nygard founded the now-defunct Nygard International brand in Winnipeg in 1967.
Fashion mogul Peter Nygård allegedly used firm’s head office to assault women
Leyland Cecco in Toronto
THE GUARDIAN
Tue, September 26, 2023
Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Fashion mogul Peter Nygård used his power and status to lure five women separately into a private bedroom suite attached to his company headquarters where he sexually assaulted them, a court in Toronto has heard.
In opening arguments on Tuesday, prosecutors said that Nygård, 82, met the women in social settings and invited them to the headquarters of his clothing empire in Toronto. All of the “tours” ended in his bedroom suite. The room had a bed, televisions and a jacuzzi. Prosectors say the doors didn’t have handles and the locks were controlled by Nygård.
Nygård has pleaded not guilty to five counts of sexual assault and one count of forcible confinement. All complainants’ names are covered by a publication ban by the Canadian courts. Most of the women were in their 20s at the time of the alleged incidents, which occurred over a 25-year period, beginning in the 1980s. One of the women was 16 years old at the time of her alleged attack.
In one case, Nygård, who was in his 40s, met a woman in her 20s on a flight to the Bahamas, where he owned a sprawling estate, said Ana Serban, a crown lawyer. Nygård later invited her for a job interview at his Toronto office. When they ended up in the bedroom, she tried to leave.
He “tackles the woman onto the bed, puts his whole body into it, pins her down on her back and tries to undress her” against her will, said Serban. “She’s terrified.”
Nygård is alleged to have given her a new blouse and skirt to replace those he tore during the attack.
“She runs out of the building,” Serban said. “This was supposed to be a job interview at an office building.”
Born in Finland, Nygård grew up in Manitoba, eventually running his own namesake clothing companies and becoming one of Canada’s wealthiest people.
In 2020, US authorities charged him with racketeering and sex trafficking, alleging decades of crimes with dozens of victims in the United States, the Bahamas and Canada.
Fifty-seven women – including 18 Canadians – have joined that lawsuit, which alleges that Nygård used violence, intimidation, bribery and company employees to lure victims and avoid accountability for decades. Nygård has denied all allegations.
Nygård also faces sex-related charges in Manitoba and Quebec, and is set to be extradited to the US to face sex-related charges there once his criminal cases in Canada are completed.
Tue, September 26, 2023
Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Fashion mogul Peter Nygård used his power and status to lure five women separately into a private bedroom suite attached to his company headquarters where he sexually assaulted them, a court in Toronto has heard.
In opening arguments on Tuesday, prosecutors said that Nygård, 82, met the women in social settings and invited them to the headquarters of his clothing empire in Toronto. All of the “tours” ended in his bedroom suite. The room had a bed, televisions and a jacuzzi. Prosectors say the doors didn’t have handles and the locks were controlled by Nygård.
Nygård has pleaded not guilty to five counts of sexual assault and one count of forcible confinement. All complainants’ names are covered by a publication ban by the Canadian courts. Most of the women were in their 20s at the time of the alleged incidents, which occurred over a 25-year period, beginning in the 1980s. One of the women was 16 years old at the time of her alleged attack.
In one case, Nygård, who was in his 40s, met a woman in her 20s on a flight to the Bahamas, where he owned a sprawling estate, said Ana Serban, a crown lawyer. Nygård later invited her for a job interview at his Toronto office. When they ended up in the bedroom, she tried to leave.
He “tackles the woman onto the bed, puts his whole body into it, pins her down on her back and tries to undress her” against her will, said Serban. “She’s terrified.”
Nygård is alleged to have given her a new blouse and skirt to replace those he tore during the attack.
“She runs out of the building,” Serban said. “This was supposed to be a job interview at an office building.”
Born in Finland, Nygård grew up in Manitoba, eventually running his own namesake clothing companies and becoming one of Canada’s wealthiest people.
In 2020, US authorities charged him with racketeering and sex trafficking, alleging decades of crimes with dozens of victims in the United States, the Bahamas and Canada.
Fifty-seven women – including 18 Canadians – have joined that lawsuit, which alleges that Nygård used violence, intimidation, bribery and company employees to lure victims and avoid accountability for decades. Nygård has denied all allegations.
Nygård also faces sex-related charges in Manitoba and Quebec, and is set to be extradited to the US to face sex-related charges there once his criminal cases in Canada are completed.
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