Former fashion executive Peter Nygård plead not guilty to sexual assault charges Thursday in a Toronto court.
Separately, the 82-year-old’s extradition to the U.S. for what authorities have alleged amounted to at least 25 years of criminal behavior is still pending.
In Toronto, Nygård is facing five counts of sexual assault and one count of forcible confinement. The total number of charges was reduced after a court heard last week that three of the eight original complainants in the case are not expected to testify.
Attorneys for Nygård did not respond immediately to media requests Friday nor did representatives for the U.S. attorney general’s office for the Southern District of New York.
With jury selection underway, his trial in Canada’s Superior Court of Justice is reportedly expected to begin next week and last for six to seven weeks.
Nygård built a multimillion-dollar signature company that was based in Manitoba starting in 1967. His affordable sportswear was once sold at Dillard’s, other department stores and freestanding Nygård stores. At its height, Nygård’s sportswear business was a $500 million operation. After a 2020 FBI and NYPD raid, Nygård stepped down as chairman of his company, which later filed Chapter 11.
In December 2020, Nygård was taken into custody by Canadian authorities, and U.S. officials released a nine-count indictment charging Nygård with racketeering, sex trafficking, and related crimes that allegedly involved “at least dozens of victims” over decades in the U.S., the Bahamas and Canada among other locations.
Led by the Southern District of New York’s attorney general, U.S. authorities have alleged that from about 1995 to 2020, Nygård used the Nygård Group’s influence, employees, funds, and other resources, to recruit and maintain adult and minor-aged females — including those from disadvantaged backgrounds — for his sexual gratification and the sexual gratification of his friends and business associates, according to the indictment.
A spokesman for U.S. district judge Paul Gardephe, who is handling the U.S. case, declined any comment Friday and Gardephe was not immediately available.
Source: WWD