Fearing witness tampering, judge keeps Nygard behind bars

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This article was published 05/02/2021 (2010 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg judge has ordered fallen fashion mogul Peter Nygard to remain in custody pending possible extradition to the U.S. on sex trafficking and racketeering charges, saying she was not confident he wouldn’t try to tamper with witnesses if he were released.

Nygard, appearing by video from Headingley Correctional Institution for a bail hearing Friday morning, furrowed his brow and appeared to listen intently, showing no change in expression when Queen’s Bench Justice Shawn Greenberg denied him release.

Nygard, 79, has been in custody since Dec. 14 after prosecutors in New York filed a nine-count indictment involving dozens of alleged victims and offences that span decades.

Nygard’s lawyers argued he is in frail health and that keeping him in custody would amount to “a death sentence” given the COVID-19 pandemic.

Former Nygard executive Greg Fenske offered to be a surety for Nygard and allow him to live in a $1-million house he owns on John Bruce Road. Court was told the house was paid for with Nygard’s own money.

Nygard’s defence team proposed installing a sophisticated security system with round-the-clock monitoring at the house, paid for by Nygard, and supplemented by security staff.

The pandemic is a factor for the court to consider, but “it’s not a get-out-of-jail-free card,” Greenberg said Friday.

She said the installation of the security system and other monitoring measures would do nothing to prevent Nygard from contacting alleged victims or witnesses by phone, or have “loyal employees” do so on his behalf.

“I am concerned that if released, Mr. Nygard may tamper with witnesses,” Greenberg said, referring to allegations listed in extradition documents that say he paid witnesses for false information and threatened at least one alleged victim.

Greenberg said the true state of Nygard’s finances remains murky, noting Nygard’s bail plan could only be paid for by someone with significant liquid assets.

Greenberg rejected testimony by Fenske that suggested the only financial assets Nygard has left are his cottage at Falcon Lake and his Bahamian estate and that he doesn’t even have access to enough cash to pay for a passport.

“I accept that Mr. Nygard’s fortunes have declined, but the idea that he cannot afford to renew his passport and that he would place his last dime in the control of an employee (Fenske) is hard to believe,” Greenberg said.

An indictment filed by U.S. prosecutors alleges that from 1995 to 2020, Nygard alongside his business associates and co-conspirators — engaged in a “pattern of criminal conduct involving at least dozens of victims in the United States, the Bahamas, and Canada, among other locations.”

Nygard is accused of raping and sex trafficking women and girls, often targeting individuals from “disadvantaged economic backgrounds” with a “history of abuse,” and keeping them quiet through “threats, false promises of modelling opportunities” and “other coercive means.”

He’s alleged to have used the “facade of legitimacy his fashion business created — as well as the Nygard Group’s business operations, reputation and resources — to facilitate and conceal his crimes,” U.S. authorities allege.

Greenberg said Nygard’s continued detention is necessary to maintain public confidence in the administration of justice.

“The allegations relate to decades of conduct that was supported by a coterie of others,” Greenberg said. “Counsel for the attorney general described it as an industry. Perhaps too strong a descriptor, but one made to make the point that this is an unusual case.”

In an email to the Free Press, a lawyer who represents dozens of alleged victims in a U.S. class-action lawsuit against Nygard, applauded Greenberg’s decision, saying it recognizes “the imminent danger that he and his myriad conspirators pose to the safety and well-being of society. This is a first step in a belated path to justice for hundreds of innocent victims.”

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca

wfppdf:http://media.winnipegfreepress.com/documents/R.+v.+Nygard+2021+MBQB+27.pdf:wfppdf