A millionaire fashion designer is accused of sex trafficking and raping women and girls during 'pamp

Publish date: 2024-07-23
2020-02-19T21:58:19Z

Ten unnamed women have accused global fashion mogul Peter Nygard of luring them to "pamper parties" at his Bahamas property where they were raped, according to a recently filed federal lawsuit seen by Insider. Some victims were as young as 14 at the time.

The lawsuit alleges that sex trafficking victims, who Nygard, 77, referred to as his "girlfriends," were forced to commit commercial sex acts that "satisfied his perverse sexual desires."

If they tried to leave the estate, Nygard Cay, the victims were harassed and tormented by Bahamian law enforcement and politicians that the millionaire paid off, according to the suit.

"The scheme was so successful that victims who escaped Nygard Cay were often brought back to the Cay by the Bahamian police," the lawsuit alleges. It was filed in US District Court for the Southern District of New York last week by Greg Gutzler and Lisa Haba of the law firm DiCello Levitt Gutzler, attorneys for the victims in the case.

The victims identified in the suit were between 14 to 29 years old at the time of the alleged abuse. Nine of the victims were born in the Bahamas and one is from the United States. Several of them were virgins when they were raped, according to the 54-page complaint.

Nygard's company spokesperson didn't immediately return Insider's request for comment.

Dozens of victims have come forward to the attorneys since the suit was filed last week, Gutzler told Insider. The earliest allegation of abuse was from the late 1970s and the most recent was in 2017, Gutzler said during the phone interview. 

"I think it's been happening all the time," Gutzler said of the abuse. "It's never stopped." 

Gutlzer believes that it's the #MeToo movement that inspired some of the victims to come forward in recent years.  

"We met many victims and witnesses. They're terrified," he said, noting that Nygard had allegedly intimidated victims into silence.

"I can't believe it's taken this long," he said. "Everybody knew about this."

'Pamper parties' at Nygard Cay

Peter Nygard. Phillip Faraone/Getty Images

Peter Nygard is the founder of Nygard International, a Canadian clothing brand that specializes in designing and manufacturing women's fashion. In 1987, his 150,000-square-foot Mayan-themed mansion — often referred to as "Nygard Cay" — was built. 

Girls would be flown to the estate on Nygard's "N-Force" jet for "pamper parties," the lawsuit states, where their passports were collected and their return flights canceled by travel agency personnel. In order to leave Nygard Cay, the girls needed approval from the owner himself.

"Nygard expected a sex act before he was willing to consider releasing any person," the lawsuit says. 

The lawsuit also provided disturbing details about the alleged rapes and the role that the fashion designer's employees played in the abuse. 

In one instance, Nygard showed one of the victims — a 14-year-old girl — pornography of a man rubbing feces over a woman's body and forced her to penetrate him with a dildo. Nygard also forcibly raped the teenaged girl, according to the suit. 

After the assault, two Nygard employees who allegedly brought the girl to the beachfront property escorted her to a car and took her home. Nygard Companies "supplied" cash paid to the victim, the lawsuit said.

The suit also said that Nygard drugged another 14-year-old girl by forcing her to take pills with wine at one of his parties.

When she arrived at the "pamper party" employees took down her contact information and photographed her, according to the suit. 

When the girl woke up after allegedly being raped by Nygard, the millionaire's assistant told her that Nygard wasn't a "bad person but was just selfish at times," the suit said.

Nygard paid the underage girl as a model and gave her more money to recruit others to sleep with him, according to the suit. 

During the ongoing abuse, Nygard insisted the 14-year-old defecate or urinate in his mouth, offering her drugs that would trigger bowel movement, but she refused, the suit said.

Several women have come forward since the lawsuit was filed alleging they had been sexually abused by other men and women at the direction of Nygard, Gutzler told Insider. He declined to comment on whether those alleged abusers were public figures as the investigation is ongoing.

Allegations strikingly similar to the Epstein case

The allegations against Nygard bear a striking similarity to the sex trafficking case involving late billionaire financier and convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.

Last year, Epstein was charged with sex trafficking and accused of molesting dozens of underage girls at his homes in Manhattan and Florida. 

Epstein, prosecutors said, paid some of his victims to recruit additional girls to be similarly abused; and he, too, had a private plane. It was dubbed "Lolita Express."

Epstein, who once socialized with the likes of President Donald Trump, former President Bill Clinton, and Britain's Prince Andrew, died by suicide shortly after his arrest and the federal sex-trafficking case against him was formally dismissed. 

The recent sex trafficking lawsuit against Nygard comes after a court in the Bahamas issued a warrant last month for Nygard's arrest regarding a previous legal battle over his estate after he failed to appear in court for a sentencing hearing. 

Government payoffs allegedly helped Nygard's scheme

The lawsuit against Nygard alleges that the abuse on his Bahamian property was allowed to continue, in part, because of the millions of dollars he paid to local officials and law enforcement. 

"Those of his 'girlfriends' who tried to leave him were harassed and threatened by Bahamian police who were on Nygard's payroll," the lawsuit said.

A message seeking comment from Bahamian police was not immediately returned Wednesday.

Nygard, according to the suit, also contributed at least $10 million to get former Prime Minister Perry Christie elected and paid to have individuals spread bad press about the opposing party in power at the time of the election.

He allegedly regularly invited the parliament members and law enforcement to his parties. Photos of some officials, like Bahamian parliament member Shane Gibson, at the parties were included in the lawsuit.

A list of victims was kept on company computers

The Canadian millionaire stored photos and contact information of thousands of women in a database that was maintained by his company's corporate IT department, according to the suit.  

To create this database, which dated back to the late '80s and included information on about 7,500 underage girls and women, upon arriving at the gated Nygard Cay property each of the potential victims was required to "register" with Nygard International's event planning team. 

They had to provide their name, phone number, email address, and the name of the person who invited them to the party. Then the women and girls were required to pose for a full-body photograph and headshot, according to the suit.

Invitations to Nygard's parties were based on the physical appearance of the women and girls, as alluded to in recruitment emails that had been sent through company accounts, according to the complaint.

"I have a question that I hate asking but I have to ... are your guest same size and you or smaller? They won't be let in if they are big bonded," another error-riddled email says.

The most knowledgeable person about the company's IT department was Daane Clifford, whose recent death at age 44 has been described as a "sudden passing," according to the suit.  

Gutzler and Haba told Insider they believe the current social climate has helped bring the lawsuit forward.

"The #MeToo movement has been built and sustained by women who decided they could no longer remain silent, even in the face of pressure from wealthy and powerful men like Nygard, Jeffrey Epstein, and Harvey Weinstein," they said in a statement. "Sadly, we understand from our exhaustive investigation that there may be hundreds of additional Nygard victims yet to come forward."

If you are a survivor of sexual assault, you can call the National Sexual Assault Hotline (1-800-656-4673) or visit its website to receive confidential support.

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