Fashion mogul wants bail on sex, racketeering charges

PETER NYGARD FACING NINE COUNTS IN NEW YORK

Lawyers for the Attorney General of Canada are questioning one of fashion mogul Peter Nygard’s former business executives who is offering him a place to live if he is granted bail.

A two-day bail hearing is underway in Winnipeg for Nygard, who was arrested in December under the Extradition Act and faces nine counts in the southern District of New York, including sex trafficking and racketeering.

Lawyers are questioning Greg Fenske, a former Nygard executive, about how money moved to him to purchase a house that he has offered for Nygard to stay at.

“This is ultimately Mr. Nygard’s money,” Scott Farlinger, a lawyer for the Attorney General of Canada, said Tuesday.

Fenske told court he lost his job when Nygard’s companies went into receivership last March. He doesn’t work directly for Nygard now, he said, but pays himself through a numbered company that does consulting work for the fashion mogul.

That company purchased the home suggested for Nygard if he is released on bail.

Fenske described his current full-time job as dealing with the Nygard receivership. He said his relationship with Nygard is mutually respectful but they never associated outside of business. “He was my boss,” Fenske said.

Farlinger said his office has serious concerns with the plans proposed by Nygard’s team for his release.

Lawyers have told court that Fenske continues to be a point person for the 79-year-old Nygard and his company.

When asked about his continued support, Fenske responded, “I believe in Mr. Nygard’s innocence.”

Nygard’s lawyer, Jay Prober, has said his client denies the charges against him.

Prober told court his client is an old man and should be released on bail because keeping him in jail where there are COVID-19 cases could be a “death sentence.”

Lawyers for the Attorney General of Canada say Nygard has a history of not showing up to court and has the means to flee.

Nygard stepped down as chairman of his company after the FBI and police raided his offices in New York City last February.

Lawyers spent much of the morning questioning Fenske’s decisions for the company and its finances as it went into receivership. They questioned why money meant for payroll moved into a separate consulting company that employs former Nygard staff, as well as a $60,000 overpayment to a utility company on the day before receivership.

Fenske denied any malice in the action and said both situations have been rectified. He also denied that he purposefully deleted files from Nygard company computers to hide information, despite an order from courts to hold onto all files regarding Nygard.

The court is to hear from another associate previously employed by Nygard. Both have offered to act as sureties if Nygard is released.

Court is also expected to find out more about affidavits that detail Nygard’s health routines, which include having a diet free of sugar, carbs and preservatives.

Authorities in the United States accuse Nygard of using his influence in the fashion industry to lure women and girls with the promise of modelling and other financial opportunities.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office alleges that for 25 years Nygard targeted women and underage girls from disadvantaged economic backgrounds and forcibly sexually assaulted them.

He is also the subject of a class-action lawsuit in the U.S. involving 57 women with similar allegations.

Two of Nygard’s sons have filed a separate lawsuit against him in which they claim they were statutorily raped at his direction when they were teens.

Nygard, through his lawyer, has also denied the allegations in the lawsuits.