Decision reserved on Nygard bail
Peter Nygard will remain in jail for another week despite his lawyers laying out an updated bail plan for the Canadian fashion king who is facing sex trafficking and racketeering charges in the United States.
Nygard, who is 79, was arrested last month in Winnipeg under the Extradition Act and faces nine counts in the Southern District of New York.
Justice Shawn Greenberg says she will need time to decide whether Nygard should be released and has reserved her decision until Feb. 5.
His lawyers told court a security company has been hired to provide 24-hour video surveillance of Nygard’s home if he should be granted bail.
Federal lawyers questioned how Nygard would pay for the security if his finances are in the dire straits that he has said they are.
Defence lawyer Jay Prober has argued that his client’s health is at risk behind bars.
Greenberg last week criticized a previous bail plan after court heard a home that a former company executive offered as a place for Nygard to stay was purchased with Nygard’s own money.
Federal lawyers have told court Nygard has the means to flee and the charges he faces in the U.S. are too serious for his release.
Authorities there accuse him of using his influence in the fashion industry to lure women and girls with the promise of modelling and other financial opportunities.
They allege that for 25 years Nygard targeted women and underage girls from disadvantaged economic backgrounds and forcibly sexually assaulted them.
A full package of extradition materials from U.S. prosecutors is not expected to be provided to Canadian authorities until February. Nygard’s lawyers have said it’s unfair to keep him behind bars without complete information on the allegations.
Nygard founded his fashion company in 1967 in Winnipeg, where it grew from a partial stake in a women’s garment manufacturer to a brand name sold in stores around the world.
He stepped down as chairman of the company after the FBI and police raided his offices in New York City last February.
Nygard 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 that alleges they were statutorily raped at his direction as teenagers.