Canada to extradite Peter Nygard to US
March 22, 2022
Fashion designer Peter Nygard will be extradited to the United States after facing charges of sexual assault and forcible confinement in Canada, Canadian Justice Minister David Lametti announced on Tuesday.
Nygard was arrested in December 2020 and accused of using his fashion business to lure women and girls overseas and then sexually assaulting them.
The United States has requested the extradition of the 80-year-old, who has a net worth of about $900 million (€816 million).
US authorities have accuse Nygard of using trafficking women and girls to the United States, Canada and the Bahamas since 1995 to sexually gratify himself and his associates.
Scores of women sue Nygard
The US extradition request details accounts from seven alleged victims, who said their livelihoods and movements depended on sexually gratifying Nygard. Some 57 other women have launched a class action against him on similar accusations.
The Finnish-born Nygard stood down as chairman of his company in February 2020 after the FBI and police raided his offices in New York City. Nygard International has since filed for bankruptcy.
His alleged girlfriend, an Instagram model, has also been accused of helping lure two women to the Bahamas to be raped.
The case has drawn parallels to the case of Jeffrey Epstein and his onetime girlfriend Ghislaine Maxwell.
aw/dj (AP, Reuters)