Background and career
Peter J. Nygård (born Pekka Juhani Nygård; born 24 July 1941) is a Finnish-Canadian businessman, former fashion executive, and convicted sex offender. In 1967, he founded Nygård International, a Winnipeg-based company that initially was a sportswear manufacturer before producing women's apparel. Nygård was rated the 70th richest Canadian by Canadian Business magazine in 2009, with a net worth of CA$817 million, while in 2017 his net worth was estimated to be CA$900 million. In 2020, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) carried out a search warrant of Nygård's offices in New York City after he was accused of sex trafficking, sexual assault and racketeering. Nygård stepped down as chairman of Nygård International soon after. The company filed for bankruptcy later in 2020. In December 2020, Nygård was formally charged on sex trafficking and racketeering charges, including allegations of sex trafficking involving minors. In October 2021, he was again charged in Canada with multiple counts of sexual assault and forcible confinement in incidents that occurred between the mid-1980s and mid-2000s; accusations of sexual misconduct by Nygård date as far back as 1968. In November 2023, a Canadian court convicted Nygård of four counts of sexual assault. In September 2024, he was sentenced to 11 years in prison for 4 counts of sexual assault.
Peter Nygård was born Pekka Juhani Nygård in Helsinki, Finland on 24 July 1941. His parents immigrated to Deloraine, Manitoba in Canada, in 1952, when he was around 11 years old. His father was a baker, and his mother a seamstress. In 1964, he graduated from the University of North Dakota in Grand Forks with a business degree.
Peter Nygård established Nygård Apparel Manufacturing Company, later rebranded Nygård International, in Winnipeg in 1967. In 1978, his takeover of a sportswear designer's business in New York City led to a 12-year legal battle in New York federal court. The company produced clothing under brand names including Nygård Fashions, Nygård Slims, Bianca Nygård, ADX, TanJay, Alia, and Allison Daley. The company's Canadian headquarters was located on King Street in Toronto while its world headquarters was located in Times Square, Manhattan. Times Square was also the location of Nygård's fashion concept retail store, which opened on Friday, 6 November 2009. Nygård's personal net-worth was estimated at $900 million in 2020. In February 2020, the headquarters of Nygård International was raided as part of a sex trafficking investigation against Nygård by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Afterwards, Nygård announced that he would step down from the company and divest his ownership interest. In March 2020, a judge said that there was no evidence Nygård had actually resigned, and that he still owned 100% of the shares of the Nygård group of companies. The company filed for Chapter 15 bankruptcy in New York on 18 March 2020, and a Manitoba judge ordered a group of Nygård companies into receivership the following day. On 30 April, a Canadian judge authorized an accounting firm to sell off part of the business.
Over the years Nygård has been accused numerous times of abuse including forcible confinement, sex trafficking, sexual assault and sexual harassment. In 1968, Winnipeg police charged Nygård with a sexual offense, charges that were later dropped after his alleged victim declined to testify. In 1980, the Winnipeg Free Press wrote that Winnipeg police charged Nygård with the sexual assault of an 18-year-old woman. Later those charges were stayed because she declined to testify. In the 1990s, Nygård settled sexual harassment complaints by three former employees in Manitoba. Playboy actress Suelyn Medeiros has been alleged to have acted as Nygård's "top girlfriend" and "recruiter" and "received significant cash, salary, jewelry, plastic surgery, cars and stem cell injections in exchange for trafficking victims".
In 2015 and 2017, Nygård was investigated by the FBI over claims of sex trafficking. He was also investigated by the United States Department of Homeland Security for 9 months in 2016. On 24 November 2019, Bahamian police began investigating six allegations of sexual assault made against Nygård. All the alleged victims were under 16 at the time of the alleged assaults. Additionally, on 27 January 2020, Nygård faced two separate lawsuits after being accused of sexual assault. On 13 February 2020, 10 women filed a class-action lawsuit against Nygård in New York, alleging sexual assault as part of a sex-trafficking network including against seven minors, between 2008 and 2015. On 14 February 2020, it was reported that the Bahamian police were investigating the allegations made by four of the women in the class-action suit. On 25 February 2020, the New York headquarters of Nygård International were raided by the FBI and the New York City Police Department in connection with sex trafficking claims. On 20 April 2020, 36 new women joined the class-action suit, bringing the total number of plaintiffs in the sexual assault case to 46. On 17 June 2020, it was reported that 11 more women had joined the class-action lawsuit, bringing the total number of plaintiffs to 57. On 9 July 2020, Nygård filed a motion to dismiss the claims of 52 of the plaintiffs, saying that "numerous deficiencies" barred their claims, and in particular that the claims of 50 of the plaintiffs lacked any connection to New York. He also argued that the statute of limitations had expired for 38 of the plaintiffs. On 17 August 2020, Nygård was sued by two of his sons on accusations that Nygård directed a known sex worker, said to be "his girlfriend," to sexually assault them. On 22 August 2020, it was reported that the class-action suit had been placed on hold due to the U.S. government having requested a stay of proceedings while the criminal investigation was ongoing.
On 15 December 2020, Nygård was arrested in Winnipeg for extradition to the US to face charges of sex trafficking by the US attorney's office in Manhattan, New York. On 5 February 2021, he was denied bail due to being a flight risk and the risk of him tampering with evidence. At the time Nygård faced extradition to the U.S. On 18 February 2021, it was reported that a lawsuit had been filed by one of the class-action plaintiffs, which named Peter Nygård's niece, Angela Dyborn, as an alleged co-conspirator in the alleged sex-trafficking scheme. On 26 March 2021, Nygård was denied bail for a second time. In April 2021 it was reported that Nygård would face an extradition hearing in November 2021. On 1 October 2021, Nygård agreed to be extradited to the U.S., to face charges against him that were filed there. The same day Nygård was charged by Toronto police with six counts of sexual assault and three counts of forcible confinement. On 2 December 2021, it was reported that Nygård would not face charges by Winnipeg police following a ten-month investigation into allegations of sexual assault from eight women against him. In November 2023, Nygård was found guilty of sexual assault by a Canadian jury in Toronto, after a six-week trial. The 82-year-old Nygård was convicted for assaults on four women, ranging in age from 16 to 28 at the time of the offenses, occurring between the late 1980s and 2005. The assaults reportedly took place in a secure luxury bedroom in his company's headquarters. Nygård denied the charges, with his defense team suggesting the victims were seeking financial gain. Nygård is also facing further legal charges, including a trial in Montreal, charges in Winnipeg, and potential extradition to the U.S. for related crimes. The preliminary inquiry for the charges against Nygård in Montreal is scheduled for 28 January 2025. Nygård's son Kai Zen Bickle commended the conviction saying that his father "used his business talents for evil, to prey on others," and "it's a very good thing that justice was served here." In September 2024, a court in Toronto sentenced Nygård to 11 years in prison for 4 counts of sexual assault.
