Rolle says police received four complaints against Nygard

Commissioner of Police Paul Rolle said yesterday that police received four complaints against Canadian fashion mogul and Lyford Cay resident Peter Nygard, but when officers attempted to question him, Nygard, who was out of the country, refused to return. 

On Tuesday, the US Attorney’s Office in the Southern District of New York announced that Nygard was indicted on multiple counts of sex trafficking, racketeering and other crimes.

Nygard was arrested on Monday in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, by Canadian authorities after the US requested Canada issue an arrest warrant.

When asked if any women in The Bahamas made allegations against Nygard, Rolle said, “I know after Nygard left The Bahamas, we received about four complaints.

“And we dispatched officers to his residence and on arrival were informed that he had left. We met persons loading all of his belongings into shipping containers.

“We made contact with Nygard and he refused to return and surrender to The Bahamas and that’s the last of it.

“So, he, as far as we know, has never been interviewed by local police and all of our complaints that came in, came in after he left.

“But as I said, I’m not going to go any further with that. That matter is now before a judge. And please don’t draw this commissioner into that.”

A class action lawsuit filed against Nygard in New York in February, claims that Nygard evaded exposure to his alleged sexual abuse in The Bahamas by bribing local officials. 

When asked about this claim, Rolle said, “We have not received any complaints about the complicity of officers in the Royal Bahamas Police Force (RBPF), current or present.”

The class action suit is not related to the US indictment on sex trafficking and racketeering charges.

Indictment

Prosecutors said the charges in the indictment stem from “a decades-long pattern of criminal conduct involving at least dozens of victims in the United States, The Bahamas, and Canada, among other locations”. Some of the alleged victims were minors.

The indictment, which was unsealed on Tuesday, claims that for 25 years, Nygard, 79, used the “Nygard Group’s influence, as well as its employees, funds, and other resources to recruit and maintain adult and minor-aged female victims for Nygard’s sexual gratification and the sexual gratification of his friends and business associates”.

Prosecutors said Nygard “forcibly sexually assaulted some of his victims” while other victims were assaulted by Nygard’s associates or drugged.

“Many of the victims were initially invited to dinners or parties at Nygard’s residences, particularly in The Bahamas and in Marina del Rey, California, where Nygard regularly hosted dinner parties and larger, so called Pamper Parties, for female guests,” the indictment claims. 

“Many victims were initially induced, coerced, and forced to have sex with Nygard through one or more of the following: false promises of modeling or fashion industry jobs; the supply of alcohol and/or drugs, including the drugging of drinks without the victim’s knowledge; and physical force.

“Following sexual activity, Nygard typically paid victims with cash that he accessed through the Nygard Group. In some instances, Nygard intended these payments to secure a victim’s silence. In other instances, Nygard intended these payments to facilitate future sexual activity with the victim through force, fraud and coercion.”

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