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F.B.I. Raids Headquarters of Company Run by Fashion Executive Peter Nygard Fashion Mogul Peter Nygard to Step Down Amid Federal Raids
(about 11 hours later)
Federal agents and New York Police detectives raided the Manhattan headquarters of the fashion company run by a Canadian fashion executive on Tuesday morning, seeking evidence in a sex-trafficking investigation, according to two law enforcement officials who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss an ongoing investigation. Federal agents and New York police officers on Tuesday raided the Manhattan headquarters of Peter Nygard, a Canadian fashion retailer, as part of an investigation into allegations of sexual assault, two officials said. The operation followed a raid on his Los Angeles home the night before.
The executive, Peter Nygard, 78, has been under investigation for at least five months by a joint child-exploitation task force of the F.B.I. and the New York Police Department, an inquiry overseen by the U.S. attorney’s office based in Manhattan. At least four women who have accused Mr. Nygard in a recent lawsuit of sexually assaulting them when they were 14 and 15 in the Bahamas have also met with the task force. The previously undisclosed investigation, by a joint child exploitation task force that included the F.B.I. and the New York Police Department, has been underway for at least five months. Investigators have interviewed at least four young women who claim that Mr. Nygard, a 78-year-old Canadian multimillionaire, raped them in the Bahamas as teenagers.
That lawsuit was filed this month. On Sunday, The New York Times detailed how a fight with his wealthy neighbor led to the lawsuit, and also showed a pattern of complaints about sexual misconduct by Mr. Nygard stretching back 40 years. On Tuesday evening, a spokesman for Mr. Nygard said he would step down as chairman and divest ownership of his company, Nygard International, “recognizing the priority of the welfare of the thousands of Nygard employees, retail partners, loyal customers, vendors, suppliers and business partners.”
Nine women in Canada and California, mostly employees, have sued him or reported him to authorities alleging sexual harassment or assault since 1980. In addition, another nine former employees told The Times in interviews that he raped them, touched them inappropriately or proposed sex. The announcement came after a major client, Dillard’s department stores, said it would no longer carry Mr. Nygard’s fashion line.
The Times also interviewed the 10 women, all listed as Jane Does, in the lawsuit. Most alleged that Mr. Nygard raped them during so-called “pamper parties” in the Bahamas, where he’s been a resident since 1986. The parties traditionally took place on Sundays at Mr. Nygard’s lavish estate, offering mostly young, female guests a taste of luxury — pedicures, massages, Jet Ski rides and endless alcohol. The four women interviewed by the task force were also plaintiffs in a lawsuit against Mr. Nygard filed this month in New York. The suit, brought on behalf of 10 women, accuses him of sex trafficking and other misconduct.
Mr. Nygard has denied all allegations, blaming them on his adversary and neighbor in the Bahamas, the hedge-fund billionaire Louis Bacon. Mr. Bacon hired private investigators to pursue criminal charges against Mr. Nygard, saying he wanted to get justice for the women. On Sunday, The New York Times detailed how a long, ugly feud with his billionaire neighbor in the Bahamas had led to the lawsuit, and showed a pattern of complaints about Mr. Nygard stretching back 40 years.
It’s not the first time that Mr. Nygard has been investigated by federal authorities — the F.B.I. investigated him briefly in late 2015 and the summer of 2017 on allegations of sex trafficking. The Department of Homeland Security also investigated Mr. Nygard for nine months, starting in 2016. All the investigations fizzled. [Read The Times’s investigation of allegations against Mr. Nygard.]
On Tuesday morning, F.B.I. agents and the police were in the lobby and the sixth floor of the Nygard building near Times Square. About eight vehicles with federal parking placards were outside. His flagship store and the corporate headquarters of Nygard International are emblazoned with his name and feature a large picture of him, golden muscles flexing, gray hair flowing. Mr. Nygard is a Finnish-born multimillionaire who has traveled with an entourage of models and self-described “paid girlfriends.” Since the 1980s, Mr. Nygard has spent much of his time in an ultrarich community in the Bahamas.
Even though the alleged crimes described to The Times happened in the Bahamas, it’s possible to bring both criminal and civil cases against Mr. Nygard in New York because his corporate headquarters is here. His private multinational company has catered to middle-class women, selling leggings and tunics at his own outlets and Dillard’s department stores. On Tuesday, a Dillard’s spokeswoman said the company had canceled existing orders and suspended future purchases because Mr. Nygard’s alleged actions were “in direct opposition to our core values.”
Mr. Nygard has long surrounded himself with women, traveling with an entourage of models and paid girlfriends. An avowed playboy, he has fathered at least 10 children with eight women. He demanded a steady supply of sex partners who hunted for young women at shops, clubs and restaurants to invite to parties and dinners at his Bahamas home, six former employees told The Times. Earlier on Tuesday, a spokesman for Mr. Nygard, Ken Frydman, said the fashion executive welcomed the investigation and expected that his name would be cleared. Mr. Frydman accused Mr. Nygard’s neighbor, the hedge fund founder Louis Bacon, of being behind the litigation and federal raids.
His private multinational company caters to middle-class women, selling leggings and tunics at his own outlets and Dillard’s department stores. Mr. Nygard was estimated to be worth roughly $750 million in 2014 by Canadian Business magazine. Mr. Nygard is now believed to be in Winnipeg, Manitoba, where he started his company and maintains an office.
He founded the office in Winnipeg, and maintains an office there and in Toronto. Federal authorities raided Mr. Nygard’s home in Marina del Rey on Monday evening. About a dozen investigators in F.B.I. and New York Police jackets worked Tuesday morning at Mr. Nygard’s corporate headquarters near Times Square in Manhattan, even bringing in a crow bar and a sledgehammer. They spent time on the sixth floor of the building, which he illegally converted into a private apartment with a Jacuzzi, according to a citation from the city in 2013. The headquarters and adjacent flagship store are emblazoned with his name and feature a large picture of him, golden muscles flexing, long gray hair flowing.
William K. Rashbaum and Grace Ashford contributed reporting. Investigators, who spent about five hours in the building, carried out at least eight boxes of materials, including at least one computer hard drive.
It is not the first time Mr. Nygard has been investigated by the federal authorities: The F.B.I. briefly looked at Mr. Nygard in 2015 and 2017 over allegations of sex trafficking. The Department of Homeland Security also investigated Mr. Nygard for nine months starting in 2016. The inquiries sputtered out.
Mr. Nygard was estimated to be worth roughly $750 million in 2014 by Canadian Business magazine. An avowed playboy, he has fathered at least 10 children with eight women. In the Bahamas, he demanded a steady supply of sex partners, six former employees told The Times. The employees said they searched for young women at shops, clubs and restaurants to invite to parties and dinners.
Mr. Nygard called his Bahamian estate “the eighth wonder of the world”: It featured sculptures of predators like lions and smoke-breathing snakes, a human aquarium where topless women undulated in mermaid tails, and a disco with a stripper pole.
Accusations against Mr. Nygard predated the current lawsuit. Nine women in Canada and California, mostly former employees, have sued Mr. Nygard or reported him to the authorities since 1980, alleging sexual harassment or assault, The Times found. Another nine former employees said in interviews that he had raped them, touched them inappropriately or proposed sex.
The Times also talked to the 10 women involved in the lawsuit, each listed as Jane Doe in court documents. Most say that Mr. Nygard raped them during “pamper parties,” which Mr. Nygard held on many Sunday afternoons at his Bahamian estate, offering young female guests pedicures, massages, Jet Ski rides and endless alcohol.
Grace Ashford and William K. Rashbaum contributed reporting.