2023-10-25 22:51:00
– Peter Nygard denies having sex den in Bahamas
Former fashion mogul Peter Nygard has been on trial since the end of September in Toronto for rape and kidnapping of four women and a teenager.
Published today at 12:51 a.m.
Peter Nygard at times struggled to remember dates and names, telling the jury he had increasingly suffered from “memory lapses” in recent years.
AFP
Ex-fashion mogul Peter Nygard, on trial for alleged serial rapes, testified for the first time Wednesday, looking back on his career and rejecting allegations that his Bahamas residence included a secret sex den.
Incarcerated since December 2020, the Canadian millionaire has been before the courts since the end of September in Toronto for rape and kidnapping of four women and a teenage girl between the late 1980s and early 2000s. Charges to which he has pleaded not guilty.
In front of a packed room, the 82-year-old man, with a frail figure and long gray hair tied in a bun, was notably questioned about his multiple residences. Peter Nygard has categorically denied that part of his private island in the Bahamas had been designed to organize secret erotic evenings.
“Foolish”
“This is insane,” he said on the stand as the court showed photos of his massive mansion nicknamed Nygard Cay. “There was nothing like it.” This island was notably mentioned by one of the accused as the place of large sumptuous parties.
But during their testimony earlier this month, the plaintiffs mainly referred to the Toronto offices of the founder of Nygard International. They described how he invited them to visit his opulent Canadian offices, promising them modeling or design opportunities, only to find themselves “trapped” in a bedroom, where Peter Nygard allegedly sexually assaulted them.
On Wednesday, despite multiple requests from the Crown to address the facts with which it is accused, the defense stuck to the journey of Peter Nygard, a Finnish immigrant who became the largest manufacturer of women’s clothing in Canada.
“Blackouts”
Sitting at the bar, black suit and glasses on his nose, the old man at times had difficulty remembering dates and names, telling the jury that he had suffered more and more from “memory lapses” in recent years. years. “It’s almost embarrassing that all of a sudden I’m losing my memory,” he said, adding with a touch of humor: “I don’t recommend getting old to anyone.”
But for the most part, he appeared lucid and even enthusiastic when describing his work in design, which he describes as “his whole life.” Earlier this week, his lawyer Brian Greenspan indicated that his client would testify alone, maintaining that Peter Nygard did not remember meeting four of his five accusers and that he would “categorically” deny the allegations made against him by the fifth.
“It’s impossible to remember what didn’t happen,” Brian Greenspan said in court Tuesday, calling the women’s testimony “inaccurate, unreliable and untrustworthy.”
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