Peter J. NygÃÂ¥rd (born Pekka Juhani NygÃÂ¥rd; born 24 July 1941) is a Finnish-Canadian businessman, former fashion executive, and convicted sex offender. In 1967 he founded NygÃÂ¥rd International, a Winnipeg-based company that initially was a sportswear manufacturer before producing women's apparel.
Dubbed "the Canadian Hugh Hefner", NygÃÂ¥rd was rated the 70th richest Canadian by Canadian Business magazine in 2009, with a net worth of million, while in 2017 his net worth was estimated to be million.
In 2020, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) carried out a search warrant of NygÃÂ¥rd's offices in New York City after he was accused of sex trafficking, sexual assault and racketeering. As a result, NygÃÂ¥rd stepped down as chairman of NygÃÂ¥rd International soon afterwards. The company then filed for bankruptcy later that year.
In December 2020, NygÃÂ¥rd 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 NygÃÂ¥rd date as far back as 1968. In November 2023, a Canadian court convicted NygÃÂ¥rd of four counts of sexual assault. In September 2024, he was sentenced to 11 years in prison for 4 counts of sexual assault.
Peter NygÃÂ¥rd was born Pekka Juhani NygÃÂ¥rd in Helsinki, Finland, on 24 July 1941. His parents immigrated to Deloraine, Manitoba, Canada, in 1952, when NygÃÂ¥rd was around eleven years old. His father was a baker, and his mother a seamstress.
In 1964, NygÃÂ¥rd graduated from the University of North Dakota with a business degree.
NygÃÂ¥rd established NygÃÂ¥rd Apparel Manufacturing Company, later rebranded NygÃÂ¥rd International, in Winnipeg in 1967. In 1978, NygÃÂ¥rd's 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 such as NygÃÂ¥rd Fashions, NygÃÂ¥rd Slims, Bianca NygÃÂ¥rd, ADX, TanJay, Alia and Allison Daley. The company's Canadian headquarters was located on King Street in Toronto, Ontario, while its world headquarters was located in Times Square, New York, New York, United States. Times Square was also the location of NygÃÂ¥rd's fashion concept retail store, which opened on Friday, 6 November 2009. NygÃÂ¥rd's personal net-worth was estimated at $900 million in 2020.
In February 2020, the headquarters of NygÃÂ¥rd International was raided as part of a sex trafficking investigation against NygÃÂ¥rd by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Afterwards, NygÃÂ¥rd 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 NygÃÂ¥rd had actually resigned, and that he still owned 100% of the shares of the NygÃÂ¥rd 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 NygÃÂ¥rd 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 NygÃÂ¥rd has been accused numerous times of abuse including forcible confinement, sex trafficking, sexual assault and sexual harassment.
Playboy actress Suelyn Medeiros has been alleged to have acted as NygÃÂ¥rd'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, NygÃÂ¥rd 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 NygÃÂ¥rd. All the alleged victims were under 16 at the time of the alleged assaults. Additionally, on 27 January 2020, NygÃÂ¥rd faced two separate lawsuits after being accused of sexual assault.
On 13 February 2020, 10 women filed a class-action lawsuit against NygÃÂ¥rd 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 NygÃÂ¥rd 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, NygÃÂ¥rd filed a motion to dismiss the claims of 52 of the plaintiffs, stating 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, NygÃÂ¥rd was sued by two of his sons on accusations that NygÃÂ¥rd 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 US government having requested a stay of proceedings while the criminal investigation was ongoing.
On 15 December 2020, NygÃÂ¥rd was arrested in Winnipeg for extradition to the US to face charges of sex trafficking by the US attorney's office in Manhattan. On 5 February 2021, NygÃÂ¥rd was denied bail due to being a flight risk and the risk of him tampering with evidence. At the time NygÃÂ¥rd faced extradition to the US.
On 18 February 2021, it was reported that a new lawsuit had been filed by one of the class-action plaintiffs, which named Peter NygÃÂ¥rd's niece, Angela Dyborn, as an alleged co-conspirator in the alleged sex-trafficking scheme. On 26 March 2021, NygÃÂ¥rd was denied bail for a second time. In April 2021 it was reported that NygÃÂ¥rd would face an extradition hearing in November 2021.
On 1 October 2021, NygÃÂ¥rd agreed to be extradited to the US, to face the charges against him that were filed there. The same day NygÃÂ¥rd 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 NygÃÂ¥rd 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, NygÃÂ¥rd was found guilty of sexual assault by a Canadian jury in Toronto, following a six-week trial. The 82-year-old NygÃÂ¥rd 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. These assaults reportedly took place in a secure luxury bedroom in his company's headquarters. NygÃÂ¥rd denied the charges, with his defense team suggesting the victims were seeking financial gain. NygÃÂ¥rd 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 NygÃÂ¥rd in Montreal is scheduled for 28 January 2025.
NygÃÂ¥rd's son Kai Zen Bickle praised the conviction saying that his father "used his business talents for evil, to prey on others," adding "And it's a very good thing that justice was served here."
In September 2024, a court in Toronto sentenced NygÃÂ¥rd to 11 years in prison for 4 counts of sexual assault.
NygÃÂ¥rd has been involved in numerous lawsuits before his arrest in 2020, including suits involving alleged abusive labour practices, tax evasion.
In 2005, NygÃÂ¥rd installed a large concrete slab on Louis Bacon's property to facilitate parking overflow, leading to a court suit and Bacon's retaliation installing large speakers pointed at Nygard Cay. The dispute escalated to 16 legal actions between NygÃÂ¥rd, Bacon and associates.
Bahamian police seized the speakers in summer 2010, allegedly due to complaints by NygÃÂ¥rd. Vanity Fair reported that NygÃÂ¥rd also used fake news sites to smear Bacon. In January 2015, Bacon filed a defamation lawsuit against NygÃÂ¥rd over these claims.
In 2019, NygÃÂ¥rd sued two New York Times reporters for perceived bias in covering the billionaires' dispute.
A New York judge awarded Bacon $203 million in May 2023, finding âÂÂa deliberate plan by NygÃÂ¥rd to personally and professionally destroy BaconâÂÂ.
In 1984, he purchased a beach bungalow for $1.76 million. In 1987 NygÃÂ¥rd built a compound at Lyford Cay in the Bahamas. He hosted Sean Connery, Michael Jackson, Robert De Niro and George H. W. Bush at the property, which was described as housing 300 parrots, peacocks and cockatoos around an indoor lagoon with a 40-foot dining room table that converted to a disco dance floor, and karaoke nights with "scantily clad young women" dancing while he sang "I Did It My Way." Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor was photographed with his wife and daughters Princess Eugenie and Princess Beatrice at NygÃÂ¥rd's home.
On 14 April 2010, NygÃÂ¥rd announced he was planning a $50-million renovation of NygÃÂ¥rd Cay, which would take two years to complete and repair the damage and employ 200 construction workers.
A letter from the Bahamian prime minister's office rejected NygÃÂ¥rd's construction application, citing the improper expansion of his property through intentional accretion of land over the seabed. On 28 September 2018, NygÃÂ¥rd Cay was seized by the Supreme Court of the Bahamas as part of a legal battle surrounding NygÃÂ¥rd's efforts to dredge the sea floor around the estate. In 2019, a warrant was issued after NygÃÂ¥rd failed to appear in court multiple times for a sentencing hearing related to two contempt-of-court convictions in the Bahamas. In 2021 the property was in a general state of disrepair.
In 2003, NygÃÂ¥rd was sued in Florida by an American couple who claimed he deceived them into accepting jobs as managers of his Bahamas estate. The case was settled in 2007. The buildings of that estate were reported as being demolished by the Bahamian Government in April 2023.
NygÃÂ¥rd previously used a Boeing 727-100 as his private jet, painted silver and blue and named N-Force. The interior contained a karaoke machine, fluorescent purple disco lighting and a stripper's pole, with nightclub-style chrome paneling, mirrored ceilings, white leather seats and a plush day bed. NygÃÂ¥rd stopped using his 727 in 2017 due to maintenance costs and it was scrapped in Brunswick, Georgia, US. NygÃÂ¥rd had purchased a new plane as a replacement but never finished renovating it due to mounting legal and financial troubles.
On 17 December 2020, two days after NygÃÂ¥rd's arrest, it was reported that Discovery+ was releasing a series about Peter NygÃÂ¥rd's life entitled Unseamly: The Investigation of Peter NygÃÂ¥rd. The documentary aired in February 2021, and included interviews with family members and former NygÃÂ¥rd employees.
On 25 January 2021, CBC Podcasts released the first episode of their podcast, Evil by Design, about the allegations against NygÃÂ¥rd. The podcast includes interviews with alleged victims. It was later adapted into a documentary series, Evil by Design: Surviving NygÃÂ¥rd, that aired on CBC Television in 2022. An episode of Dateline about the NygÃÂ¥rd case also aired in December 2021.
NygÃÂ¥rd has ten children with eight women. NygÃÂ¥rd has been a longtime sponsor of amateur sports in The Bahamas. In June 2010, he was the main sponsor of the Amateur Boxing Federation of the Bahamas team for Continental Elite Boxing Championships, an invitation-only event in Quito, Ecuador.
In 2012, NygÃÂ¥rd was awarded a Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal.
In 2002, Deloraine, Manitoba, where NygÃÂ¥rd grew up, unveiled a commemorative plaque and named a park in his honour. In May 2020, the park's name was changed to Prairie Sentinels Park, after NygÃÂ¥rd was arrested and charged with sexual assault and sex trafficking.