[imagesource: CBC News]

Peter Nygard, dubbed the ‘Canadian Epstein’ by some media outlets, has been accused by more than 80 women of rape or sexual assault, with some of those accusations stretching back four decades.

Nygard was finally arrested last month in Winnipeg, Canada, on an extradition warrant, with American authorities accusing him of racketeering, sex trafficking, and sexual assault involving “dozens” of victims.

According to CBC News, there is also a separate class-action lawsuit against Nygard, brought by 57 women and launched in February of last year in New York.

Two of Nygard’s sons have also filed a lawsuit against him, alleging that they were statutorily raped at his direction as teenagers.

79-year-old Nygard, who made his riches via Nygard International, a women’s apparel company he founded in 1967, has denied all the charges against him.

He says they are an attempt to destroy his reputation, led by his former neighbour in the Bahamas, billionaire Louis Bacon.

The megawealthy really can make crummy neighbours.

Nygard’s attempts to deny the charges won’t be helped by recent developments, which have seen his former personal videographer, Stephen Feralio, step forward as a whistleblower,

Feralio worked with Nygard for three years, starting in 2011, and said he could no longer stay silent:

“If I don’t expose him, he’s going to get away with all the things that he’s been doing,” Feralio said…

Several videos shared with CBC document what Nygard [below] called pamper parties. Every Sunday for years, Nygard would host parties in the Bahamas or Los Angeles. Young women and girls were invited for what Nygard said was a day involving fun on the beach, food and dancing.

“He would be grabbing them, dancing with them. And then at the end of the night, he would give me the signal and that meant stop filming,” he said. “And he would go upstairs to the room sometimes with two or three or more girls.”

Feralio also detailed parties on Nygard’s private Boeing 727:

He says one of the girls that frequently travelled with Nygard was 17, and would drink alcohol and party with the rest of the women aboard the plane, as well as dance on the “stripper pole”.

According to Feralio, Nygard referred to the women as his girlfriends, many of whom the US indictment says were “often victims of his alleged assaults”.

Here’s Nygard meeting a 16-year-old athlete at the Summer Olympics in London in 2012, with Feralio saying  it shows “a typical effort to recruit a young woman”:

Those clips above are taken from The Fifth Estate’s video, which you can watch in full below.

It includes some footage from the infamous ‘pamper parties’:

For the latest on Nygard’s legal battles, here’s The Winnipeg Sun:

[He] will remain in jail for another week despite his lawyers laying out an updated bail plan for the Canadian fashion king who faces sex trafficking and racketeering charges in the United States.

Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Shawn Greenberg said she needs time to decide whether Nygard should be released and has reserved her decision until Feb. 5.

His lawyers told court a security company has been hired to provide 24-hour video surveillance of Nygard’s home if he should be granted bail. There would also be a security guard on the premises…

Nygard’s lawyers have said his life is at risk behind bars due to the spread of COVID-19 and his health conditions, including diabetes and a pacemaker.

Lawyers arguing against Nygard’s bail say he has the means to flee, and the charges he faces are too serious for his release.

[sources:cbcnews&winnipegsun]