Former Fashion Mogul Peter Nygard Sentenced to 11 Years in Prison for Sexual Assault

Toronto Superior Court on Monday sentenced former fashion mogul Peter Nygard to 11 years in prison for four counts of sexual assault.

In November, the 83-year-old Nygard had been convicted of four counts of sexual assault for incidents involving three women and a minor in the private quarters of his company’s former offices in Toronto. Those attacks happened between the 1980s and 2005.

With credit for time served, Nygard, who was seated in the courtroom Monday, will be imprisoned for six years and seven months.

The Crown had sought a 15-year sentence in federal prison and Nygard’s attorney Gerri Wiebe had requested a six-year sentence, due to his age, what was described as his “deteriorating health” and time served. The self-made millionaire’s health was addressed during Monday’s hearing — Nygard suffers from Type 2 diabetes and glaucoma and his legal team argued that his medical care under the prison system had not been adequate.

Before delivering Nygard’s sentence, Superior Court Justice Robert Goldstein said, “Mr. Nygard is a sexual predator. He used his position as a fashion designer, who traveled to exotic locations [where] in each he owned luxurious residences and frequented clubs with famous models to take advantage of young women. He flattered them by telling them that they looked like, or could be, fashion models, or that they dressed nicely. He flew business class with an entourage. He dangled the possibility of glamorous travel, employment and business opportunities.”

Goldtstein continued, “Part of Mr. Nygard’s power was due to the fact that his private space was well-equipped for nonconsensual sexual encounter. Mr. Nygard could have had a luxury condominium or apartment in Toronto, or even stayed in a luxury hotel during his visits. By using his private apartment in his own office building, he could regulate access and prioritize his victims without any observation of interference of anyone that he did not employ.”

The sentencing hearing had been adjourned multiple times, due partially to Nygard working with three different lawyers this year. An Aug. 2 hearing was postponed at the Crown’s request so that Neville Golwalla, a Crown attorney who was traveling at that time, could be present.

Nygard was arrested in Winnipeg in December 2020 on a provisional warrant that was initiated by the U.S. In December 2020, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York unsealed a nine-count indictment charging him with racketeering, sex trafficking and related crimes over more than a decade-long period that allegedly involved at least dozens of victims in the U.S., the Bahamas and Canada. All three locations are areas where the fallen fashion executive used to have business operations.

The Finnish-born Nygard was recognizable for his mane of blond hair, year-round suntan and his unbuttoned dress shirts. He started his namesake sportswear company in 1967 in Winnipeg, expanded distribution to the U.S. in 1978 and unveiled an international office in Toronto in 1987. At the height of his business in 2003, Nygard generated about $250 million in sales in the U.S. and $500 million in Canada. Specializing in affordable, basic sportswear that was sold in department stores, Nygard was an early adapter of vertical manufacturing, expansions into Asia and paperless operations. However, as competition increased, the ailing business filed Chapter 15 in May 2020 and its brands were put up for sale. Following a September 2020 raid by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and New York Police Department of Nygard’s Times Square offices, the few remaining major chains that carried Nygard apparel and accessories dropped its labels. The company’s founder stepped down from his company in December 2020.

After being held at Headingley Correctional Centre, Nygard was transferred to the Toronto South Detention Centre, after being charged in that city in October 2021.

Media requests to Wiebe and her law firm, Wiebe Criminal Defense, were not immediately returned Monday morning.

Last year Nygard’s took legal action to fight his extradition to the U.S., which is pending for the sex trafficking and racketeering offenses that he faces there. Over a 25-year period, Nygard allegedly 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,” according to the indictment, which was unsealed by the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York.

Nygard also faces one count of sexual assault and confinement in Quebec.