Former fashion mogul Peter Nygard, who is on trial for alleged serial rapes, testified for the first time Wednesday, looking back on his career and denying allegations that there was a secret sex den at his Bahamas residence.
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The Canadian millionaire, who has been imprisoned since December 2020, has been on trial in Toronto since the end of September for the rape and kidnapping of four women and a teenager between the late 1980s and early 2000s. Charges to which he pleaded not guilty.
In front of a crowded room, the 82-year-old man with a frail figure and long gray hair tied in a bun was questioned in particular about his various places of residence.
Peter Nygard has categorically denied that part of his private island in the Bahamas was intended for organizing secret erotic evenings.
“This is crazy,” 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 particularly mentioned by one of the defendants as a place of large, lavish celebrations.
But during their testimony earlier this month, the plaintiffs primarily referred to the Nygard International founder’s Toronto offices.
They described how he invited them to visit his opulent Canadian offices, promising them modeling or design opportunities, but then found themselves “trapped” in a bedroom where Mr. Nygard allegedly sexually abused them.
On Wednesday, despite repeated requests from the Crown to comment on the facts alleged against him, the defense stood by the career of Mr. Nygard, a Finnish immigrant who became the largest manufacturer of women’s clothing in Canada.
The old man, who sat at the bar wearing a black suit and glasses perched on his nose, had difficulty remembering dates and names at times and told the jury that he had suffered from “memory lapses” with increasing frequency in recent years.
“It’s almost embarrassing that I suddenly lose my memory,” he said, adding with a touch of humor: “I don’t recommend anyone grow old.”
But for the most part, he seemed lucid and even enthusiastic as he described his work in design, which he describes as “his entire life.”
Earlier this week, his lawyer, Brian Greenspan, said his client would testify alone, arguing that Mr. Nygard did not remember meeting four of his five accusers and that he would “categorically” deny the allegations made against him through the fifth.
“It’s impossible to remember what didn’t happen,” Greenspan said in court Tuesday, calling the women’s testimony “inaccurate, unreliable and unbelievable.”