NASSAU, BAHAMAS — After a six-week trial, a Canadian jury has found Peter Nygard, the 82-year-old former fashion mogul and former longtime resident of Lyford Cay, guilty of four counts of sexual assault.

The jury found him not guilty on one count of sexual assault and one count of forcible confinement, with sentencing expected later this month.

Prosecutors argued that Nygard, worth an estimated $700 million at his peak, exploited his "status" to assault five women between the late 1980s and 2005. 

The victims, aged 16 to 28 at the time, were allegedly lured to a private luxury bedroom in Nygard's Toronto headquarters. The room, described as having a "giant bed" and automatic locks controlled by Nygard, became the site of the alleged assaults, according to prosecutor Ana Serban.

Nygard vehemently denied the charges, with his defense team accusing the victims of pursuing financial gain through what they deemed "gold-digging." During the trial, Nygard asserted that he could never have acted in such a manner and claimed not to recall four of the five women.

The guilty verdict represents a significant blow to Nygard, who stepped down as chairman of Nygard International in February 2020, just before the company filed for bankruptcy following a raid by US authorities on its New York headquarters. Since his arrest in December of the same year, Nygard has been incarcerated.

In addition to the trial in Canada, federal prosecutors in New York charged him in 2020 with sex trafficking, racketeering conspiracy, and other crimes allegedly committed in the United States, Canada, and The Bahamas. Nygard has been ordered to be extradited to the US to face those charges after the conclusion of his trials in Canada.

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