Winnipeg police charge former fashion mogul Peter Nygard with sexual assault

WINNIPEG -

Former fashion mogul Peter Nygard faces new charges of sexual assault and unlawful confinement after Manitoba justice officials sought a second opinion of the evidence outside his home province.

Winnipeg police said a person came forward in 2020 with allegations about a sexual assault at the Nygard corporate headquarters in Manitoba's capital in 1993.

The 81-year-old was arrested Tuesday at the Toronto South Detention Centre, where he remains in custody for similar charges in Ontario.

There were originally no charges laid in Manitoba, where Nygard had spent decades ensuring that everyone knew his name and his face. For years Nygard stores throughout Winnipeg were draped in photos of the mogul and he was given a key to the city in 2008.

Winnipeg police have said they submitted eight cases for consideration by the Crown, but prosecutors decided not to lay charges.

That decision drew ire in Nygard's hometown, especially as police forces elsewhere in Canada laid charges.

Nygard faces two sex charges in Quebec and nine in Ontario, dating as far back as the 1980s.

Authorities in the United States have asked for him to be extradited to face charges of sex trafficking and racketeering in that country. Nygard has appealed an extradition order that would see him sent south of the border once his Canadian court cases are settled.

He has maintained his innocence.

The Manitoba government forwarded the investigation to Saskatchewan Justice in 2022 for an independent review.

Justice Minister Kelvin Goertzen said at the time a review was important for people's confidence in the justice system.

"I felt it important because I had concerns," Goertzen said. "It bothered me that we were seeing charges in other places, but there might be good reason."

Police said after reviewing the opinion from Saskatchewan, an arrest warrant was issued Monday.

Nygard founded his fashion company in Winnipeg in 1967. He stepped down as chairman after the FBI and police raided his offices in New York in February 2020.

Nygard International later filed for bankruptcy.

   This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 11, 2023.

   -- By Kelly Geraldine Malone in Saskatoon, with files from Steve Lambert in Winnipeg.