Canadian Fashion Designer Nygard Consents to Extradition to US Over Sex Trafficking Charges - Report

Nygard was indicted in December 2020 by the US Justice Department over accusations of numerous sexual assaults, racketeering, and other related crimes, which he allegedly committed over the past several decades.

Former Canadian fashion executive Peter Nygard will be extradited to the US, where he is set to face racketeering, sex trafficking, and other counts of sexual assault, local media reported, citing Nygard's lawyers.

Nygard is believed to have consented to extradition. None of the allegations against the Canadian have been proven in court. Nygard has yet to enter a plea in response to the charges he's facing in the US.

Toronto police later said in a statement that a warrant has been issued for Nygard. He will be charged with sexual assault and forcible confinement, officials added.

Peter Nygard is a Finnish-Canadian former fashion executive who founded Nygard International, a company that makes women's clothing, in 1967. In 2014, his net worth was estimated by the magazine Canadian Business to be about $850 million.

On 15 December 2020, federal prosecutors in Manhattan indicted Nygard on nine counts, including racketeering and sex-trafficking, which allegedly involved dozens of women, some of who were underage. He was arrested in the Canadian city of Winnipeg at the request of the US under the terms of the extradition treaty between the countries.

In February 2020, the FBI and NYPD raided Nygard's New York offices after sex trafficking allegations were made against him. At the time, The New York Times reported that the investigation against Nygard had been underway for at least five months after authorities interviewed at least four women who said that Nygard raped them in the Bahamas when they were teenagers.

Following the allegations made against him in February, many retailers, including Dillard's, announced that they would no longer be carrying Nygard's fashion line.