Led into a Winnipeg courtroom in shackles, Peter Nygard walked slowly as he came into view, surrounded by sheriffs and dressed in the grey sweatshirt and trackpants of an inmate.
A mask covered his face, his long grey hair was tied into a messy bun, and he sat in the prisoner’s box looking disheveled and dismayed.
His aging, frail body did not resemble the coiffed and muscled image that for years was plastered on billboards across Winnipeg and emblazoned on signs at his retail shops in Toronto, New York, Los Angeles and the Bahamas.
Nygard’s brief court appearance Tuesday marks the latest chapter in his remarkable life story — from his birth in Finland, to his humble upbringing in Deloraine, through the forging of his fashion empire in Winnipeg, and his eventual downfall amid mounting rape allegations in the #MeToo era.
Nygard, 79, was arrested Monday by RCMP federal investigators — acting at the behest of U.S. authorities seeking his extradition — at a residence in south Winnipeg.
Tuesday morning, a nine-count indictment for racketeering, sex-trafficking and related offences was unsealed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
And Tuesday afternoon, after spending the night in custody at the Winnipeg Remand Centre, Nygard appeared before Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Sheldon Lanchberry for an extradition hearing.
The unsealed indictment reads similar to the claims more than 50 women and their lawyers have repeatedly made since Feb. 13, when a class-action lawsuit alleging a decades-long reign of terror and abuse was filed in a Manhattan court.
Nygard 'top girlfriend,' niece accused in Florida, California lawsuits
lyn Medeiros at Nygard for Life in September 2008. A lawsuit claimes Medeiros lured young women to Nygard's Bahamian estate to be raped.
From 1995 through 2020, Nygard — alongside his business associates and co-conspirators — engaged in a "pattern of criminal conduct involving at least dozens of victims in the United States, the Bahamas, and Canada, among other locations," according to the indictment.
Nygard is accused of raping and sex trafficking women and young girls, often targeting individuals from "disadvantaged economic backgrounds" with a "history of abuse," and keeping them quiet through "threats, false promises of modelling opportunities" and "other coercive means."
He’s alleged to have used the "façade of legitimacy his fashion business created — as well as the Nygard Group’s business operations, reputation and resources — to facilitate and conceal his crimes," according to U.S. authorities./QUOTE]
Brazilian Model & Former Video Vixen Suelyn Medeiros Arrested for Drug Trafficking (Super NSFW)
By Viral MVP July 28, 2020
Garnering 2.5 million followers on the gram, popular model, Suelyn Mederios was arrested last weekend in Rio de Janeiro. After being reported missing by her family, Ms. Mederios, accompanied by two teenage boys, was stopped by municipal guards for not wearing a mask.
She tried to escape, throwing both her Brazilian and American passports on the ground, in an attempt to flee. Upon the stop, detainees explained how Suelyn was nervous and showed erratic behavior before they made a search. The two teenage boys, were also without mask at Arpoador beach, as they both managed to escape.
The agents soon found cocaine and pills, hidden in her top, where she was later charged with possession of narcotic drugs. NO word on what happened with the teenagers thus far, but Suelyn posted bail immediately and hasn’t been seen on social media since. Some linked to the story are citing dirty cops and illegal searching with the Leblon police station.