By Matthew Russell Lee, Exclusive Patreon
BBC - Guardian UK - Honduras - The Source
SDNY COURTHOUSE, Aug 21 – The civil case against Peter Nygard for rape, sexual assault and sex trafficking has been stayed on August 21 as the US Attorney intervened, see photo here. It would appear that Nygard is subject to US criminal action. See more on Patreon here.
Back on May 7 there was a pre-motion conference before U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York Judge Edgardo Ramos. Inner City Press covered it, see below, and then the next proceeding in the case on June 3.
The June 3 proceeding started with the allegation that Nygard has made some Google search results disappear. Plaintiffs' lawyer went through a "deletion log" of documents which were deleted, including the litigation hold. He quoted Bates stamp numbers of pages, while saying he's not sure what they refer it. "There's a wire by Nygard for $10 million... They deleted photos from a place in Winnipeg where Nygard held pamper parties."
Judge Ramos: Did Nygard put pictures of these pamper parties on the corporate website? Answer: Yes. But they took some of them down.
Judge Ramos: All of the servers are now with the Richter Advisory Group, right? Answer: It's a Canadian receiver with a different agenda, different powers than you, Your Honor. They are trying to recover assets for, for example, White Oak.
As argument continued, Inner City Press dug around in the docket, and following URLs, came across and tweeted the link to this Richter report on April 2020 about Nygard Holdings, here.
Plaintiffs' lawyer: We want IT expert to go in and check what Richter is doing. Judge Ramos: Let's here from defense counsel.
Harwood of Morvillo Abramowitz: The Richter report does not assert that evidence destruction occurred. It only identifies file deletions Nygard lawyer now claiming that Greg Fenske only deleted web links like "help desk," and corporate documents; says there is no basis to say that improper deletions occurred.
Judge Ramos: Is it just that you believe Mr. Genske or whatever his name is? A: Fenske.
Judge Ramos: Unlike Mr. Gutzler, I am very familiar with this type of firm, they hire computer forensic experts.
Plaintiff's lawyer asks that Greg Fenske, who deleted Nygard documents, submit an affidavit to Judge Ramos. Judge Ramos: You say these are photos of a Falcon Lake party - is the allegation that a lot sexual assaults took place there? A: Yes, a Jane Doe says so.
Judge Ramos: And you're saying the pamper party photos were on the public-facing website? A: Yes. Then they were deleted. Right before Richter took over the servers. We are requesting discovery on this. Judge Ramos: The info is safe with Richter Group.
Plaintiffs' lawyer says he has 10 more Nygard victims who want to sign on "to be a new Jane Doe." He says one was raped in New York.
Judge Ramos: Plaintiffs are coming here two weeks too late but I don't see how defendants are prejudiced. So I grant plaintiffs leave to file an amendment complaint, by next Wednesday June 10. Nygard gets 3 weeks to file motion to dismiss, July 1. Nygard's reply on its forthcoming motion to dismiss will be due July 29. Inner City Press will continue to report on this case.
On May 7 Nygard's lawyer told Judge Ramos that one of the women in the Feb 22 New York Times article "has since been identified publicly, with her consent, as one of the Jane Doe plaintiffs here."
Judge Ramos asked, In THIS lawsuit?
Nygard's lawyer said, Yes, adding that "Any concerns about revealing this information to us can be handled by a protective order - we'd only give this information to our investigators." Plaintiffs' lawyer Lisa Haba of Longwood, Florida, said, This is human trafficking litigation. As to the two girls in the NYT article, they are claiming perjury. The third one, the initials are R.R. -- but RR took a polygraph showed by 99% that she did not pay these women.
The New York Times thrust her into the public eye. Next Haba cites Doe v Trump, and Doe v Four Brothers Pizza, on why not provide plaintiffs' names at this time, but rather at the time of discovery. She said, "We have a high risk of retaliation in this case... Jane Doe 12 owned a business in the Bahamas, Nygard hired Toby and Bobo to fire bomb her business... In the Bahamas there was a court order for failure to appear. R.R. has been approached in the Bahamas by people who say they are associated with Nygard... There was a murder for hire plot involving Louis Bacon - The Hague had to get involved to order a targeted hit involving Nygard to go forward. We hope to have more on that.
Plaintiffs' lawyer Hab continued, He has declared bankrutpcy for corporate assets. If he gets the names, then declares personal bankruptcy - we've heard he might - it would stay the case and he'd have the names. There's a criminal investigation, a grand jury subpoena...
Judge Ramos said, I'm not going to require plaintiffs to turn over the names of the Jane Doe defendants at this time. We may never get to the merits here, for example if I grant their motion to dismiss.
Nygard's lawyer says 46 of the 46 plaintiffs should be dismissed. He said, He is Canadian. The nerve center of the Nygard entities is in Canada.
Judge Ramos aske, They say he has a permanent residence in New York. Nygard's lawyer said, That is wrong. So the focus will have to be on the New York conduct. All they can point to is marketing statements on website about the headquarters being in New York. But that's just marketing statements. The routing of bank transactions, without intent, is irrelevant. This case is inappropriate for class certification - it is fact specific.
Judge Ramos said, Even if you succeeded in your arguments, then, three plaintiffs would remain?
Nygard's lawyer said, Yes, but one of the three is vague..
THen Plaintiffs' other lawyer jumped in, I just checked Nygard's website, it says the headquarters is in New York. And Nygard invoked SDNY jurisdiction and argued that he and his companies are interlinked, as to reputation; City Press then looked up the case cited: it is Nygard v. Louis Bacon, before Judge Schofield.
Then plaintiffs' lawyer said, Nygard lives above his store in New York, in violation of zoning, holds "pamper parties. The complaint in Nygard v. Bacon, which at Para 3 says "Nygard Inc since 2005 has carried on business at its world headquarters at 1435 Broadway, NY NY 10018." Apparently Nygard lives upstairs.
Judge Ramos said, I'm going to let Nygard file a motion to dismiss - though it is true that your arguments today have gotten into disputes of fact. Let's get some dates Ms. Rivera. Lawyer said, 30 days is a weekend. Judge Ramos deadpanned (by phone) that These days one day is the same as the other. So the motion to dismiss is due June 8, opposition July 8, reply July 22. With that, Judge Ramos says, we are adjourned. Be safe. The case is Does No. 1-10 v. Nygard, et al., 20-cv-1288 (Ramos).
