NASSAU, BAHAMAS — Authorities have interviewed a number of people in connection with allegations that Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygard was involved in a sex trafficking ring, Eyewitness News can confirm.
When contacted, Chief Superintendent Solomon Cash said: “We have an ongoing investigation concerning the allegations surrounding Peter Nygard.”
The federal class action lawsuit filed in a Manhattan Court on Thursday, details allegations of a decades-long sex-trafficking scheme that Nygard and his companies knowingly facilitated and benefitted from – and Bahamian officials were paid to ignore.
The class action complaint, obtained by Eyewitness News, claims Nygard bribed Bahamian police officers and further seeks to correlate the fashion designer’s financial contributions and engagement with the Progressive Liberal Party as evidence of his political influence.
It alleged Nygard provided PLP party members and corrupts police officers with “children and young women to engage in commercial sex acts with”.
Asked whether specifically about the accusations of police officers being involved and bought off, Cash said the investigation has not substantiated any of those allegations to date.
“Well, that has not been brought to the attention of the investigators or my office, so I really cannot speak to that,” he said.
“I can tell you that during the course of our investigation that has not come up or arisen from our inquiries.
He continued: “We interviewed several persons in regards to the allegations. Again, the investigation is still ongoing, but we have interviewed several persons in relation to the Peter Nygard allegations.”
Speaking to The Tribune on Monday, Minister of National Security Marvin Dames said police have an obligation to investigate the “serious allegations being made” to determine whether there was any veracity to them.
He said: “As a country, if we fail to look into them, certainly it will have an adverse impact on our reputation and our ability to work along with other countries around the world.”
On Sunday, the FNM said the allegations of Nygard’s involvement in a sex trafficking ring are “revolting beyond imagination” and called on the Progressive Liberal Party to speak “fully and truthfully” to the claims.
In response, PLP) Leader Philip Brave Davis called the allegations linking party members to matter, “mere scare tactics” and suggested the claims were perpetuated by FNM “surrogates”.
