| Nygard Sex Indictment Sealed
Nov 24 Wheeled To Judge Gardephe But SDNY Says
Woods
By Matthew
Russell Lee, Patreon Song Podcast
BBC
- Guardian
UK - Honduras
- The
Source
SDNY COURTHOUSE,
Dec 15 – In a case against
Peter Nygard for rape, sexual
assault and sex trafficking,
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, and
then the next proceeding in
the case on June 3, see below.
On December
15, Nygard was reported
arrested in Canada, to be
presented under the
Extradition Act. Inner City
Press has asked the US
Attorney's Office for the SDNY
to " say if this is pursuant
to a DOJ / SDNY indictment and
extradition request."
They replied, "Per Department
policy, we cannot comment on
extradition matters." Then
minutes later the below.
Now late on
December 15 Inner City Press
finds that PACER lists the
criminal case assigned to
Judge Paul G. Gardephe. But
the prosecutors say it's Judge
Gregory H. Woods. In the
docket, a November 24 order
allowing the indictment to be
shown "in order to facilitate
the arrest and extradition of
the defendants located
abroad." But who's the judge?
Inner City Press
has uploaded the sealed
indictment to Patreon here,
also this song
& pod
"Audrey
Strauss, the Acting United
States Attorney for the
Southern District of New York,
William F. Sweeney Jr.,
Assistant Director-in-Charge
of the New York Field Office
of the Federal Bureau of
Investigation (“FBI”), and
Dermot Shea, Commissioner of
the New York City Police
Department (“NYPD”), announced
the unsealing of a nine-count
indictment charging Canadian
fashion executive PETER J.
NYGARD, 79, with racketeering,
sex trafficking, and related
crimes arising out of a
decades-long pattern of
criminal conduct involving at
least dozens of victims in the
United States, the Bahamas,
and Canada, among other
locations.
NYGARD was taken into custody
on December 14, 2020, in
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada by
Canadian authorities after the
United States requested Canada
issue a Provisional Arrest
Warrant pursuant to the
extradition treaty between the
two countries. The
case has been assigned to
United States District Judge
Gregory H.
Woods.
If you believe you are a
victim of the sexual abuse
perpetrated by Peter Nygard,
please contact the FBI at
1-800-CALL FBI, and reference
this case.
On August
16, another case against
Nygard was filed by the same
firm, DiCello
Levitt Gutzler LLC via Greg
G. Gutzler,
this
time alleging that Nygard had
his sex-worker girlfriend have
sent with his two then
underaged sons.
On November
25, Nygard's lawyer asked
Judge Ramos of a pre-motion
conference, seeking to file a
motion to dismiss. It was
scheduled for December 10, and
Inner City Press sought to
cover it.
But during the
short proceeding, Nygard's
lawyer Christopher Harwood
demanded that it be sealed. At
the end, Judge Ramos told the
court reporter not to docket
the transcript but rather show
it to Harwood (and plaintiffs'
counsel). So the result of the
US Attorney's Office probe is
less, rather than more,
transparency to the public.
Here is the minute order:
"Minute Entry for proceedings
held before Judge Edgardo
Ramos: Pre-Motion Conference
held on 12/10/2020 by
telephone. Defendants are
granted leave to file a motion
to dismiss with the following
briefing schedule: moving
papers due January 11, 2021;
response due February 11,
2020; and reply due February
25, 2021. The parties are
granted leave to file
memoranda 40 pages in length,
and a reply 20 pages in
length. Defendants'
application to seal portions
of the transcript discussing
the a potential stay of this
action and the stay of the
related action, Does No. 1 -10
v. Nygard, et al., 20-cr-1288,
is GRANTED."
Note: that other
case is CV (civil), not
criminal. Freudian slip?
This one is John
Does 1-2 v. Nygard et al.,
20-cv-6501 (Ramos).
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.
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).
***
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