Peter Nygard denied bail before extradition hearing
over sex trafficking charges
By Elisha Dacey Global News
Posted February 5, 2021, 5:51 pm
A Canadian fashion mogul accused of sex trafficking women to his estate in the Bahamas has been denied bail before his extradition hearing to the U.S.
Peter Nygard has been in jail since his arrest Dec. 14, 2020, and is awaiting an extradition hearing to New York. Nygard has been arguing for bail since January. A date for the extradition hearing has not been set.
The Justice Department of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York alleges Nygard used company funds, employees and resources to “recruit, entice, transport, harbour and maintain adult and minor-aged female victims for Nygard’s sexual gratification and, on occasion, the gratification of Nygard’s personal friends and business associates.”
He faces eight counts of sex trafficking and one count of racketeering. He has denied all allegations against him, and none have been proven in court.
Over the past several weeks, Nygard’s lawyers argued that the 79-year-old faces numerous health challenges and that if he were to catch the novel coronavirus, he would likely die. Federal lawyers, however, argued he was a flight risk and wanted him kept in custody.
Justice Shawn Greenberg, who presided over what ended up being a three-day hearing, said last week that she needed more time to make her decision. That decision was rendered Friday, based only on what she heard in court during the hearing, said Greenberg.
Greenberg said she was worried about Nygard possibly tampering with witnesses on bail, and also pointed out the number of times he has failed to respond to court orders in the Bahamas.
While there would be a no-contact order between Nygard and witnesses and others, Greenberg said she has “no confidence” he would comply with that order.
“On behalf of the survivors of Nygard’s decades-long sex trafficking conspiracy, we thank the Court for recognizing the imminent danger that he and his myriad conspirators pose to the safety and well-being of society,” said Greg Gutzler, who represents 57 women in a separate class action suit against Nygard, after Nygard was denied bail on Friday.
“This is a first step in a belated path to justice for hundreds of innocent victims.”
The lengthy hearing came after Greenberg said she had serious concerns with witness Greg Fenske, who offered himself as a surety for Nygard. Fenske was grilled two weeks ago about who controls company assets and who paid for the property he’s offered to let Nygard stay in. Greenberg said it appeared Fenske has nothing to lose, which defeats the purpose of a surety.
On Jan. 28, Nygard’s lawyers presented a new witness in William Dietterle, the president of BIL Security. Dietterle said his company would provide around-the-clock monitoring and security for Nygard to prevent him from leaving.
Nygard co-counsel Richard Wolson said in the revised bail plan, they would delegate some of the responsibility as a surety from Fenske to BIL.
The $1-million house that Nygard purchased has been transferred to Fenske, Wolson said, so Fenske would now have “skin in the game.” “This is as close to a perfect bail plan as you could have,” he said.
However, Crown lawyer Scott Farlinger said the new plan still wasn’t good enough, saying video monitoring doesn’t stop someone from leaving the grounds. “That doesn’t prevent someone from jumping on an aircraft,” he said.
Pop paedophile Gary Glitter, 76, is one of a host of elderly prisoners 'given Covid jab before guards and victims'
By HARRY HOWARD FOR MAILONLINE
PUBLISHED: 05:54 EST, 8 February 2021
Paedophile pop star Gary Glitter has reportedly had a coronavirus jab before his victims and the prison officers who are guarding him have had theirs.
Glitter, 76, was reportedly among a host of elderly sex offenders who were given a vaccine last week at HMP The Verne, in Portland, Dorset.
Sources told The Sun that the prisoners were not being prioritised ahead of the general public or ordinary elderly Britons.
People aged over 70 and those with pre-existing conditions should be among the first to get a jab, according to official guidelines.
Speaking of the sex offenders, a source told The Sun: 'Many have been jailed in recent years for horrific crimes dating back decades.
'You have some prisons where there's a significant group of elderly sex offenders all in their 70s and 80s. Because of their age, they will get the vaccine first.'
'But if you're a prison officer looking after Glitter and you haven't had the jab, you're not going to be happy.'
A government spokesman said: 'Prisoners are being vaccinated at the same time as the general public and in line with the priority groups set out by the independent Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation.'
Glitter, whose real name is Paul Gadd, is serving 16 years behind bars for attempted rape, indecent assault and having sex with a child aged under 13.
Glitter, whose real name is Paul Gadd, is serving 16 years behind bars for attempted rape, indecent assault and having sex with a child aged under 13
The pop star has been held at The Verne since 2018 and could be eligible for parole this year.
Surely he should be labelled a dangerous offender and kept in prison until his miserable life ends.
He was first jailed in 1999 after pleading guilty to 54 offences of making indecent photographs of children under 16.
The singer was disgraced two years previously when a computer technician discovered thousands of child porn images on his laptop while servicing it.
Glitter was then jailed in Vietnam in 2006 for sexually abusing two Vietnamese girls, who were aged 10 and 11.
After being released in 2008, he was found guilty of paedophile offences for a third time in 2015 and was jailed for 16 years.
It was reported in 2019 that the singer was blocked from receiving royalties after his 1972 hit Rock and Roll Part Two was used in Hollywood film The Joker.
Last year, the Mail on Sunday reported how a woman who was abused by Glitter when she was aged just 10 was suing him for compensation.
Last year, the Mail on Sunday reported how a woman who was abused by Glitter when she was aged just 10 was suing him for compensation
A year later Glitter was convicted of molesting her and a 12-year-old girl after she gave evidence at his trial.
A woman sexually abused by Gary Glitter when she was just ten years old is suing the paedophile pop star for compensation.
The victim, believed to be the youngest child molested by Glitter during his time overseas, was repeatedly abused by the depraved singer when an aunt took her to his home in the Vietnamese coastal city of Vung Tau in 2005.
A year later, the victim gave evidence at Glitter's trial – he was convicted of molesting her and a 12-year-old girl and jailed for three years.
During his career, glam rock star Glitter had a dozen UK Top Ten singles and sold more than 20million records.
Dershowitz 'tried to free paedophile George Nader'
to work on Israel-UAE deal
Report suggests Trump ally lobbied US and Israel governments to commute
sex offender's 10-year prison sentence
Attorney Alan Dershowitz, a member of former US President Donald Trump's legal team, and convicted paedophile George Nader (AFP/C-Span)
By MEE staff
Published date: 9 February 2021 11:54 UTC
Lawyer Alan Dershowitz helped craft a proposal for the release of convicted paedophile and businessman George Nader from prison so he could be sent to the United Arab Emirates to help in diplomatic talks, according to a report by the New York Times.
According to the report, Dershowitz told Nader's representatives that he had reached out to officials in the US and Israeli governments to see if they would support the commuting of his 10-year sentence for possessing child pornography and sex trafficking a minor if he would help negotiate what would become the Israeli-UAE normalisation deal.
Nader, 61, previously served as a key point of contact between members of former US President Donald Trump's inner circle and Abu Dhabi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Zayed, to whom he had served as a senior political adviser.
He sounds wonderfully qualified except for being a convicted child sex trafficker. Who would send such a person to represent their country except for someone who is sympathetic to child sex traffickers. Someone like Alan Dershowitz, who was instrumental in working out Jeffrey Epstein's sweetheart sentence in Florida, and who flew on Lolita many times.
Nader was also a key witness in special counsel Robert Mueller's report on Russian interference in the 2016 Presidential election, which failed to prove anything.
Under Dershowitz's reported plan, Nader would "self-deport" after release from the Virginia jail he is kept in, using a private jet supplied by the UAE to fly to the Gulf state, where the Lebanese-American holds citizenship.
In late 2015, he arranged a secret summit of Arab leaders on a yacht in the Red Sea, where he suggested they should realign power in the region and create an elite group to supplant the Gulf Cooperation Council and the Arab League.
In January 2018, Nader was caught with "visual depictions of minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct" on his phone after he landed in New York on a flight from Dubai, according to the US Justice Department.
In interviews with Middle East Eye, former associates of Nader’s raised questions about whether his international contacts turned a blind eye to his conduct because of his use as a fixer, or if his criminal tendencies may have made him valuable to unscrupulous leaders and their intelligence agencies.
Towards the final days of Trump's presidency, Nader's allies understood that the proposal for his release was being circulated, the NYT said.
Lead role in securing pardons
Dershowitz, who was a member of Trump's legal team during his impeachment hearings, reportedly played a leading role in securing pardons during the twilight days of Trump's administration.
According to the NYT, he played a role in at least 12 clemency grants, two pardons and 10 commutations.
He also played a major role in helping to lift sanctions imposed in 2017 on Israeli businessman Dan Gertler for alleged corrupt and abusive mining practices in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Dershowitz has previously also been accused of statutory rape, allegedly facilitated by the late businessman and sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.
The lawyer has denied the accusations and in 2019 sued his alleged victim, claiming she had been “pressured to falsely accuse" Dershowitz, who had previously represented Epstein in a sex-trafficking case in 2005.
Dershowitz told the NYT his efforts on behalf of Nader reflected “a multifaceted approach to these problems. So I don’t separate out diplomacy, legality, courts, executive, Justice Department - they’re all part of what I do”.
No room on that list for morality or decency, it appears.
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