In a significant development, Peter Nygard, the former public face of the Nygard International clothing brand empire, has been found guilty on four counts of sexual assault by a jury in Toronto. The verdict marks the first criminal conviction for Nygard, who has been incarcerated for the past two years and is awaiting trial for sex crimes in Montreal.

Alongside the four sexual assault convictions, Nygard was also found not guilty on one count of sexual assault and one count of forcible confinement. The jury deliberated for three days following the six-week trial, during which five women testified about being lured to Nygard's personal bedroom suite in the company's Toronto headquarters and allegedly assaulted.

The accused, now 82 years old, denied the allegations when he testified in his own defense during the trial. Although he claimed not to remember meeting four of the accusers, he did acknowledge recognizing his former employee. The women involved in the case were between the ages of 16 and 28 at the time of the reported attacks, which they claimed took place between the 1980s and 2005.

Following the Toronto trial, Nygard is expected to face further legal proceedings in Winnipeg, but a trial date has not yet been established. Moreover, he faces extradition to the United States due to federal sex trafficking and racketeering charges brought against him in December 2020. The indictment accuses Nygard of engaging in a decades-long pattern of criminal conduct, involving dozens of victims in the United States, the Bahamas, and Canada.

In the midst of these legal battles, the Nygard International brand has faced its own turmoil. In February 2020, Peter Nygard stepped down as chairman, and the organization subsequently filed for bankruptcy after the New York headquarters was raided by U.S. authorities.

While Nygard has appealed the New York extradition order, citing poor health, a decision has not yet been made by the court. Additionally, a separate defamation suit resulted in a New York State judge ordering Nygard to pay $203 million in damages to Louis Bacon, a hedge fund billionaire and Nygard's neighbor in the Bahamas. This ruling concludes a prolonged legal feud between the two parties spanning over two decades.

As the legal proceedings continue to unfold, Nygard's legal troubles seem far from over. With pending trials in Montreal and Winnipeg, as well as extradition to the United States, the former clothing brand mogul finds himself facing a range of criminal and civil charges that could potentially have severe consequences.