FBI raid fashion mogul Peter Nygard’s office in sex-trafficking probe

The FBI and NYPD raided the Manhattan workplaces of fashion mogul Peter Nygard Tuesday amid an ongoing federal sex-trafficking investigation, sources stated.

The feds are probing claims that Nygard plied underage women with booze at intercourse events at his Bahamas mansion, in accordance with regulation enforcement sources.

Nygard introduced late Tuesday he was stepping down as chairman of Nygard Worldwide and can divest his possession curiosity.

Pictures from the office raid present federal brokers and metropolis cops swarming the corporate’s Broadway headquarters — and hauling away a minimum of a half-dozen cardboard bins.

Manhattan US Lawyer’s Office spokesman Nicholas Biase confirmed Tuesday’s raid however declined to offer particulars.

A spokesman for Nygard stated the rich playboy’s Los Angeles workplaces have been additionally raided, however the FBI and federal prosecutors wouldn’t affirm that blitz.

The raid comes on the heels of a federal lawsuit filed Feb. 13 by 10 unidentified girls who accuse the 78-year-old Canadian businessman of a “decades-long sex-trafficking scheme.”

One accuser says she was simply 15 on the time of the abuse. The age of consent in the Bahamas is 16.

In accordance with the lawsuit, Ny­gard frequently hosted sex-fueled soirées often called “pamper events” at his ritzy mansion in unique Lyford Cay in the Bahamas — which he renamed ­Nygard Cay in 1992 and was as soon as featured on “Existence of the Wealthy and Well-known.”

The events have been “each to advertise the Nygard firm’s model and facilitate industrial intercourse acts,” the lawsuit prices.

Attorneys for the accusers stated they’ve “over 100 witnesses” in the case that features “dozens of victims.”

The go well with stated Nygard additionally used Nygard Worldwide’s company jet to “smuggle” the ladies and women to websites in the US and at his property in the Caribbean archipelago.

In a press release Tuesday, Nygard spokesman Ken Frydman claimed the allegations have been “fabricated” by billionaire hedge-funder Louis Bacon — with whom Nygard has been embroiled in a authorized battle spanning greater than a decade and spawning greater than two dozen ­lawsuits.

“As a direct outcome and in furtherance of the conspiracy deliberate by billionaire Louis Bacon, federal brokers have executed a search and seizure on Nygard workplaces in California and New York,” Frydman stated. “As with different actions taken on account of Louis Bacon’s conspiracy, Nygard isn’t stunned by this newest motion.

“Nygard welcomes the federal investigation and expects his identify to be cleared,” the spokesman stated.

“He has not been charged, isn’t in custody, and is cooperating with the investigation.”

A consultant for Bacon ­declined to remark Tuesday.

The dangerous blood between Nygard and Bacon stems from an enormous persona conflict and a tiny driveway shared by their neighboring Bahamian properties.

Bacon is “a self-professed environmentalist” — in stark distinction to his Canadian-born neighbor’s raucous playboy way of life, ­in accordance with a 2016 article in City & Nation.

Nygard’s compound, by comparability, is embellished with a whole bunch of torches, carved dragons and large statues of nude girls modeled after former girlfriends, in accordance with Self-importance Honest.

The floodgates opened in 2007 when the 2 turned embroiled in an argument over water runoff that was flooding the shared roadway, Self-importance Honest reported in 2015.

When a 2009 electrical fireplace on Nygard’s facet of the highway razed a number of buildings — together with his 32,000-square-foot “grand corridor” and disco — the fashion mogul blamed Bacon.

Over time, the feud has turn out to be more and more hostile, with Bacon accusing Nygard of intercourse trafficking and Nygard accusing Bacon of all the things from insider buying and selling to membership in the Ku Klux Klan.

Bacon stated he even feared that Ny­gard would have him killed, ­The New York Times stated in a report final week.

The newspaper reported that investigators tied to Bacon had provided “beneficiant incentives” to assist make a case in opposition to Nygard, with cash trickling right down to his accusers.

No less than two girls who claimed they have been raped as minors — however weren’t plaintiffs in the latest go well with — later recanted their tales and stated they have been promised money and have been coached to make the claims, the Times ­reported.

“Given Mr. Nygard’s sample of alleged horrific sexual abuse over a interval of many years, and spanning the globe, it’s not stunning that he now finds himself underneath the scrutiny of the FBI,” the accusers stated in a press release.

“And whereas his representatives proceed to spout far-fetched conspiracy theories as his sole protection, the amount of proof and the variety of victims coming ahead to carry Mr. Nygard liable for his habits proceed to develop.

“Our focus stays squarely on pursuing justice for these numerous victims who’ve been so viciously harmed by Mr. ­Ny­gard and his enablers.”