Last Updated on March 1, 2020, 7:29 AM AST by Anthony Morris
Fashion mogul Peter Nygard, who was at the center of an illegal stem cell scandal in St Kitts and Nevis in 2016, has stepped down as chairman of the international women’s clothing giant he founded.
FBI teams raided the Canadian-born multimillionaire Manhattan and California offices on Tuesday in the wake of a February 13 federal lawsuit by 10 unidentified women who claim they were raped during wild sex parties at Nygard’s estate in the Bahamas.
On June 13, 2016, Chief Medical Officer Dr Patrick Martin went to the J N France General Hospital and stopped an illegal stem cell operation that was taking place in the Private Ward.
He informed that there was no medical or legal clearance for the operation and ordered a Brazilian doctor, who had a stethoscope around her neck and gloves on, to leave the premises as she was not registered and licenced to practice in the Federation.
Richard Westin, a US citizen and a patient participating in the stem cell programme was arrested on June 13 as he checked in to travel with Nygard. Westin was charged by
Customs and Excise with filing a false customs declaration and importation of a weapon, and Police charged him with failing to declare a weapon. Westin went before Magistrate Donna Harris and pleaded guilty to filing a false customs declaration and importation of a weapon. He was fined EC$10,000 and was reprimanded for failing to declare the weapon.
On June 16, 2016, Dr Martin was unceremoniously sent on pre-retirement leave with immediate effect by the Timothy Harris government.
On July 14, 2017, two armed police officers delivered a letter from the Human Resource Department in the Office of the Prime Minister informing Dr Martin that he was no longer the Chief Medical Officer of the Federation effective Friday 14th July 2017.
As a result of a public statement on the matter, Prime Minister Harris took legal action against Leader of the Opposition, The Right Hon Dr Denzil L Douglas, claimimg he was libelled in a speech on June 22, 2016.
Following an application, High Court Judge, His Lordship Justice Eddy Ventose ordered Dr Harris to provide Dr Douglas with several documents including the letter authorising the St Kitts Institute for Regenerative Medicine to start up business, certified copies of decisions of the Cabinet, a list of medical personnel who worked on the project, the customs declaration forms and evidence that the umbilical cord blood or blood samples were procured by reputable international cord blood banks.
Dr Harris has appealed the ruling of Justice Ventose and the appeal hearing is still pending.
A CNN report said the recent suit also accuses Nygard of sex trafficking at Lyford Cay, a 150,000 square-foot compound in the Bahamas.
It claims Nygard sexually assaulted most of the women when he lured them to the Cay for “pamper parties” attended by prominent political figures.
The lawsuit says some of the young women were held at one of his properties, where they were not allowed to leave without his permission and were forced to perform sex acts. They were also forced to recruit new victims, the suit says.
Nygard also kept a database of potential victims through his company’s corporate server that had information on more than 7,500 underage girls and women, the lawsuit alleges.
Anthony Morris covers stories related to politics and regional developments. His in-depth reporting about governance and reforms makes him stand out in regional journalism, with a deep analysis of political trends and their impact on Caribbean communities.
