The number of charges in the Toronto sexual-assault case against Canadian fashion mogul Peter Nygard have been reduced from 11 to six.
Jury selection was set to get underway Monday for Nygard’s trial but was postponed to next week after a court heard some complainants aren’t expected to testify.
Nygard was originally facing eight charges of sexual assault and three charges of forcible confinement in the Toronto case.
Crown lawyer Neville Golwalla told Justice Robert Goldstein in a downtown Toronto courtroom Monday that three of the eight original complainants in the case are not expected to testify.
Goldstein told court he was adjourning the case until Sept. 20, when jury selection is expected to get underway.
Court documents show Nygard is now facing trial in Toronto on five charges of sexual assault and one charge of forcible confinement.
Nygard, who appeared in court in a wheelchair on Monday, faces charges in three jurisdictions in Canada and one in the U.S.
He was first arrested in Winnipeg in 2020 under the Extradition Act after he was charged with nine counts in New York, including sex trafficking and racketeering charges.
U.S. authorities alleged he used his position in the fashion industry to lure women and girls, and then-federal Justice Minister David Lametti has said that while Nygard would be extradited to the U.S., it will only happen after the cases against him in Canada are resolved.
Nygard faces two sex charges in Quebec and is also charged with sexual assault and unlawful confinement in Manitoba after a person came forward with allegations from the early ‘90s.
Nygard has denied all the allegations against him.
Nygard founded his fashion company in Winnipeg in 1967. He stepped down as chairman after the FBI and police raided his offices in New York in February 2020.
Nygard International later filed for bankruptcy.
