The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Staff Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

NATIONAL Security Minister Marvin Dames said police will investigate claims that Peter Nygard concealed his alleged sexual crimes by bribing local law enforcement officials, saying the country’s reputation is at risk.

His comment came as sources told The Tribune police are still probing complaints women made in July about Mr Nygard.

The fashion mogul made headlines around the world last week after it was alleged in a US lawsuit that he raped ten women, including nine Bahamians, and covered it up through payoffs and intimidation tactics.

The lawsuit portrays The Bahamas as a country where corruption is so pervasive and sexual crimes treated so lightly that the former Lyford Cay resident successfully evaded accountability for his alleged acts.

Mr Dames told The Tribune: “Those are some serious allegations being made and I am certain the police would want to follow up on them to determine exactly whether there is any validity to them. We have an obligation to do so. Anytime you have allegations of that nature being reported to law enforcement within or outside of the country, we have that obligation especially when the allegations are being made against public officials and law enforcement officials.

“As a country, if we fail to look into them, certainly it will have an adverse impact on our reputation and our ability to work along with other countries around the world.”

The lawsuit alleges Mr Nygard bought police protection and offered corrupt officers children and young women with whom to engage in commercial sex acts. It claims he gave money to officers on his payroll to help him bury reports of sexual abuse and to intimidate and harass his victims. It alleged that when Mr Nygard learned of the police investigation into him, “he engaged lawyers to facilitate bribery payments to top Bahamian police officials to get more information that would enable him to attempt to bribe victims or intimidate them into silence.” It further alleges that when Mr Nygard’s “girlfriends” tried to leave him, they were harassed and threatened by Bahamian police on his payroll.

The class action lawsuit, filed in New York, also claims that Mr Nygard bribed Bahamian officials with US currency from his companies to prevent customs officers from searching his plane, from checking the passports of young women onboard and from inspecting passengers’ luggage. This was to let him traffic his alleged victims to and from the country, transport drugs for them and transport other supplies for “pamper parties” in his plane, the lawsuit alleges. Evidence to substantiate the claims was not included in the documents.

Asked if the Royal Bahamas Police Force will investigate the claims given the frequent references to the organisation in the lawsuit, Mr Dames said: “I have no doubt the police force is capable of investigating their own.

“The vast majority of officers in these agencies are trustworthy and take very seriously their oath and often times get very upset when allegations are made against their agencies and when individuals in their agencies are arrested and placed before the court. This is our premier investigative agency and we have to have faith and trust that the agency as a whole is capable and they prove it every day. Officers are placed before the courts and are being interdicted when they do wrong so I have the utmost confidence that they are more than capable of doing this. We have a great responsibility and obligation to ensure we do whatever is humanly possible if it’s within the scope of our country to protect our reputation and expose those who continue to engage in corrupt practices wherever they sit.”

While he was careful to say the lawsuit’s allegations are unproven, Mr Dames reiterated Prime Minister Dr Hubert Minnis’ frequent pledge to fight corruption.

“Our government and prime minister would have been beaten up before when he spoke to this whole issue of corruption,” he said. “Constantly he is beaten up when he goes in international circles and says the Bahamas is not for sale. Those opposite would say he is painting a bad light of the Bahamas. But with things like this it ain’t the prime minister painting a bad light of the country and we have to see if there is any validity here. I’m certain persons would want to know, if they are innocent, that someone is doing something to clear their name. We are obligated to make sure our country’s reputation has not been dragged through the mud unchecked. If it is found that there is validity, I’m sure the police would know what to do. If it’s not valid, we have to make the public aware that we have exhausted all avenues in relation to these allegations and we’re satisfied that it wasn’t as reported.”

Meanwhile Mr Nygard’s lawyer, Jay Prober, has dismissed the allegations as false, according to the Global News, a Canadian news outlet.

“(The allegations) are completely false. I’ve seen a lot of false allegations…but I’ve never seen such false allegations that are so nasty,” he said, adding that the complaints have been paid for by people involved in a criminal conspiracy against Mr Nygard.