The Tribune

By RASHAD ROLLE

Tribune Senior Reporter

rrolle@tribunemedia.net

SAVE the Bays has again defended itself from claims tying it to a US class action lawsuit accusing Peter Nygard of raping ten women.

The lawsuit, filed on February 13 in New York, alleges Mr Nygard raped women, paid them hush money and helped cover-up his alleged crimes with bribes to law enforcement and Progressive Liberal Party officials.

PLP chairman Fred Mitchell has repeatedly said Save the Bays (STB), an environmental group, must be investigated along with attorney Fred Smith to see if they have acted within the confines of the body’s charitable mandate.

The New York Times reported over the weekend that Louis Bacon, Mr Nygard’s Lyford Cay neighbour, helped form STB, bringing Mr Smith on. The Times described how Mr Bacon and his associates spent millions to push sexual assault allegations against Mr Nygard, introducing a potential vulnerability to the case.

Nonetheless, Save the Bays said in a statement yesterday: “…Our organisation has nothing to do with the current legal woes of PLP benefactor Peter Nygard. We are an environmental conservation and good governance NGO which has only ever clashed with the fashion designer over his illegal dredging and other unauthorised construction activities at Nygard Cay which damaged the environment.

“We might remind Mr Mitchell that Save the Bays has won each and every lawsuit against Nygard. The coward that is Nygard has failed so often to respect our laws or even show up in court, that the Bahamian courts currently have issued a warrant for his arrest. Where has the PLP been during this battle? Have they stood up for the rule of law in the Bahamas? Have they called upon Nygard to comply with the court’s orders?

“We have no comment on these new allegations and our organisation is not involved in the matter in any way. As usual, Mitchell is obsessed with money. He claims, without offering any proof whatsoever, that donations to STB funded a ‘set-up’ of their special friend Mr Nygard, all in an effort to tarnish the reputation of the PLP.”