iStock/Thinkstock(NEW YORK) — The FBI and the NYPD raided the Times Square headquarters of Peter Nygard’s fashion company as part of a sex trafficking investigation, the U.S. Attorney’s office in Manhattan said.The searches were conducted Tuesday morning, Nicholas Biase, a spokesman for the US Attorney’s office for the Southern District of New York, confirmed to ABC News. He declined to elaborate.Nygard, 78, has been under investigation after a number of women accused him of sexually assaulting them at his Bahamas estate when they were young teens. Nygard’s Bahamas estate has been featured on “Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous.”A spokesman for the FBI’s New York field office declined to comment.Searches usually indicate the investigation is in the early stages and not an immediate precursor to criminal charges.The accusations were detailed in a lawsuit filed earlier this month.”When Nygard became aware of the investigation into his sex trafficking ring, he resorted to tactics of violence, intimidation, bribery, and payoffs to attempt to silence the victims and to continue his scheme,” according to the lawsuit.Nygard, who has denied the allegations, has also been accused of abusive labor practices and tax evasion.Word of the searches was first reported by The New York Times. Copyright © 2020, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
