Whether or not Peter Nygard will be let out on bail will not come until next week.
Justice Shawn Greenberg, who is presiding over what had been scheduled as a two-day bail hearing, said she needed a few days to make her decision.
That decision has been scheduled for Feb. 5, although she said she would move the decision up if she “got everything together” before then.
The Canadian fashion mogul is facing nine charges of sex trafficking and racketeering in the United States and is being held in custody pending the outcome of a bail hearing.
Federal lawyers argue he’s a flight risk and want him kept in custody.
Lawyers for Peter Nygard were in a Winnipeg court Thursday to present a new bail plan as they argued for his release.
The ask from Nygard’s lawyers came after Greenberg said she had serious concerns with witness Greg Fenske, who has offered himself as a surety for Nygard.
Fenske was grilled last week about who controls company assets, and who paid for the property he’s offered to let Nygard stay in.
Justice Greenberg said it appeared Fenske has nothing to lose, which defeats the purpose of a surety.
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Thursday, Nygard’s lawyers presented a new witness in William Dietterle, the president of BIL Security.
Dietterle said his company would provide around-the-clock monitoring and security for Nygard to prevent him leaving.
The system in the home Nygard was living in cost $20,000 to install and costs $20,000 monthly to monitor.
BIL would continue to monitor even if the company didn’t get paid, said Dietterle, and they would call police and the courts if Nygard left the home.
Nygard co-counsel Richard Wolson said in the revised bail plan, they would delegate some of the responsibility as a surety from Fenske to BIL.
The $1 million house that Nygard purchased has been transferred to Fenske, he said, so Fenske would now have “skin in the game.”
The new bail plan should give the court confidence that Nygard is not a flight risk, said Wolson.
“This is as close to a perfect bail plan as you could have,” he said.
However, Crown lawyer Scott Farlinger said the new plan still isn’t good enough, saying video moitoring doesn’t stop someone from leaving the grounds.
“That doesn’t prevent someone from jumping on an aircraft,” he said.
Last week, Nygard’s defence counsel again brought up the 79-year-old’s multiple health complications, which they say means death is all but certain if he contracts COVID-19 behind bars.
Defence lawyer Jay Prober called their bail plan “rock solid,” and said because of Nygard’s condition, health care workers would be at the property 24/7.
— With files from the Canadian Press and Shane Gibson
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