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Billionaire hedge fund manager Louis Bacon has won his long-running libel suit, alleging that former fashion mogul and convicted sex offender Peter Nygard spread lies about him during a public spat over their adjoining property in the Bahamas.
Judge Richard Latin in Manhattan said in a ruling Monday that Nygard admitted he had no evidence to support his charges against Bacon, including that he was a murderer, a drug dealer and a white supremacist. Bacon said in his lawsuit that Nygard's allegations were a “blatant lie.”
Nygard's lawyer, Peter Swerd, said in a statement Tuesday that Nygard will continue to fight the case and expects to appeal.
Lawyers for Bacon, the founder of Moore Capital Management, did not immediately respond to emails seeking comment Tuesday.
Nygard, founder of Nygard International who was once one of Canada's richest men, serves 11 years in prison in Canada for sexual assault.
Bacon and Nygard were neighbors in an exclusive gated community in the Bahamas and were embroiled in a bitter dispute over Nygard's attempts to expand his property, which Bacon opposed.
In his 2015 lawsuit, Bacon accused Nygard of orchestrating a invasive and malicious smear campaign to falsely link Bacon to arson, bribery, drug smuggling, the Ku Klux Klan and murder.
In 2023, a Toronto jury found Nygard guilty of four counts of sexual assault. He was acquitted of a fifth count of sexual assault and one count of forcible confinement. Nygard has denied the charges brought against him.
