Former Abercrombie CEO Mike Jeffries charged with sex trafficking, interstate prostitution

Former Abercrombie & Fitch chief executive Mike Jeffries and two other men were arrested on charges of sex trafficking and interstate prostitution that allegedly occurred when Jeffries was leading the iconic clothing brand, authorities said on Tuesday.

Mr Jeffries, 80, and his romantic partner Matthew Smith are accused of coercing men into sex acts and paying for dozens of others to travel around the world to have sex with them for money, often leading the men to believe it would result in modelling work for Abercrombie.

The third defendant, James Jacobson, 71, was employed to recruit men “to perform commercial sex acts” for Mr Jeffries and the 61-year-old Mr Smith, according to a graphic, 16-count indictment in the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York.

The indictment, which alleges criminal conduct spanning from 2008 to 2015, says that in some instances Mr Jeffries and Mr Smith engaged in “non-consensual” sexual activity with the men, who were trafficked in the US and to England, France, Italy, Morocco and St. Barts at the cost of millions of dollars.

“Many of the victims, at least one of whom was as young as 19 years old, were financially vulnerable and aspired to become models in the fashion industry, a notoriously cut-throat world,” prosecutors wrote in a court filing.

“Indeed, some of the men they recruited had previously worked at Abercrombie stores or modelled for Abercrombie.”

Mr Jeffries served as chief executive from 1992 through 2014 at Abercrombie. The company is in the midst of a comeback under CEO Fran Horowitz, who took the reins in 2017.

All three defendants face a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years in prison if convicted of sex trafficking, and the potential for a life sentence on that charge alone.

Mr Jeffries and Mr Smith are accused in that civil class-action complaint of operating a sex trafficking ring that exploited young men who had hoped to become models for the company.

“The message from today’s prosecution is clear: Sexually exploiting vulnerable human beings is a crime, and doing so by dangling of dreams of a future in fashion or modelling or any other business is no different,” Breon Peace, U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said at a news conference Tuesday.

Mr Jeffries was arrested in West Palm Beach, Florida. Mr Smith also was arrested in that state.

At a hearing in federal court in West Palm Beach, a magistrate judge allowed Mr Jeffries to be released on a $10 million bond, but said the former chief executive must remain in his home and wear a GPS monitoring device.

Mr Smith was ordered held pending his arraignment at a later date in federal court in New York. Prosecutors want him detained without bond because he is a citizen of the United Kingdom and therefore “poses the most substantial risk of flight.”

Mr Jacobson was arrested in Wisconsin, where he lives, and is scheduled to appear Tuesday in federal court in St. Paul, Minnesota. Prosecutors want him to post at least a $500,000 bond and be subject to home detention if a judge allows him to be released.

All three men are charged with one count of sex trafficking, and 15 counts of interstate prostitution. Each prostitution charge carries a maximum possible prison sentence of 20 years.

The three defendants will be arraigned in the US District Court in the Eastern District of New York at a later date, according to a spokesman for Peace.

Brian Bieber, an attorney for Mr Jeffries, told NBC News in a statement, “We will respond in detail to the allegations after the Indictment is unsealed, and when appropriate, but plan to do so in the courthouse – not the media.”

Brittany Henderson, an attorney for the plaintiff in the civil suit, told CNBC, “Today’s arrests are monumental for the aspiring male models who were victimized by these individuals.”

“Their fight for justice does not end here. We look forward to holding Abercrombie and Fitch liable for facilitating this terrible conduct and ensuring that this cannot happen again,” Ms Henderson said.

Abercrombie & Fitch declined to comment.

The criminal indictment alleges that Mr Jeffries and Mr Smith, using Mr Jeffries’ family office, allegedly hired and paid “an exclusive set of household staff” to facilitate “Sex Events,” which included arranging physical spaces and transporting the men.

Household staff acted as security for the events, and provided the participants, including Mr Jeffries and Mr Smith, with alcohol, drugs, and sex paraphernalia, the indictment alleges.

Mr Jacobson or other staff paid the men recruited for the sessions, according to the indictment.

The defendants allegedly used “coercive, fraudulent and deceptive” recruiting tactics, including by leading men “to believe that attending the Sex Events could yield modelling opportunities with Abercrombie or otherwise benefit their careers,” the indictment says.

They also allegedly required prospective candidates to participate in “try-outs” with Mr Jacobson.

The defendants are accused of misleading the men about the nature of the events, including by “incorporating Abercrombie products” into them or sending advance itineraries that resembled those used in photo shoots.

The men were forced to sign non-disclosure agreements and hand over personal items during the events, according to the indictment.

And “on more than one occasion,” Mr Jeffries and Mr Smith allegedly caused the men to inject their penises with a substance to induce erections — an act that “frequently caused the men to suffer painful physical reactions that lasted for several hours.”

The previously filed civil lawsuit says Abercrombie has settled several complaints “related to improper acts of Mr Jeffries or Mr Smith, some of which were related to sexual harassment or abuse.”

An amended complaint in that case, filed in September, notes that the BBC found after a 2023 investigation that “Jeffries and Smith sexually exploited what is believed to be over 100 men during Abercrombie events they hosted around the world.”

Mr Jeffries led Abercrombie through its most explosive growth years in the 1990s and 2000s and used sex appeal to build an empire.

Under his direction, the brand became known for its use of half-naked models, sexually charged marketing and troops of shirtless men who were frequently positioned outside of its mall stores.

An accuser of Mr Jeffries who sued the company last year, David Bradberry, said he was recruited for a modelling opportunity in 2010 and an associate of Mr Jeffries made it clear that he needed to perform oral sex on him if he wanted to get the job and eventually meet with Mr Jeffries.

Mr Bradberry obliged and later went to a casting event at Mr Jeffries’ house in the Hamptons that appeared to be a “legitimate Abercrombie-sponsored function” because the function included a meeting with Mr Jeffries and he had to wear the brand’s clothes, according to his civil claim.

However, instead of a professional modelling event, Mr Bradberry said in court records he was raped by Jeffries while four apparent security guards, dressed in Abercrombie clothing, watched.

Following the event, Mr Bradberry was flown to Nice, France, and was again forced to perform sex acts on Jeffries, his complaint states.

The lawsuit, when amended in September to seek class-action status, alleged that similar events happened to more than 100 other victims and that Abercrombie did not do enough to stop it.

When the lawsuit was filed in October 2023, an Abercrombie spokesperson told CNBC the company does not comment on pending litigation.

But Abercrombie told the BBC last year that it was “appalled and disgusted” by Mr Jeffries’ alleged behaviour and had contacted an outside law firm to conduct an independent investigation into the issues raised by the news outlet.

“The company’s current executive leadership team and board of directors were not aware of the allegations of sexual misconduct by Mr Jeffries,” the company told the BBC.

“For close to a decade, a new executive leadership team and refreshed board of directors have successfully transformed our brands and culture into the values-driven organization we are today,” Abercrombie said.

“We have zero tolerance for abuse, harassment or discrimination of any kind.”

The company has ditched the sexualized models and skintight clothes that made the store a go-to for teenage mall shoppers in the 1990s and 2000s, but later stirred controversy and fell out of favour with consumer trends.

Shares of Abercrombie & Fitch are up nearly 80 per cent so far this year, after outperforming tech stars like Nvidia and Meta in 2023.