Michael S. Mike Jeffries Arrested, the former longtime chief executive of Abercrombie & Fitch, was arrested on Tuesday in connection with a federal sex-trafficking and interstate prostitution case. Mr. Jeffries, who ran the clothing retailer from 1992 to 2014, faces charges related to sex trafficking, federal prosecutors in Brooklyn said. The charges come a year after a BBC investigation and a class-action lawsuit accused Mr. Jeffries of using the prospect of modeling jobs at Abercrombie to lure young men to events around the world where they were sexually exploited.
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Mr. Jeffries and his partner, Matthew Smith, were arrested in Florida on Tuesday morning and are expected to appear in federal court in West Palm Beach later in the day, said John Marzulli, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney’s office for the Eastern District of New York. A third person, James Jacobson, was also arrested on Tuesday, in Wisconsin, in connection with the case and will appear in federal court in St. Paul, Minn., Mr. Marzulli said.
The prosecutor’s office, the F.B.I., and the New York Police Department are expected to disclose more information about the case during a news conference Tuesday afternoon.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit filed last year also accused Abercrombie of being complicit in the sex-trafficking scheme. The company, according to the suit, ignored the allegations made against Mr. Jeffries. An Abercrombie spokeswoman declined to comment on Mr. Jeffries’s arrest or the lawsuit against the retailer.
Abercrombie said previously that the company was “appalled and disgusted” by the allegations against its former chief. The retailer hired an outside law firm last year to investigate the accusations.
Brian Bieber, a lawyer for Mr. Jeffries, declined to comment on the sex trafficking-related charges, but he said Mr. Jeffries’s legal team intended to “respond in detail to the allegations” in court “when appropriate.”
Brittany Henderson, a partner at the law firm representing plaintiffs in the class action suit against Abercrombie and Mr. Jeffries, said the arrests were “monumental for the aspiring male models who were victimized by these individuals.”
“Their fight for justice does not end here,” Ms. Henderson said. “Our clients look forward to holding Abercrombie and Fitch liable for facilitating this terrible conduct and ensuring that this cannot happen again.”
Ex-Abercrombie & Fitch CEO, Partner Mike Jeffries Arrested in Twisted Scheme to Sexually Exploit Male Models: Feds
Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries, his romantic partner, and a middle man have been arrested for their involvement in a twisted sex-trafficking and prostitution ring. Federal prosecutors announced the charges on Tuesday, revealing that the trio allegedly preyed on and horrifically abused more than a dozen young, aspiring male models.
Jeffries, 79, allegedly wielded his power, wealth, and influence to traffic scores of men for his own sexual pleasure for nearly a decade, according to the feds. The disgraced fashion boss and his partner, Matthew Smith, 60, are accused of using an alleged middle man, James Jacobson, 70, to recruit and lure their victims to sex parties across the world between 2008 and 2015, court papers charge.
“To anyone who thinks they can exploit and coerce others by using the so-called casting couch system, this case should serve as a warning – prepare to trade that couch for a bed in federal prison,” U.S. attorney Breon Peace said as he announced the charges. Sexually exploiting vulnerable human beings is a crime, and doing so by dangling dreams of a future in fashion and modeling is no different.
Former Abercrombie CEO Mike Jeffries Charged with 16 Counts of Sex Trafficking and Interstate Prostitution
Ex-Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Charged with Sex Trafficking and Prostitution
Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries and two other men were arrested and charged with 16 counts of sex trafficking and interstate prostitution by federal prosecutors in New York, case documents made public Tuesday showed. Jeffries, 80, was arrested in West Palm Beach, Florida, a spokesman for federal prosecutors in Brooklyn told CNBC.
Matthew Smith, who is described in a grand jury indictment as Jeffries’ romantic partner, and James Jacobson, who allegedly recruited men “to perform commercial sex acts” for Jeffries and Smith, were also arrested. All three men face one count of sex trafficking and 15 counts of interstate prostitution related to alleged misconduct that spanned from December 2008 to March 2015.
The indictment in U.S. District Court in Long Island alleges that the defendants and others “operated an international sex trafficking and prostitution business” during that time. The criminal case comes a year after the clothing company, Jeffries and Smith were sued in Manhattan federal court for allegedly turning a blind eye to sexual misconduct by the former CEO.
Jeffries was accused in that federal civil lawsuit of operating a sex trafficking ring that exploited young men who had hoped to become models for the company. The arrests came as Abercrombie is in the midst of a comeback under CEO Fran Horowitz, who took the reins in 2017.
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 favor with consumer trends. Shares of Abercrombie & Fitch are up nearly 80% so far this year, after outperforming tech stars like Nvidia and Meta in 2023.
Jeffries and Smith will make their initial court appearance later Tuesday in West Palm Beach federal court. Jacobson will be presented in federal court in Madison, Wisconsin. The three defendants will be arraigned in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of New York at a later date, the spokesman said.
Brian Bieber, an attorney for Michael 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.”
The news about Jeffries broke hours before federal prosecutors in Brooklyn were set to hold a press conference to announce the arrests of a “former CEO of a major company” and two others in a “sex trafficking and interstate prostitution case.” That presser is set for 12 p.m. ET.
The previously filed civil lawsuit against Abercrombie alleges that the company has already settled several complaints “related to improper acts of Jeffries or 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.”
Attorney Brittany Henderson of Edwards Henderson, the law firm representing the plaintiff in the class-action case, said in a statement to 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,” Henderson said.
Jeffries served as CEO of Abercrombie from 1992 through 2014. Smith was described in the civil lawsuit as Jeffries’ long-time partner and “someone with apparent authority who Abercrombie allowed to work extensively for the brand despite not holding an official position within the company.”
