Prosecutors announced on Tuesday that former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries was arrested on charges of sex trafficking and engaging in interstate prostitution. The investigation involved the FBI and the NYPD’s Special Victims Unit.
The FBI and federal prosecutors in Brooklyn said that Jeffries and two co-defendants, Matthew Smith and James Jacobson, were arrested Tuesday morning as part of a criminal sex trafficking investigation. Smith and Jeffries are in a relationship. Jeffries, who was the chairman and CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch from 1992 to 2014, has been accused in civil lawsuits of exploiting young men for sex at parties he hosted at his Hamptons estate in New York, London, Venice and elsewhere along with Smith.
An indictment containing more than a dozen counts, and includes allegations of sex trafficking between December 2008 and March of 2015. The three men are accused of operating an international sex trafficking and prostitution business, with Jeffries allegedly leveraging his position as CEO of the company to recruit young men for parties in the U.S. and abroad by suggesting they could become models for the fashion company, according to the indictment.
Breon Peace, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, said: “Powerful individuals for too long have trafficked and abused for their own sexual pleasure young people with few resources and a dream – a dream of securing a successful career in fashion or entertainment. 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.”
The indictment alleges that the trio paid dozens of men to travel around the world to engage in sex acts, and mentions 15 alleged victims, identified as John Does #1-15. The indictment said many of the men were coerced, led to believe that attending the events would yield modeling opportunities with Abercrombie or otherwise benefit their careers, and that not complying with requests for certain acts during the sex events could harm their careers.
The defendants are expected to make appearances in the jurisdictions where the men were arrested in Florida and Wisconsin before they’re brought to Central Islip in Long Island, New York, at a later date for arraignment.
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