Michael S Jeffries
Credit: Reuters Photo
New York: Michael S Jeffries, the former longtime CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch, was indicted Tuesday on charges of running an international sex trafficking scheme during several years of his tenure at the company.
Federal prosecutors in New York City’s Brooklyn borough accused Jeffries, who ran the clothing retailer from 1992 to 2014, of using force, fraud and coercion to lure dozens of men to events around the world, where they were sexually exploited by Jeffries and his romantic partner. The indictment, which includes accusations from 15 people who said they had been coerced into sex acts, echoes allegations first unearthed last year by a BBC investigation and a class action lawsuit accusing Jeffries of using the prospect of modeling jobs at Abercrombie to exploit and abuse them.
Jeffries, 80, and his partner, Matthew Smith, 61, were arrested in Florida on Tuesday morning, said John Marzulli, a spokesperson for the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. A third person, James Jacobson, 71, was also arrested on Tuesday, in Wisconsin, and indicted. Jeffries and Jacobson were released on bond Tuesday afternoon, while Smith, who has dual citizenship in the United States and the United Kingdom, was ordered detained, Marzulli said.
From 2008 to 2015, Jeffries and Smith employed Jacobson to act as a recruiter, according to the indictment. Jacobson paid men to engage in sex acts with him; he would then choose the ones who would travel to events in New York City, the Hamptons and elsewhere across the globe for the purpose of engaging in commercial sex, prosecutors said.
Jeffries “was using his power, his wealth and his influence to traffic men for his own sexual pleasure, and that of his romantic partner,” Breon S. Peace, the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said at a news conference announcing the indictment.
An Abercrombie spokesperson declined to comment on Jeffries’ arrest.
Brian Bieber, a lawyer for Jeffries, declined to comment on the charges, but he said Jeffries’ legal team intended to “respond in detail to the allegations” in court “when appropriate.” Lawyers for Smith also said they would respond “in the courthouse — not the media.”