Mike Jeffries: Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO arrested sex trafficking

The former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch, Mike Jeffries, has been arrested on sex trafficking and interstate prostitution charges.

Topnaija.ng understands that Jeffries was arrested in West Palm Beach, Florida.

Two of his associates, Matthew Smith of West Palm Beach and James Jacobson of Wisconsin, were also arrested in connection with s£x trafficking charges.

They are expected to appear in federal court in Florida and Wisconsin today, October 22, and arraigned on a later date in the eastern District of New York.

Jeffries was the CEO of the popular clothing brand from 1992 to 2014.

The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York will have a press conference on the charges Tuesday, Oct. 22, at noon.

A federal indictment alleges Jeffries, along with Smith and Jacobson, operated an “international s£x trafficking and prostitution business” from 2008 to 2015.

It alleges that they organized “sex events” in England, France, Italy, Morocco, St. Barts and New York for Jeffries, Smith and “others.” They “employed coercive, fraudulent and deceptive tactics in connection with the recruitment, hiring, transportation, obtaining, maintaining, solicitation and payment of the men to engage in commercial s£x.”

The men who attended the events allegedly were led to believe that it could lead to modeling opportunities or help their careers or “that not complying with requests for certain acts during the S£x Events could harm their careers.”

The men were required to sign non-disclosure agreements and surrender their wallets and cell phones during the events.

Jeffries, Smith and Jacobson also allegedly recruited, hired and paid an exclusive set of household staff to “facilitate and supervise the s£x events.” The staff provided Jeffries, Smith and the men who attended alcohol, muscle relaxants known as “poppers,” lubricant, Viagra, and condoms among other items. Either Jacobson or the staff paid the men for attending the s£x events, the indictment said.

Jeffries, Smith and Jacobson each face a single count of s£x trafficking as well as 15 counts of interstate prost!tution tied to 15 alleged victims.

The news of Jeffries’ arrest comes one year after BBC News published an explosive report that said Jeffries exploited men at s£x parties he hosted.

That report said 12 men described attending or organizing events that included s£x acts for Jeffries and his partner Matthew Smith, and those events took place from 2009 to 2015. Some of the men who spoke to BBC said they were exploited or didn’t participate willingly.