The former boss of fashion giant Abercrombie & Fitch and his British partner have been charged with running a “prostitution and international sex trafficking business”.
Ex-chief executive Mike Jeffries, 80, his partner Matthew Smith, 61, and a third man, James Jacobson, 71, were arrested in the US on Tuesday morning after being charged with one count of sex trafficking and 15 counts of interstate prostitution.
A US attorney said Jeffries, who was Abercrombie & Fitch chief executive from 1992 to 2014, used his “power, his wealth and his influence, to traffic men for his own sexual pleasure and that of his romantic partner, Matthew Smith”.
Breon Peace, US attorney for the Eastern District of New York, said Jacobson allegedly engaged in “tryouts with men across the world”, after which Smith would “personally approve” them.
The men would then allegedly be flown to Jeffries and Smith’s homes in the Hamptons in New York City, or to hotels around the world, including in England, France, Italy, and Morocco.
Mr Peace said Jeffries, of Florida, Smith, of Florida, and Jacobson, of Wisconsin, “used force, fraud and coercion to traffic those men for their own sexual gratification”, with the indictment identifying 15 alleged victims.
He added that many of the victims, at least one of whom was as young as 19, were financially vulnerable and aspired to become models in the fashion industry.
James Dennehy, assistant director of the FBI’s New York Field Office, said the alleged behaviour was “beyond disturbing, dishonourable and disgraceful”.
He told a press conference in Brooklyn: “These individuals are charged with running a prostitution and international sex trafficking business, using a combination of force, fraud and coercion to induce victims into participating in their illegal operations.
“The defendants allegedly preyed on the hopes and dreams of their victims by exploiting, abusing and silencing them to fulfil their own desires with insidious secret intentions.”
Lawyers for both Jeffries and Smith have previously “vehemently denied” any wrongdoing.
Mr Peace said the alleged sex trafficking and prostitution enterprise “lasted at least from the end of 2008 until early 2015”.
He told the press conference: “They spent millions of dollars on a massive infrastructure to support this operation and maintain its secrecy.”
The attorney said that Jeffries and Smith allegedly subjected men “to invasive sexual and violent contact”, adding they intentionally recruited heterosexual men.
Mr Peace said the pair allegedly caused men to believe that attending sex events “could yield modelling opportunities with Abercrombie or otherwise benefit their careers”, adding they employed a secret staff to operate the events.
“The staff ensured that the men signed non-disclosure agreements and handed over their personal items, such as their phones, before the start of the events to maintain the secrecy of these events.
“The defendants pressured the men to consume alcohol, Viagra and muscle relaxants known as poppers during the sex events.”
Mr Peace added: “The indictment alleges on more than one occasion when men did not or could not consent, Jeffries and Smith violated the bodily integrity of these men by subjecting them or continuing to subject them to invasive sexual and violent contact by body parts and other objects.”
Mr Peace said prosecutors are seeking detention for Smith because the risk of flight is “particularly acute” as he is a dual citizen of the US and the UK – and for Jeffries and Jacobson they are “seeking substantial bail packages”.
In response to a question about where the events are alleged to have taken place, Mr Peace said “we don’t have evidence that this happened on company grounds”.
He also said they “don’t allege in the indictment that the resources of Abercrombie & Fitch were used in furtherance of this criminal activity”.
Jeffries and Smith will appear at a federal court in West Palm Beach, Florida, while Jacobson will make his first court appearance in St Paul, Minnesota, prosecutors said.
The case will later be transferred to the eastern district of New York.
If convicted of the sex trafficking charge, the defendants each face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment and a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment.
Brad Edwards, a lawyer at law firm Edwards Henderson, who represents some alleged victims in the case, and previously filed a civil case against Jeffries and Smith, said: “This arrest is a huge step on the path to justice for the many young men who were exploited and abused by Jeffries and Smith, who used Abercrombie to pull off one of the most organised sex trafficking operations in United States history.”
Abercrombie & Fitch has been approached for comment.