Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO and boyfriend arrested for exploiting and abusing youth at programs
Mike Jeffries, former CEO of Abercrombie & FitchThe arrest was made Tuesday as a result of a criminal sex trafficking investigation conducted by the FBI and federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, sources familiar with the case told ABC News.
The investigation, in which Jeffries’ partner and accomplice, Matt Smith, and a third man, Jim Jacobson, have also been arrested, analyzed whether those arrested sexually exploited and abused young men According to sources, he organized parties in the United States and around the world.
Federal prosecutors made public the existence of this investigation, launched after the presentation of alleged victims in January a civil lawsuit a year ago,
“The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York has initiated Criminal investigation into alleged incidents and the incidents discussed in the complaint,” prosecutors said in a statement filed with the court.
Plaintiffs’ attorney Brad Edwards told ABC News that Jeffries was a “sex trafficking organization run by Abercrombie.” spread throughout the company“And the three arrested were allowed to take advantage of “dozens of young aspiring male models”.
Jeffries, who transformed Abercrombie from a brick-and-mortar Ohio store into a powerful teen fashion brand, has been accused of exploiting young men recruited by Jacobson for sexual purposes at parties held at his Hamptons estate. New York, London, Venice and other places With his partner Smith.
The plaintiffs accuse Jeffries, Smith, Jacobson and Abercrombie of luring and then luring attractive young people under the guise of turning them into Abercrombie models. forcing them to take drugs and perform sexual acts,