Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries was arrested Tuesday as part of a sex-trafficking investigation.
The disgraced fashion giant boss was nabbed in West Palm Beach, Fla., while two of his business associates, Matthew Smith and James Jacobson, were also arrested in the case, sources confirmed to The Post.
Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn were set to hold a news conference later Tuesday to announce the charges in the sex-trafficking and interstate prostitution case – including involving a “former CEO of a major company.”
The arrests come roughly a year after the FBI started probing claims Jeffries allegedly orchestrated elaborate sex events to exploit and sexually abuse young male models during his 22-year tenure at the brand.
The claims first surfaced as part of an explosive BBC News report last year in which 12 men alleged they were lured to events at Jeffries’ upscale New York residence or luxury hotels in the world’s fashion capitals between 2009 to 2015.
Jeffries, who left Abercrombie in 2014, denied the allegations at the time.
Abercrombie & Fitch said at the time that the company was “appalled and disgusted” by the claims, adding it had hired an outside law firm to conduct a review.
In the wake of the BBC report, a civil suit filed in New York last year accused the fashion juggernaut of turning a blind eye to Jeffries’ alleged misconduct.
The suit alleged Jefferies had modeling scouts scouring the Internet for prey — and that some prospective models vying to become the next face of Abercrombie ended up sex-trafficking victims.
“Jeffries was so important to the profitability of the brand that he was given complete autonomy to perform his role as CEO however he saw fit, including through the use of blatant international sex-trafficking and abuse of prospective Abercrombie models,” the suit alleged.
Plaintiff lawyers Brad Edwards and Brittany Henderson said in a statement Tuesday, “Our firm represents all of the victims in the class action case we filed on their behalf.
“All four of the defendants, including Abercrombie and Fitch, have tried everything possible to delay our lawsuit from proceeding, presumably because they knew it would lead to criminal arrests. Despite their efforts, the arrests happened anyway, and we are looking forward to cooperating with law enforcement to make sure that the criminal and civil justice systems are successful in this prosecution.”
Jeffries was largely credited for the brand’s boost in popularity among teens in the early nineties with its slew of advertising campaigns featuring bare-chested young male and female models.
The brand became a darling of turn-of-the-millennium teen mall culture with its stores pumped full of cologne.
-Additional reporting by Ben Kochman
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