EGN NEWS DESK
(NEW YORK) — Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Michael Jeffries, his romantic accomplice and a 3rd man had been arrested Tuesday on intercourse trafficking and interstate prostitution expenses, a spokesperson for federal prosecutors mentioned.
Details of the prison expenses weren’t instantly accessible. They observe sexual misconduct allegations, made in civil lawsuits and the media, from younger individuals who mentioned Jeffries lured them with guarantees of modeling work after which pressed them into intercourse acts.
Jeffries’ legal professional, Brian Bieber, mentioned by e-mail he would “reply intimately to the allegations after the indictment is unsealed, and when applicable, however plan to take action within the courthouse — not the media.”
Jeffries and his accomplice, Matthew Smith, had been arrested in Florida and had been on account of make an preliminary courtroom look Tuesday afternoon in West Palm Beach. Co-defendant James Jacobson was arrested in Wisconsin; there was no instant info on a courtroom look.
Information on attorneys for Smith and Jacobson wasn’t instantly accessible.
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Brooklyn-based U.S. Attorney Breon Peace and FBI and police officers had been set to carry a information convention later Tuesday.
Jeffries grew to become CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch in 1992 and left in 2014. The New Albany, Ohio-based firm declined to touch upon his arrest.
One lawsuit filed in New York final 12 months accused Abercrombie of permitting Jeffries to run a sex-trafficking group throughout his 22-year tenure. It mentioned that Jeffries had modeling scouts scouring the web for victims, and that some potential fashions grew to become sex-trafficking victims.
Abercrombie final 12 months mentioned it had employed an outdoor regulation agency to conduct an impartial investigation after a report on comparable allegations was aired by the BBC.
The BBC investigation included a dozen males who described being at occasions involving intercourse acts they mentioned had been staged by Jeffries and Smith, usually at his dwelling in New York and resorts in London, Paris and elsewhere. The BBC report described Jacobson as a intermediary who recruited males for the occasions.
When the lawsuit was filed in New York final 12 months, Bieber declined to touch upon the allegations.
Abercrombie & Fitch traces its roots to a looking and outside items retailer that was based in 1892. By the time Jeffries arrived a century later, the model was a retail also-ran.
He was credited with remodeling it right into a darling of turn-of-the-millennium teen mall tradition, recognized for its nouveau-preppy aesthetic — and for some controversy surrounding it. Jeffries alienated some clients by speaking about how the corporate went after engaging children who may match into its garments.
After the 2008 monetary disaster and subsequent recession, A&F’s reputation began to fade once more. By the time Jeffries left, a hedge fund had pushed the corporate’s board to switch him due to the corporate’s lagging efficiency.
But the corporate has rebounded in recent times.
