The former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) has dementia and late-onset Alzheimer’s disease, his legal team said in a court document filed in New York.
Mike Jeffries’ lawyers have asked for a hearing to determine if he is fit to stand trial for sex trafficking.
The 80-year-old man was arrested along with his partner in October and charged with running a global sex trafficking and prostitution business. Both men pleaded not guilty.
It is scheduled to be held in June next year for the hearing of the so-called skill.
Mr Jeffries, who ran US clothing retailer A&F for two decades, is accused of running a sex trafficking and prostitution business from at least 2008-15.
US prosecutors say he used his wealth, power and position to “traffick men for sexual pleasure”.and cheering on her British partner Matthew Smith, 61.
They said the couple, along with middleman James Jacobson, 71, used force, fraud and coercion of vulnerable beauties to commit violent and exploitative sex acts.
All three men pleaded not guilty and were released on bond.
The FBI began investigating last year after the BBC revealed that Mr Jeffries and Mr Smith had sexually assaulted men at events they held around the world.
I BBC investigationpublished in October 2023, found that the two were at the center of a complex operation involving a man in the middle looking for young men for sex.
That same month, Brian Bieber, Mr Jeffries’ lawyer, said his client had been examined several times by a psychiatrist who concluded he was suffering from two types of dementia and late-onset Alzheimer’s disease.
In court, Mr. Bieber added that in the first meeting last year, the fashion manager “didn’t even come close to being a person with a master’s degree, who just nine years ago was the CEO of a publicly traded company”.
Because of this, Mr. Bieber questioned Mr. Jeffries’ ability to “reasonably assist” with a factual and legal response to the allegations against him, according to the document.
The filing comes after Mr Jeffries’ legal team requested a competency hearing, which will be held over two days on June 16 and 17, 2025.
Federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York declined to comment.
Mr Jeffries stepped down as CEO and chairman of A&F in 2014, leaving with a retirement package of $25m (£19.9m).
Alongside the criminal case, A&F, Mr Jeffries and his colleagues were defending a civil case accusing the trader of financing a sex trafficking operation.
Earlier this month, Mr Jeffries sued A&F after it refused to pay his criminal defense costsarguing that the brand had agreed to pay him all claims arising out of his position.
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