The former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch was declared to have dementia

Mike Jeffries, the former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch, has been charged with federal sex trafficking and has been diagnosed with dementia.

The former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) has dementia and late-onset Alzheimer’s disease, according to a court filing in New York made by his legal team.

In order to determine if Mike Jeffries is mentally capable of standing trial on federal sex trafficking charges, his lawyers have asked for a hearing. In October, Jeffries and his partner were taken into custody on charges of running a global prostitution and sex trafficking organization. The two guys have pleaded not guilty.

Next June, there will be a competence hearing. Jeffries, who oversaw the American apparel company A&F for twenty years, is accused of participating in a prostitution and sex trafficking scheme from 2008 to 2015.

According to the prosecution, Jeffries used his riches, power, and prestige to sell men for his own sexual pleasure and the pleasure of his British accomplice, Matthew Smith. According to the prosecution, Jeffries, Smith, and a middleman, James Jacobson, 71, used compulsion, deception, and force to coerce gullible, ambitious models into engaging in violent and predatory sexual acts.

After entering not guilty pleas, all three defendants were freed on bail. Following a BBC exposé last year that surfaced claims of sexual exploitation by Jeffries and Smith at gatherings they hosted throughout the world, the FBI launched its investigation.

The same month, Brian Bieber, Jeffries’ attorney, said that his client had undergone many tests by a neuropsychologist who determined that he was most likely suffering from late-onset Alzheimer’s disease and two types of dementia.

“At an initial meeting last year, Jeffries did not even remotely resemble an individual with a master’s degree who had been the CEO of a publicly traded company just nine years prior,” Bieber said in a court filing.

According to the letter, Bieber thus questioned Jeffries’ capacity to “rationally assist” in his defense of the accusations.

This document comes after the legal team requested a competence hearing, which is currently scheduled for two days on June 16 and 17, 2025. The Eastern District of New York federal prosecutors have refrained from commenting. After stepping down as A&F’s chairman and CEO in 2014, Jeffries was given a $25 million (£19.9 million) retirement payout.

The shop is accused of funding a sex trafficking organization in a civil action that Jeffries, his partner, and A&F are fighting in addition to the criminal proceedings.

Jeffries sued A&F earlier this month for not paying his criminal defense fees, claiming that the business had promised to reimburse him for all claims pertaining to his employment.