The former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) has dementia and late onset Alzheimer’s disease, his legal team has said in a court document filed in New York.
Lawyers for Mike Jeffries have requested a hearing to determine whether he is mentally fit to stand trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
The 80-year-old was arrested alongside his partner in October and charged with running an international sex trafficking and prostitution business. Both men have pleaded not guilty.
A so-called competency hearing has been scheduled for June next year.
Mr Jeffries, who ran US clothing brand A&F for two decades, is accused of running a sex trafficking and prostitution business from at least 2008-15.
US prosecutors allege that he used his wealth, power and status “to traffic men for his own sexual pleasure”, and for the pleasure of his British partner Matthew Smith, 61.
They said the couple, alongside a middleman James Jacobson, 71, used force, fraud and coercion to make vulnerable, aspiring models engage in violent and exploitative sex acts.
All three men have pleaded not guilty to the charges and been released on bond.
The FBI began investigating last year after the BBC revealed claims Mr Jeffries and Mr Smith had sexually exploited m
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