New York (AFP) - The former chief executive of the Abercrombie and Fitch clothing empire has been arrested and charged with the trafficking of male models for sex parties around the world, US prosecutors said Tuesday.

Ex-CEO Mike Jeffries, his partner Matthew Smith and the pair’s fixer James Jacobson allegedly used a “casting couch” ploy to groom aspiring male models to attend sex parties at which victims were plied with alcohol and drugs.

They were taken to Jeffries’s and Smith’s US homes, as well as venues as far afield as Britain, France, Italy and Morocco for the events, at which some of the men were given Viagra and muscle relaxants, prosecutors said.

“The indictment alleges on more than one occasion when men did not or could not consent, Jeffries and Smith violated the bodily integrity of these men by subjecting them or continuing to subject them to invasive sexual and violent contact,” US Attorney Breon Peace told a media briefing.

“They spent millions of dollars on a massive infrastructure to support this operation, and to maintain its secrecy,” he added.

The trio, who are also charged with interstate prostitution, used “force, fraud and coercion to traffic those men for their own sexual gratification,” Peace said.

“The defendants employed a referral system in an interview process that did not inform the men of the details of the sex events before they attended, including the full extent and nature of the sexual activity that would be required of the men at these events,” the attorney said.

“They caused the men to believe that attending these sex events could yield modeling opportunities with Abercrombie.”

Jeffries was bailed on a $10 million bond, Jacobson on a $500,000 bond, while Smith was denied bail after prosecutors argued that as a British passport holder he was a flight risk.

“We will respond in detail to the allegations after the indictment is unsealed, and when appropriate,” Jeffries’s and Smith’s lawyers said in a statement to US media.

Jeffries smiled as he left a Florida courthouse with his lawyer before getting into a black BMW.

- ‘Appalled and disgusted’ -

Fifteen anonymous victims were cited in the charging documents, but prosecutors suggested that the scale of the alleged offending was likely far larger and called on witnesses or victims to come forward.

“Today’s arrests are monumental for the aspiring male models who were victimized by these individuals,” said Brittany Henderson, a lawyer representing victims of the alleged crimes.

“Their fight for justice does not end here. We look forward to holding Abercrombie and Fitch liable for facilitating this terrible conduct and ensuring that this cannot happen again,” she added in a statement to AFP.

The case stems from a 2023 BBC investigation, “The Abercrombie Guys: The Dark Side of Cool,” in which several men spoke out about signing non-disclosure agreements for sex events allegedly run by Jeffries.

Abercrombie and Fitch has previously said it was “appalled and disgusted” by the allegations about Jeffries’s behavior and has “zero tolerance for abuse, harassment or discrimination of any kind.”

Jeffries left Abercrombie in 2014 with a golden parachute worth $25 million, according to corporate filings.

Peace said he did not have evidence that the offending took place on company grounds.

Jeffries and Smith will appear at a federal court in West Palm Beach, Florida, while Jacobson was arrested in Wisconsin and will make his initial appearance in federal court in Saint Paul, Minnesota.