The former boss of fashion retailer Abercrombie & Fitch has been accused of exploiting young men for sex, a BBC Panorama investigation has revealed.
A nearly three-year probe by the broadcaster claims men were recruited for sex events hosted by Mike Jeffries at his New York homes and at hotels around the world.
The investigation says that a middleman was used in a ‘highly organised network’ to seek out the young men for the events, with Mr Jeffries, 79, and his British partner Matthew Smith, 60.
The BBC said it had spoken to eight men who attended, with a number alleging they were ‘abused’ or ‘exploited’.
According to the episode, two former US prosecutors who studied the documents and statements the BBC had found said there should be a probe to see if there should be charges of sex trafficking.
The events are said to have been held in the US, London, Venice, Paris, the Caribbean and Marrakesh.
It is claimed Mr Jeffries even travelled to Claridge’s in Mayfair, London, and the Hotel du Cap-Eden-Roc in the south of France.
Mr Jeffries and Mr Smith have not responded to the allegations. But the ‘middleman’, James Jacobson, told Panorama that these young men took part ‘with their eyes wide open’.
Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) told the programme it was ‘appalled and disgusted’ by the allegations.
Mr Jeffries, who stepped down from A&F in 2014, was credited with turning the company into a hugely successful teen brand.
According to the programme, ‘recruiters’ would receive payments from Mr Jacobson if they successfully referred someone on to him.
Mr Jacobson – who was described as having a missing nose covered with a snakeskin patch – was said to have been hired to find the men.
Most of the men claim Mr Jacobson propositioned them or auditioned them sexually before they met Mr Jeffries.
They were also reportedly told to sign non-disclosure agreements.
It is claimed that a small number of Mr. Jeffries’ personal staff, who were dressed in A&F uniforms, looked after the men, and then later paid them.
David Bradberry, who was 23 at the time of his alleged experience in 2010, told the programme an agent had put him in contact with Mr Jacobson.
He told the programme that ‘Jim made it clear to me that unless I let him perform [a sex act] on me, that I would not be meeting with Abercrombie & Fitch or Mike Jeffries’.
The young man added when he went to a daytime event at Mr Jeffries’ former home in the Hamptons, in the state of New York, the fashion boss had put ‘poppers’ – a drug – under his nose and went on to have sex with him.
The BBC reports that men who attended said Mr Jeffries and MrSmith took part in sexual activity with about four men or were directing them to have sex with one another.
The men say they were given thousands of dollars in envelopes.
According to the broadcaster it had ‘corroborated’ their claims. A former model called Barrett Pall said another recruit had performed a sex act on him as Mr Jeffries and Mr Smith watched.
Two other recruited men then have sex with Mr Jeffries and his partner.
Mr Jacobson, now 70, told the BBC via his lawyer that he was offended by the suggestion of ‘any coercive, deceptive or forceful behaviour on my part’.
‘Everyone Came into contact with who attended these events went in with their eyes wide open,’ he said.
The BBC said it had made ‘ repeated attempts’ to contact Mr Jeffries and Mr Smith and they had not responded.
A&F told the broadcaster its new leadership had turned the firm into the ‘values-driven organisation we are today’.
Mr Jeffries was also contacted for comment by the Daily Mail.
As well as the Panorama episode, called The Abercrombie Guys: The Dark Side of Cool, there is also a podcast called World of Secrets – The Abercrombie Guys on BBC Sounds.