The former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) suffers from dementia and late-onset Alzheimer's disease, his legal team said in a court document filed in New York.
Mike Jeffries' attorneys have requested a hearing to determine if he is mentally fit to stand trial on federal sex trafficking charges.
The 80-year-old was arrested with his accomplice in October and charged with running an international sex trafficking and prostitution business. Both men pleaded not guilty.
The so-called competency hearing is scheduled to be held in June next year.
Jeffries, who ran US clothing company A&F for two decades, is accused of running the sex and prostitution trade from at least 2008 to 2015.
US prosecutors allege he used his wealth, power and status to “traffick men for his own sexual pleasure.”Much to the delight of his partner, 61-year-old Briton Matthew Smith.
They said the couple, along with middleman James Jacobson, 71, used force, fraud and coercion to coerce vulnerable and aspiring models into engaging in violent and exploitative sexual acts.
The three men pleaded not guilty to the charges against them and were released on bail.
The FBI began investigating last year after the BBC revealed allegations that Jefferies and Smith sexually exploited men at events they hosted around the world.
the BBC investigationpublished in October 2023, found that the pair were at the center of a complex operation involving a middleman seeking young men for sex.
That same month, Jeffries' attorney, Brian Pepper, said his client had been examined several times by a neuropsychiatrist who later concluded diagnostic findings that he was suffering from two types of dementia and possible late-onset Alzheimer's disease.
Bieber added in the lawsuit that during an initial meeting last year, the former fashion chief did not even come close to resembling someone with a master's degree who, just nine years earlier, had been the CEO of a publicly traded company. .
As a result, Bieber questioned Jeffries' ability to “reasonably assist” in potential factual and legal defenses to the charges he faces, according to the document.
The submission comes after Mr Jeffries' legal team sought a competency hearing, which will now take place over two days on 16 and 17 June 2025.
Federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York declined to comment.
Jeffries resigned as CEO and chairman of A&F in 2014, leaving with a $25m (£19.9m) retirement package.
Along with the criminal case, Mr. Jeffries and his associate, A&F, are defending a civil suit accusing the retailer of financing a sex trafficking operation.
Earlier this month, Mr Jeffries sued A&F after it refused to pay for his criminal defenceUnder the pretext that the brand agreed to compensate him for all claims arising from his position.
