The former chief executive of Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) suffers from dementia and late-onset Alzheimer’s disease, his legal team said in a court filing 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 with his partner in October and charged with running an international sex trafficking and prostitution business. Both men pleaded not guilty.

A so-called competency hearing is scheduled for next June.

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 2008-2015.

U.S. prosecutors accuse him of using his wealth, power and status to “traffick men for his own sexual pleasure.”and for the pleasure of his 61-year-old British partner Matthew Smith.

They said the couple, along with middleman James Jacobson, 71, used force, fraud and coercion to get vulnerable aspiring models to engage in violent and exploitative behaviour.

All three men have pleaded not guilty to the charges and have been released on bail.

The FBI began investigating last year after the BBC revealed allegations that Jeffries and Smith sexually exploited men at events they held around the world.

this BBC investigationArticles published in October 2023 found the pair at the center of a complex operation involving an intermediary seeking out young men for sex.

That same month, Jeffries’ attorney, Brian Bieber, said his client underwent multiple examinations by a neuropsychologist who later concluded that Jeffries suffered from two types of dementia disease, and may have late-onset Alzheimer’s disease.

Bieber added in the court filing that during their initial meeting last year, the former fashion boss “didn’t act like someone with a master’s degree, nine years ago when he was the CEO of a publicly traded company.”

As a result, Bieber questioned Jeffries’ ability to “reasonably assist” in the factual and legal defense of the charges he faces, the filing said.

Mr. Jeffries’ legal team is seeking a competency hearing, which will be held over two days on June 16 and 17, 2025.

The U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York declined to comment.

Mr Jeffries resigned as chief executive and chairman of A&F in 2014, leaving behind a $25m (£19.9m) pension.

In addition to the criminal case, A&F, Mr. Jeffries and his partners have been defending a civil lawsuit accusing the retailer of funding a sex trafficking operation.

At the beginning of this month, Mr Jeffries sues A&F after it refuses to pay his criminal defense costsarguing that the brand has agreed to indemnify him against all claims arising from his position.

Heather Cuccolo, a professor at New York Law School who specializes in mental disabilities and criminal law, said there are limited statistics on how the justice system treats dementia, but medical experts must weigh in before a judge makes a final decision.

“If Mike Jeffries is found competent, the case will move forward,” she said. “But if he is deemed incompetent and it is found that there is no reasonable prospect of his capacity being restored, then the charges must be dropped.”

She added that his partners Matthew Smith and James Jacobson could still face trial, but prosecutors would have to rely on independent evidence if Jeffries was also found to be incompetent to testify as a witness.