Abercrombie & Fitch: Former CEO Has Dementia, Lawyers Say

The BBC investigation, published in October 2023, found the pair were at the center of a sophisticated operation involving a middleman scouting young men for sex.

In the same month, Brian Bieber said Mr. Jeffries’ lawyer that his client was examined several times by a neuropsychologist, who later concluded diagnostic impressions that he suffered from two types of dementia and probably late-onset Alzheimer’s disease.

In the court proceedings, Mr. Bieber that during an initial meeting last year, the former fashion executive “didn’t even come close to looking like someone with a graduate degree who just nine years earlier was the CEO of a publicly traded company”.

As a result, Mr. Bieber questions Mr. Jeffries’ ability to “rationally assist” with the possible factual and legal defenses to the allegations he faced, according to the document.

The application comes after Mr. Jeffries’ legal team had sought a competency hearing, which will now be held over two days on June 16 and 17, 2025.

Federal prosecutors in the Eastern District of New York declined to comment.

Jeffries stepped down as CEO and chairman of A&F in 2014, leaving with a $25 million retirement package. (£19.9m).

Alongside the criminal case, A&F, Mr. Jeffries and his partner defended a civil suit accusing the dealer of financing a sex-trafficking operation.

Earlier this month, Mr. Jeffries A&F after it refused to pay his criminal defense costs, claiming that the brand had agreed to indemnify him for all claims arising out of his position.

Heather Cucolo, a New York Law School professor specializing in mental disabilities and criminal justice, said there are limited statistics on how the court system treats dementia, but that medical experts need to weigh in before the judge makes a final decision.

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

His partner Matthew Smith and James Jacobson could still face trial, but prosecutors will have to rely on independent evidence if Mr. Jeffries was also found to be incompetent to testify as a witness, she added.