The former CEO of Abercrombie & Fitch (A&F) has dementia and late onset Alzheimer’s disease, his legal throng has said in a court document filed in recent 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-ancient was arrested alongside his associate in October and charged with running an international sex trafficking and prostitution business. Both men have pleaded not guilty.

A so-called competency hearing has been scheduled for June next year.

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 2008-15.

US prosecutors allege that he used his riches, power and position “to traffic men for his own sexual pleasure”, and for the pleasure of his British associate Matthew Smith, 61.

They said the couple, alongside a middleman James Jacobson, 71, used force, fraud and coercion to make vulnerable, aspiring models engage in violent and exploitative sex acts.

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

The FBI began investigating last year after the BBC revealed claims Mr Jeffries and Mr Smith had sexually exploited men at events they hosted around the globe.

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

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

In the court filing, Mr Bieber added that during an initial conference last year the former fashion boss “did not even arrive close to resembling a master’s degree-educated person, who was just nine years earlier the chief executive officer of a publicly traded business”.

As a outcome, Mr Bieber questioned the ability of Mr Jeffries to “rationally assist” with the feasible factual and legal defences to the allegations he was facing, according to the document.

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

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

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

Alongside the criminal case, A&F, Mr Jeffries and his associate have been defending a civil lawsuit accusing the retailer of having funded a sex trafficking operation.

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

Heather Cucolo, a recent York Law School professor specialising in mental disability and criminal law, said there are limited statistics on how the fairness structure treats dementia but that medical experts would have to weigh in before the judge makes a final selection.

“If Mike Jeffries is found competent, the case will shift forward,” she said. “But if he’s deemed incompetent, and it’s found there’s no reasonable likelihood that his competency will be restored, then the charges would have to be dropped.”

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