Oct 22 (Reuters) - Mike Jeffries, the former chief

executive of Abercrombie & Fitch ( ANF ), has been indicted on

sex trafficking and prostitution involving dozens of men.

The charges were unveiled on Tuesday, a decade after

Jeffries left the retailer he built over 22 years into a popular

clothing brand known for sexually charged marketing.

Jeffries, his partner Matthew Smith, and a third defendant

James Jacobson, who allegedly served as a recruiter, were each

charged with one count of sex trafficking and 15 counts of

interstate prostitution.

Brian Bieber, a lawyer for Jeffries, said in an email he

would respond in detail to the charges in court.

Lawyers for Smith did not immediately respond to requests

for comment. A lawyer for Jacobson could not immediately be

reached for comment. Abercrombie declined to comment.

According to the indictment, between 2008 and 2015 Jeffries

and Smith paid for dozens of men to meet them for sex in New

York and at hotels in England, France, Italy, Morocco, Saint

Barthelemy and elsewhere, in the hope it would advance their

modeling careers.

Relying on their "vast" financial resources and Jeffries'

power at Abercrombie, Jeffries and Smith ran a business

"dedicated to fulfilling their sexual desires and ensuring that

their international sex trafficking and prostitution business

was kept secret, thereby maintaining Jeffries' powerful

reputation," the indictment said.

Men were also required to sign non-disclosure agreements,

and pay damages if they told anyone including family and friends

what went on.

The probe was led by federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, New

York.

Last year, a group of once-aspiring Abercrombie models sued

Abercrombie, Jeffries and Smith in Manhattan federal court,

saying in a proposed class action that the New Albany,

Ohio-based company benefited from Jeffries' sex trafficking.

David Bradberry, the named plaintiff, said Jeffries forced

models to take drugs and engage in sex for a chance to appear in

Abercrombie catalogs, while the company paid off people who

accused Jeffries of sexual abuse or harassment.

Jeffries led Abercrombie from 1992 to 2014, making it a

successful teen apparel maker known for cologne-filled stores

and ads featuring semi-nude models.

He resigned amid criticism that he failed to keep up with

changing tastes of teen shoppers.

(Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York and Ananya Mariam

Rajesh in Bengaluru; Editing by Arun Koyyur and Daniel Wallis )