Former Abercrombie & Fitch CEO Mike Jeffries, his partner Matt Smith and a third man, Jim Jacobson, were arrested Tuesday as part of a criminal sex trafficking investigation by the FBI and federal prosecutors in Brooklyn, sources familiar with the investigation told ABC News.

The investigation involved whether the men sexually exploited and abused young men at parties they hosted in the United States and around the world, the sources said.

Federal prosecutors acknowledged the investigation in January after alleged victims filed a civil lawsuit a year ago.

Jeffries, who transformed Abercrombie from a traditional Ohio outfitter into a powerhouse teen fashion brand, has been accused in civil lawsuits of exploiting young men for sex at parties he hosted at his Hamptons estate in New York, London, Venice and elsewhere with his partner, Smith.

The alleged victims have said they were recruited by a middleman, Jacobson.