Tate brothers investigated over ‘trafficking and intercourse with a minor’
- Romanian prosecutors are calling for the men to be remanded in custody
Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan are being investigated amid claims a 17-year-old girl was trafficked to Britain and forced to ‘perform sexual acts in order to produce pornographic material’.
Romanian prosecutors are calling for the controversial influencer and his brother to be remanded in custody as they investigate the fresh allegations.
The former kickboxers were detained last night after a raid on Tate’s home in the early hours of Wednesday morning, and this afternoon two men appeared in court in Bucharest.
The new investigation involves a total of 35 alleged victims, including a woman who was just 15 at the time. The alleged victims were all said to have been in an ‘obvious state of vulnerability’.
Romania‘s agency against organised crime, DIICOT, said in a statement that six people had been detained in total, including both Romanians and foreigners.
The brothers were detained last night, and this afternoon two men appeared in court in Bucharest
Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan are escorted outside the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT), in Bucharest, Romania, August 21, 2024
In raids on Tate’s property yesterday, DIICOT carried out ‘insurance seizures’ of 16 luxury cars and a motorbike
Tate posted on X this morning after being detained by Romanian police last night
Police allege one of the defendants, who they said was a foreign citizen but did not name, had ‘sexual relations’ with a 15-year-old from December 2020.
The same defendant is also accused of forcing a 17-year-old to perform sexual acts, before pornographic material was sent out on various websites.
The man is alleged to have kept all the $1.5 million (£1.1m) profit from the videos.
The alleged victim is said to have been ‘misled’ and housed in several locations across both Romania and the UK.
According to DIICOT, two of the accused used the ‘loverboy’ method, which involves convincing victims that they are in a romantic relationship, to force 34 victims into making pornography which they then sold online for proceeds of over $2.8 million and 887,000 tokens.
Two of the defendants are accused of buying luxury cars ‘in the names of close people’ to conceal that they were profiting from human trafficking, prosecutors allege.
‘The Tate brothers have been issued a proposal for 30 days preventative arrest by the Romanian DIICOT,’ Tate’s representative said in a statement, adding that a hearing to decide on the detention is being held today.
The representative did not address the fresh allegations against Tate in the statement and did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Tate brothers are currently awaiting trial on separate charges, for human trafficking and rape in Andrew Tate’s case, which they strongly deny.
A post on Tate’s account on social media platform X this morning read: ‘All they try to do is damage my name with complete bullshit’, without specifying who was being referred to.
Andrew Tate talks to media as is being led for questioning after a police raid on his residence yesterday
His brother Tristan (pictured) was led out of the residence, which is on the outskirts of Bucharest, by cops shortly after
A self-described misogynist, social media influencer Tate has gained millions of fans by promoting an ultra-masculine lifestyle that critics say denigrates women.
The brothers were detained in 2022 in Bucharest and spent three months in detention before being released under judicial supervision to await trial.
They also face rape and assault allegations in separate cases in Britain, where they have also been accused of tax evasion.
Announcing the latest charges, DIICOT said in a statement that it had ordered the detention of six people for crimes including forming an organised criminal group, human trafficking, trafficking of minors, sexual intercourse with a minor and money laundering.
It said that it had requested that three of the detained defendants remain in custody while another one be put under house arrest.
In raids on Tate’s property yesterday, DIICOT carried out ‘insurance seizures’ of 16 luxury cars and a motorbike.
It added that sums of approximately 26,000 euros, 81,000 lei, £5,800 and $6,400, two luxury watches, laptops, data storage units, documents and other evidence were also identified and seized.
