Romanian prosecutors have asked a Bucharest court to remand controversial online influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan in custody as they investigate new serious charges, including sex with minors and trafficking of minors people.
The new investigation involves a total of 35 alleged victims, including a female who was 15 years old at the time.
Romania’s anti-organized crime agency DIICOT said in a statement that a total of six people, including Romanians and foreigners, were detained.
The statement said the defendants were luring “vulnerable” people, who were then placed in various locations and forced to produce pornographic material for online viewing.
One of the foreign men was accused of forcing a 17-year-old foreign citizen to “perform sexual acts” to produce online video content. He is said to have kept the entire $1.5m (£1.1m) profit. His name was not mentioned in the statement.
The man is accused of having sex with a 15-year-old girl on multiple occasions.
The Tate brothers have previously been charged with human trafficking, and Andrew Tate has been charged with rape and is awaiting trial on those charges.
The Tate brothers have strongly denied any wrongdoing and denied the formal charges they face. These are new, separate charges.
After hours of questioning at DIICOT offices, Andrew Tate told the BBC on Wednesday evening that the latest charges were “pathetic” and prosecutors were “desperate”. He said they “made up for a lot.”
He also said he was accused of performing “lover boyhood” on the mother of his child – a tactic used by criminals to exploit a victim’s weaknesses and then exploit them.
Andrew Tate, a notorious misogynist with a huge following online, took to Twitter/X to describe the case against him as some kind of mainstream “conspiracy” to shut him down. Mouth.
In new statements, prosecutors allege the brothers purchased four luxury cars and registered them in other people’s names to hide proceeds from what they said were illegal activities.
The defendants allegedly made a total of approximately $2.8 million through sexual exploitation.
Detainees are also accused of trying to intimidate victims and witnesses.
Investigators searched four properties for 10 hours on Wednesday, seizing cash and other items including luxury watches, laptops, hard drives and documents. They also impounded 16 luxury cars.
The Tate brothers and four Romanian citizens were detained after questioning late Wednesday night.
But to detain them for more than 24 hours, prosecutors would need to bring them before a judge, and both men appeared in court Thursday afternoon.
