Andrew Tate is currently under formal criminal prosecution in Romania, months after his arrest. He is seen here in April, arriving at the Directorate General of Organized Crime and Terrorism Investigation (DIICOT).
Daniel Mihailescu/AFP via Getty Images
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Daniel Mihailescu/AFP via Getty Images
Andrew Tate is currently under formal criminal prosecution in Romania, months after his arrest. He is seen here in April, arriving at the Directorate General of Organized Crime and Terrorism Investigation (DIICOT).
Daniel Mihailescu/AFP via Getty Images
Romanian prosecutors have filed a criminal indictment against social media celebrity Andrew Tate and his brother, Tristan, accusing the couple of committing a series of serious crimes ranging from violence and rape to run an organized crime and human trafficking ring.
Tate and his co-defendants are accused of luring seven women to his property in Romania in a conspiracy that began in 2021, with what the country’s Terrorism and Organized Crime Investigation Bureau said. called a “boyfriend” plot – making false promises of a romance. relationships to gain control over others.
But after coming under Tate’s influence, these women were sexually exploited and forced to film pornographic videos — and one of these women was raped multiple times in March of this year. 2022, according to the prosecutor’s office, is called DIICOT.
To control the victims, prosecutors allege, Tate and the other defendants used intimidation and constant surveillance, along with invoking debts owed to the women. In one case in October 2021, they illegally accessed a woman’s social media account to post sexually explicit images of her. Prosecutors said when a woman refused to do more pornography that same month, she was subjected to physical abuse.
The crimes are said to have happened in the US, UK and Romania. Tate is was arrested last December. Courts have repeatedly extended his 30-day detention period since then, although he and his associates have allowed to serve house arrest until the end of March.
Tate has said that he moved to Romania in 2017, at least in part to avoid criminal charges for its actions.” Romania remains the primary source country for labor and sex trafficking victims in Europe,” according to the US State Department, in its report. 2023 report on human trafficking.
The Tate brothers and two Romanian women who were their accomplices remain under house arrest. Under Romania’s criminal justice system, the case is now in the hands of the Bucharest Court, which will then decide the next step in resolving the case — possibly by setting a trial date. There is no word yet on when that might happen.
In announcing the indictment, DIICOT also recommended the seizure of a number of properties and properties, ranging from real estate in three Romanian counties to 15 luxury cars. The list also includes hundreds of thousands of dollars in currencies and cryptocurrencies.
Tate has denied the charges against him, saying the investigation was not motivated by evidence but by other motives.
“I’m pretty sure this case has absolutely nothing to do with the theft of my property,” Tate said via Twitter on Tuesday.
Tate insists the authorities have no evidence against him, but he recently said he expects charges to be formally filed, saying prosecutors face a six-month deadline to accuse him.
Tate, 36, was arrested years after he turned his kickboxing career into a controversial online influencer. Women are central to his plans to build wealth — both through the large-scale adult webcam operation he runs with his brother, and through selling online courses about how to manipulate women, like Reuters reported.
In 2022, Tate’s acceptance of hate speech and hate led to ban from social media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok. He was allowed to return to Twitter last November, a month before his arrest.
