Former kickboxer and social media influencer Andrew Tate and his brother have been accused of human trafficking and rape allegations.
Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan will remain in police custody until February after a Romanian court on Friday, January 20, extended their detention, Tate’s lawyers disclosed.
Romanian authorities are investigating the siblings on allegations of human trafficking and rape. Sources said police served search warrants at five homes and took four suspects into custody. Among the suspects are two Romanians and two Britains.
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Romania’s Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) previously said the four suspects had been detained for 24 hours.
A Bucharest court accepted an application by DIICOT to hold Tate and his brother Tristan in custody for another 30 days, their lawyer Eugen Vidineac said on December 30. This has been extended again to February 27.
DIICOT alleged that the four suspects formed an organized criminal group that stretched from Romania to Britain and the United States to commit the crime of human trafficking.
DIICOT said last Thursday that seven more properties had been searched as part of the investigation. The total properties searched so far are 12 houses. Romanian authorities allege that two suspects misled the victims into believing they intended to enter a marriage/cohabitation relationship. Through that, they transport the victims to Romania and exploited them sexually.
Authorities also said one of the suspects raped a victim on two separate occasions in March 2022. At least six victims were alleged to be sexually exploited by the organized criminal group. The DIICOT statement said.
On Monday, Romanian authorities said they had seized nearly $4 million worth of assets belonging to Tate. Among the 29 seized assets are motor vehicles, luxury watches and sums of money in several different currencies, the country’s Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ANABI) said.
