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() — Influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan will remain in police custody until February 27 after a Romanian court on Friday extended their detention, Tate’s lawyers told affiliate Antena 3.
The brothers are under investigation for allegations of human trafficking and rape.
Romanian authorities said police served search warrants Thursday at five houses and detained four suspects — two British and two Romanian — as part of the investigation.
Romania’s Directorate of Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) initially said the four suspects had been detained for the first 24 hours. A Bucharest court accepted a request from DIICOT to hold Tate and her brother Tristan in custody for another 30 days, their lawyer Eugen Vidineac said on December 30. This has been extended again until February 27th.
The DIICOT alleged that the four suspects formed an organized criminal group that stretched from Romania to the United Kingdom and the United States, in order to commit the crime of human trafficking.
The agency said last Thursday that seven more properties had been registered as part of the investigation, bringing the total number of properties investigated to 12.
Authorities allege that two of the suspects misled the victims “into believing they intended to enter into a marriage/cohabitation relationship” while transporting the victims to Romania and then sexually exploiting them with physical violence and coercion.
Authorities also said a victim was raped on two separate occasions in March 2022 by one of the suspects. At least six victims have been identified who were allegedly “sexually exploited by the organized criminal group,” says the DIICOT statement.
Police officers look on as they take away a luxury vehicle seized in a case against influencer Andrew Tate, on the outskirts of Bucharest, Romania, Saturday, Jan. 14, 2023. Credit: Andreea Alexandru/AP
On Monday, Romanian authorities said they had seized nearly $4 million in assets belonging to Tate over the past week. Among the 29 assets seized are vehicles, luxury watches and sums of money in different currencies, the country’s Asset Recovery and Management Agency (ANABI) reported on Saturday.
Tate, a former professional kickboxer, is known for his viral internet rants about male dominance, female submission and wealth. He openly defends violence against women and had been banned from major social networks until Elon Musk reinstated his Twitter account after taking over the company.
Earlier this year he rose to prominence, with many adults, including teachers, alarmed that his misogynistic ideas were taking root in the minds of countless children. Before being removed, her TikTok account had nearly 11.6 billion views.
He made headlines the week of his arrest for a Twitter interaction with Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg, who told Tate to get a life after he tweeted about his numerous vehicles “and their respective huge emissions.”
