The Tate brothers had to be physically present at the Bucharest court. Prosecutors are seeking to commit the suspects to trial where, if convicted, they could face years in prison.
No matter what the judge decides [on the longer detention]we will take additional steps to investigate this crime,” Ramona Bolla, spokesperson for the Organized Crime and Terrorism Investigations Directorate, or DIICOT, said in a phone interview.
romanian prosecutors said in a statement Thursday that they have identified six people they believe were recruited and later sexually abused in Ilfov County, which includes the capital, Bucharest.
Authorities allege the victims were coerced into participating in pornography intended for distribution on social media and that one of the suspects raped a victim twice in March. The statement, which does not name the Tate brothers or specify which suspect was charged with rape, alleges the victims faced “acts of physical abuse and mental coercion”.
US-born Andrew Tate, also a British citizen, has previously said he lives in Romania. Bolla confirmed the Tates were in the country legally and said the investigation began in April, after the US Embassy called Romanian authorities with information that a US citizen was being held against his will in a house. in Ilfov. The embassy in Bucharest did not immediately respond to questions from The Washington Post early Friday.
Police said the four suspects organized a group in early 2021, plotting to commit human trafficking, not only in Romania, but also in the United States and Britain. A conviction in Romania for human trafficking can carry sentences ranging from three to ten years. In case of rape, the sentences can range from 5 to 10 years.
Police earlier reported a search of two properties in April in Ilfov county, in which they said they seized assets related to the case. The Tates’ detention came after police executed five home search warrants, police said. The alleged American victim is no longer in the country, Bolla said. The other five alleged victims were Romanian and Moldovan.
A spokesperson for the brothers declined to say whether they had been detained. “Andrew and Tristan Tate have the utmost respect for the Romanian authorities and will always help and assist in any way possible,” the spokesperson said. Tate’s talent agent said in an email that the human trafficking allegations were “a Matrix-orchestrated hoax.” A lawyer for the Tates could not immediately be identified.
A tweet on Andrew Tate’s Twitter account early Friday said: “The Matrix has sent its agents.”
Photographs showed Tate being escorted in handcuffs by masked law enforcement officers near the DIICOT headquarters on Thursday.
In a deleted YouTube video that was reposted to Reddit, Tate said “40%” of the reason he moved to the country was because he thought sexual assault cases were less likely to happen there. the subject of an investigation.
Tate has been banned from multiple social media sites – including TikTok, Facebook and Instagram – after posting misogynistic remarks. Tate’s Twitter account has been reinstated after the takeover of the company by Elon Musk. Tate tweeted that the people who raped “bear some responsibility” and argued that women are the property of their husbands. His fans call him the “king of toxic masculinity”.
In 2016, he was kicked out of the UK version of reality TV show ‘Big Brother’ after a video emerged that appeared to show him hitting a woman with a belt. (Tate reportedly said what happened was sensual.)
His detention comes shortly after he tweeted at climate activist Greta Thunberg bragging about his 33 cars and “huge emissions”. Thunberg told him to have a life.
Speculation swirled overnight Thursday-Sunday that Romanian authorities were able to locate Tate after posting a video in response to Thunberg containing a pizza box from a local spot that revealed his location. Bolla denied that played a role in the detention or its timing. “It was hard work to gather all the evidence” during the months-long investigation, Bolla said.
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