Online influencer Andrew Tate, his brother and two Romanian women were indicted in Romania on human trafficking and rape charges, prosecutors said Tuesday, six months after they were detained.
The anti-organised crime prosecution’s unit (DIICOT) “ordered the indictment” of the four defendants for offences including “setting up an organised criminal group… trafficking in persons… rape”, they said.
Romanian police arrested Tate, 36, and his brother Tristan, 34, and two Romanian women late last year. Under preventive detention at first, they were placed under house arrest at the end of March.
They deny all the accusations.
“It was held that, in early 2021, the four defendants formed an organised criminal group with a view to committing the crime of trafficking in persons on the territory of Romania, but also in other countries, such as the United States and the United Kingdom,” DIICOT said in a statement.
In addition to the charges of human trafficking and rape — both “in continuous form” — the four are also indicted for “illegal access to a computer system, altering the integrity of computer data, instigation to assault or other violence and assault or other violence”.
DIICOT say the brothers and their accomplices allegedly trafficked, recruited and exploited women by coercing them into “pornographic acts with a view to producing and disseminating such material” online.
As part of the probe, Romanian police have raided several properties connected to the Tate brothers and seized assets, including a collection of luxury cars.
A dual citizen of the United States and Britain, former kickboxer Andrew Tate moved to Romania years ago, after first starting a webcam business in the UK.
In 2016, Tate appeared on the “Big Brother” reality television show in Britain but was removed after a video emerged showing him attacking a woman.
He then turned to social media platforms to promote his divisive views. He currently has 6.9 million followers on Twitter.
Giving tips on how to be successful, along with misogynist and sometimes violent maxims, his videos have made him one of the world’s best-known influencers.
© Agence France-Presse
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