The Bucharest Court ordered on Friday online influencer Andrew Tate, his brother Tristan and another two persons in a 30-day pre-trial detention in a case in which they are accused of setting up an organized crime group, human trafficking and rape.
The decision can be appealed.
Anti-organised crime police and prosecutors on Thursday searched five homes in Bucharest and Ilfov County, and took the four suspects - two British and two Romanian citizens - in custody, Agerpres informs.
According to a release of the Romanian Police General Inspectorate (IGPR), the four have allegedly set up an organized crime group that engaged in the recruitment, housing and exploitation of women for the creation of pornographic content intended for paid distribution on dedicated sites. They supposedly derived important gains from these activities.
According to the police, the British citizens lured the victims into believing that they wanted a marriage/cohabitation relationship and that they had real feelings of love for them (the loverboy method). The women were subsequently taken to various locations in Ilfov County where they were subjected to physical violence and mental coercion (intimidation, constant surveillance, control and the pretence of debts) in order to yield to sexual exploitation and perform in pornographic content disseminated on social media platforms.
Six of the group's sexual exploitation victims have been identified so far.
With regard to the crime of rape, the IGPR said that in March 2022 a woman was forced on two different occasions, through physical violence and psychological pressure, to engage in sexual relations.. The Tate brothers have been under criminal investigation in Romania since April, when police raided their villa on the Bucharest outskirts after the US Embassy received a tip-off about a 21-year-old American woman that was being held there against her will.
Also, 11 luxury cars owned or used by the suspects were discovered.
Andrew Tate is a former kickboxer-turned-internet celebrity who rose to notoriety for his misogynistic comments that got him banned from almost all social media platforms. The Tate brothers, who hold dual US and UK citizenship, moved to Romania several years ago.