Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan have been placed under house arrest in Romania for 30 days amid an investigation into allegations of “sex with a 15-year-old girl and trafficking a 17-year-old girl” to Britain, who was then forced to “perform sexual acts to produce pornographic material.”
The new investigation involves a total of 35 alleged victims, including a woman who was just 15 years old at the time. All of the alleged victims are said to have been in an “obvious state of vulnerability.”
The Tate brothers appeared in court Thursday afternoon and prosecutors have asked that they be held in custody for 30 days while the investigation continues.
Andrew Tate, the divisive internet personality, made a furious statement to reporters outside court, slamming the case as a “fix.”
He said: “This is a setup. It’s absolutely disgusting. Thirty of these girls say we have done nothing wrong. Two are the mothers of our children.”
A spokesman for Andrew Tate confirmed the couple were placed under house arrest today and that the brothers “welcome the decision” but “firmly deny all allegations made against them”.
Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan are escorted out of the Directorate for the Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT), in Bucharest, Romania.
Andrew Tate speaks to the media outside the Bucharest Court after being placed under house arrest in Bucharest, Romania
This comes after the Tate brothers were among six people arrested in an investigation into human trafficking and sexual exploitation.
Romania’s anti-organised crime agency DIICOT said in a statement that six people had been arrested in total, including Romanians and foreigners.
Police allege that one of the accused, who they said was a foreign national but did not reveal his name, had “sexual relations” with a 15-year-old girl since December 2020.
The same defendant is also accused of forcing a 17-year-old girl to perform sexual acts, before sending pornographic material to various websites.
The man is believed to have pocketed $1.5m (£1.1m) in earnings from the videos.
The alleged victim is said to have been “tricked” and housed in various locations in Romania and the UK.
According to DIICOT, two of the defendants used the “loverboy” method, which involves convincing victims that they are in a romantic relationship, to force 34 victims to make pornography which they then sold online for profits of more than $2.8 million and 887,000 tokens.
Two of the defendants are accused of buying luxury cars “in the names of people close to them” to conceal the fact that they were benefiting from human trafficking, prosecutors say.
It is unclear which of the six suspects are charged.
Tate tweeted that the case against him is a sweeping “conspiracy” to silence him.
A post on Tate’s account on social media platform X this morning read: “All they are trying to do is damage my name with complete nonsense,” without specifying who they were referring to.
The brothers were arrested last night and two men appeared in court in Bucharest this afternoon.
Tate posted on X this morning after being arrested by Romanian police last night.
In raids on Tate’s property yesterday, DIICOT carried out “insurance seizures” of 16 luxury cars and a motorcycle.
Romanian police said they had seized a motorcycle from Tate’s property near Bucharest.
DIICOT said it carried out ‘insurance seizures’ of 16 luxury cars and a motorcycle
A spokesman for Andrew Tate said: ‘Andrew Tate has been placed under house arrest and his brother, Tristan, under judicial control in a decision issued by the judge of the Bucharest Court, today 22 August, at 19.30.
‘DIICOT had requested 30 days of preventive detention for both brothers, but the judge has denied the request given the brothers’ exemplary behavior while they were previously under preventive measures.
‘The Tates welcome the decision and firmly deny all allegations made against them, stressing that the allegations are unfounded and not supported by substantial evidence.
‘They will continue to comply with the due process of justice and remain steadfast in proving their innocence.’