Online influencer Andrew Tate has been charged in Romania with rape, human trafficking and forming an organized crime group to sexually exploit women.
On Tuesday, Tate and his brother, Tristan—currently under house arrest, were sent to trial by Romanian prosecutors along with two Romanian female suspects—Luana Radu and Georgiana Naghel—pending a criminal investigation for abuses committed against seven women.
The four were held in police custody from 29 December until 31 March before a Bucharest court put them under house arrest.
Under Romanian law, the case gets sent to the court’s preliminary chamber, where a judge has 60 days to inspect the case files to ensure legality. Prosecutors have said the Tate brothers recruited their victims by seducing them and falsely claiming to want a relationship or marriage.
Last week, Romania’s Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) announced that the Tate brothers were being investigated for more serious human trafficking charges.
The officials said the brothers, Luana Radu and Georgiana Naghel, were being investigated for human trafficking in continued form. Under Romanian law, trafficking of adults carries a prison sentence of up to 10 years.
In January, Romanian prosecutors carried out forensic searches on Andrew’s mobile phones and laptops as they looked for further evidence, while he was detained on suspicion of organized crime and human trafficking. The authorities also confiscated some luxury cars that included a blue Rolls-Royce, a Ferrari and a Porsche. They reported seizing assets worth an estimated $3.9 million.
Tate, who has reportedly lived in Romania since 2017, was previously banned from various prominent social media platforms for expressing misogynistic views and hate speech
He was initially detained in late December in Romania’s capital, Bucharest, along with. his brother, Tristan, and two Romanian women. After their arrest, DIICOT said in a statement that it had identified six victims in the human trafficking case who were subjected to “acts of physical violence and mental coercion” and were allegedly sexually exploited by the members of the crime group.
Leave a Reply