Romania’s Directorate for Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) has announced the end of its investigation into the alleged criminal activities of social media influencer Andrew Tate, his brother Tristan, along with Georgiana Naghel and Alexandra-Luana Radu (a former police officer), on Tuesday, June 20th.
DIICOT has formally charged the Tate brothers and their two female accomplices, both of whom are Romanian citizens, with human trafficking, forming an organised criminal group to sexually exploit women along with charges of rape.
In a press release, DIICOT stated:
The aggrieved persons were recruited by foreign citizens, by misleading them about the intention to establish a marriage/cohabitation relationship and the existence of real feelings of love (loverboy method). They were subsequently transported and sheltered in buildings in Ilfov County where, through acts of physical violence and mental coercion (intimidation, constant surveillance, control and invoking alleged debts), they were sexually exploited by the members of the group … in order to produce and disseminate through social media platforms materials of such character. The seven injured persons identified during the criminal investigation were subjected to forced labour in order to obtain important financial benefits … as a result of accessing the materials by the users of the platforms.
According to a report from the Romanian tabloid Click!, the Tate brothers could face as much as 13 years in prison if found guilty, and all four will be tried at the Bucharest Court.
Initially, it was thought that only two women had made statements against the Tate brothers, but the DIICOT has revealed that a total of seven women have come forward during their investigation into the Tate’s alleged activities.
Romanian prosecutors have also demanded the confiscation of millions of dollars or assets belonging to the brothers, including 15 plots of land and buildings within Romania, 15 luxury vehicles, 14 luxury watches and four commercial companies. A large amount of money was also sought including $400,000 worth of cryptocurrency.
A further 300,000 lei ($65,950/€60,400) has also been requested by the DIICOT to pay for the investigation itself.
DIICOT also announced that the Tate brothers could be facing even more charges, indicating they were still investigating them for trafficking of minors, human trafficking, money laundering and other possible charges.
The two brothers and the two Romanian women were initially arrested in December of last year and held in Romanian police custody until they were released and placed under house arrest on March 31st.
Tristan Tate commented at the time saying, “The judges made the right decision …. And their decision will be justified because I am an innocent man and I can’t wait to prove it.”
In May, the Tate brothers attempted to appeal their house arrest, looking to replace it with judicial control, but the Bucharest Tribunal denied the request and extended their house arrest for a further 30 days.
Andrew Tate, a former kickboxer and reality television personality in the UK, skyrocketed in popularity online last year despite being banned on several major platforms including Twitter and Instagram due to his controversial views on women and relationships that some have labelled misogynistic and “harmful.”
Tate’s ideology has been expanded upon by Harrison Pitt who wrote in The European Conservative last December:
He objects to the way in which the feminization of men has weakened the backbone of the West and made the inhabitants of decadent, advanced democracies more vulnerable to top-down control and social engineering. He encourages young men to be aspirational, enterprising, and independent-minded. It is no real surprise that such basic messages should resonate in a modern culture which, at least according to the ascendant narrative, demands that men—many of whom feel neglected, apathetic, even invisible—apologize for their apparent privileges and prostrate themselves before the altar of social justice.
However, Andrew and his brother Tristan have never denied being pornographers, with Andrew admitting that he made his first million dollars from a pornographic webcam business, while Tristan admitted the business was largely a scam noting “models” often lied about their lives to gain sympathy from those giving them money.
Andrew echoed his brother’s statement saying, “It’s a total scam. The model just has their hands on a keyboard that isn’t even plugged in. I have real professionals who are fluent in English behind the scenes getting men hooked, finding out their interests, the name of their dog.”
“A guy will come online, they’ll say, ‘How’s Sparky?’ It’s an operation of professionals who lure these men in,” he said.
