Misogynist influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan are being investigated for more serious human trafficking charges, Romanian prosecutors announced today.
The officials said the pair – along with two other female Romanian suspects – are now being investigated for human trafficking in continued form, saying it was a more serious crime than separate counts of trafficking.
The brothers – along with Luana Radu and Georgiana Naghel – are currently under house arrest pending a criminal investigation for suspected human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women.
The four have denied the accusations.
Under Romanian legislation, prosecutors have filed charges against the four suspects, but the case is under investigation and has not yet gone to trial. Prosecutors are expected to commit them for trial later in June.
Notorious misogynist Andrew Tate (pictured in April) and his brother Tristan are being investigated for more serious human trafficking charges, Romanian prosecutors said today
The officials said the brothers (pictured together April 21 in Bucharest) – along with two other female suspects – are now being investigated for human trafficking in continued form, saying it was a more serious crime than separate counts of trafficking
The four were held in police custody from December 29 until March 31, when a Bucharest court placed them under house arrest.
On Tuesday, Romania’s DIICOT anti-organised crime prosecuting unit notified the Tate brothers that the human trafficking charge had changed to trafficking in continued form, a DIICOT spokesperson said.
Under Romanian law, trafficking of adults carries a prison sentence of up to 10 years.
One more alleged victim was added to the case, which started out with six women, the spokesperson said.
The Tate brothers’ legal team said Tuesday’s changes were in the suspects’ ‘legal interest’. ‘The legal framework has been revised and altered to ensure an impartial investigation is upheld,’ they said in a statement.
‘The brothers and their legal team consider today’s hearing proves their legal rights are respected and necessary steps are being taken to ensure an objective investigation. They will continue to collaborate with authorities to prove their innocence and restore their reputation,’ the statement added.
DIICOT prosecutors also said they had opened a separate criminal investigation against a Romanian man close to the Tate brothers on allegations of human trafficking and forming a criminal crime group to sexually exploit seven women.
Prosecutors have said Vlad Obuzic, whose social media platforms show pictures of him with the Tate brothers, and two other suspects recruited their alleged victims by seducing them and falsely claiming to want a relationship or marriage.
The alleged victims were then coerced to produce pornographic content for social media sites, with the suspects keeping most of the gains.
‘To ensure the victims’ loyalty and that they will perform only to the benefit of the members of the group, they were forced to tattoo the name or face of the group member exploiting them,’ prosecutors said in a statement.
Like Andrew Tate, Obuzic is a kickboxer. In the same vein as Tate, he cultivates an ultra macho image online, posing with women, fast cars and luxury properties.
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Romanian news outlet Gandul reported in January that Obuzic – in one video posted online – bragged about bruises on his girlfriend’s body.
Andrew Tate gave an interview to the BBC from his home in Romania earlier this month
News of the change in charges against Andrew Tate and his associates came a week after a fourth British woman claimed she she was victim of sexual assault by the influencer, alleging the he choked her until she lost consciousness.
The 30-year-old has joined a civil claim for damages against Tate, after three other women said in April that they intended to begin proceedings.
The woman, who was a university student aged 20 at the time of the allegations in 2014, said she met Tate on a night out in his hometown of Luton, Bedfordshire.
She said they had consensual sex but this became violent when Tate choked her, and when she awoke he was still having sex with her, which she did not consent to.
The woman told BBC Newsnight that this was her second encounter with Tate. A few months earlier they had consensual sex.
She said while they were having sex on their second encounter, Tate put his hand on her throat and ‘strangled me’ until she passed out – and that when she came round ‘it was a bit confusing at first’, and he was ‘still having sex with me’.
The woman also said she was subjected to violent threats by Tate, including one to kill her, adding: ‘He kept saying: “I own you, you belong to me”.
‘All throughout the night he was being fairly aggressive and saying horrible things.’
The Tate brothers (seen handcuffed together), Luana Radu and Georgiana Naghel (right) arrive at the Bucharest Court of Appeal on February 27
Romanian police officers wait to enter Andrew Tate’s and his brother Tristan’s residence, on the outskirts of Bucharest, Romania, to check if they are present at the location, April 1
A Lamborghini seized in the case against Tate is towed away in Bucharest on January 14
A spokesman for Tate insisted that all sexual acts he had been involved in had been consensual – and that he does not condone violence towards women.
The woman did not report the incident to police at the time, saying she only realised she had been sexually assaulted about six years later when she described what had happened to her friends.
She has now joined three other British woman aged in their late 20s and early 30s as they pursue civil claims for damages against Tate.
They all say they were victims of sexual violence by Tate between 2013 and 2016, when he lived in the UK.
