Controversial Media Personality Andrew Tate Detained in Romania in Human Trafficking Probe

Andrew Tate and Tristan Tate are escorted by police officers outside the headquarters of the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism in Bucharest (DIICOT) after being detained for 24 hours, in Bucharest, Romania, Dec. 29, 2022. (Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea via Reuters)

Controversial social media personality Andrew Tate has been detained by Romanian police on suspicion of rape and human trafficking following a raid of his luxury home and other properties in the capital city of Bucharest.

Tate, 36, a former professional kickboxer, was arrested alongside his brother Tristan and detained for 23 hours, Romanian prosecutors said. The brothers have been under investigation since April alongside two Romanian nationals.

Prosecutors allege that the brothers are suspects in an alleged organized crime ring that sexually exploited women.

“The four suspects ... appear to have created an organized crime group with the purpose of recruiting, housing and exploiting women by forcing them to create pornographic content meant to be seen on specialized websites for a cost,” prosecutors said.

“They would have gained important sums of money,” the statement added. Prosecutors said they had identified six women who had allegedly been sexually exploited by the suspects.

In a press release translated by Business Insider, Romanian authorities alleged that at least one woman had been raped during the organized crime ring, which they said was based between Romania, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

The press release did not specifically name the Tate brothers.

“Victims were recruited by British citizens by misrepresenting their intention to enter into a marriage/cohabitation relationship and the existence of genuine feelings of love (the loverboy method),” authorities said.

“They were later transported and housed in buildings in Ilfov county where, by exercising acts of physical violence and mental coercion.”

Tate Brothers Assisting Police, Lawyer Says

Lawyers for the two brothers confirmed they had been detained by Romanian police but did not provide further details.

A spokesperson for Tate told the Daily Mirror said the brothers have “the utmost respect for the Romanian authorities and will always assist and help in any way they can.”

Tate, a British national who was born in the United States, moved to Romania five years ago.

He shot to fame after appearing on the UK television show “Big Brother” in 2016 but was removed after a video surfaced online which appeared to show him hitting a woman with a belt. At the time, Tate claimed that the video footage had been edited. Tate and the woman seen in the video also both said via a statement that the actions in the video were consensual, reported the Independent.

Despite the footage, Tate went on to amass fame thanks, in part, to his paid video subscription program “Hustler University,” billed as an “exclusive community with over 100000 students learning how to make money online,” as well as his social media accounts in which he shares videos commenting about social issues including masculinity and the supposed roles of women.

His critics have labeled him a misogynist, which he has denied he is.

As a result of his controversial videos, Tate has been banned from Twitter, Youtube, Facebook, Instagram, and TikTok, although he was recently welcomed back to Twitter after it was taken over by billionaire businessman Elon Musk, who has vowed to make free speech a crucial part of the platform.

A day prior to his arrest, Tate had written to climate activist Greta Thunberg on Twitter, where he bragged about his 33 cars with “enormous emissions.”

“I have 33 cars. My Bugatti has a w16 8.0L quad turbo. My TWO Ferrari 812 competizione have 6.5L v12s. This is just the start. Please provide your email address so I can send a complete list of my car collection and their respective enormous emissions,” he wrote to Thunberg, to which she replied: “yes, please do enlighten me. email me at small[expletive][email protected].”

In response, Tate then posted a video of himself dressed in a bathrobe while smoking a cigar before a pizza box is handed to him with Romanian writing on the side.

His arrest came shortly after the video.

The Epoch Times has contacted Andrew Tate for comment.

Reuters contributed to this report.