Celebrity
Andrew Tate Detained By Romanian Court For an Additional 30 Days
On Monday, a Romanian criminal court upheld a third 30-day detention for the divisive influencer and former professional kickboxer Andrew Tate. He and his brother are suspected of organized crime and human trafficking.
According to Ramona Bolla, a spokesperson for Romania’s anti-organized crime agency DIICOT, Tate lost his appeal against a judge’s Feb. 21 order to extend his arrest for a third time for 30 days.
Tate, 36, a British-American citizen with 5.2 million Twitter followers, came in the Bucharest Court of Appeal tied to his brother Tristan, who is being jailed in the same case.
According to Bolla, prosecutors also won an appeal Monday against a court order last week to place two women detained in the case on house arrest rather than full jail. None of the four have been charged formally.
It is the third time the brothers have lost an appeal against rulings to keep them detained while investigations continue. According to Bolla, all four will be held in custody until March 29.
According to a document explaining a previous decision to keep them in jail, the judge considered the defendants’ “special dangerousness” and ability to select victims “with an increased susceptibility, in pursuit of better living possibilities.”
They weaponize lies to keep me in here.
But you cannot hide the sun forever.
— Andrew Tate (@Cobratate) February 27, 2023
Tate, who has lived in Romania since 2017, was previously barred from using social media to express misogynistic and hateful beliefs. He has frequently maintained that Romanian prosecutors lack proof and that their case is a “political” plot to silence him.
Following Monday’s court decision, Andrew Tate’s Twitter account posted, “They weaponize lies to keep me in here. But you can’t keep the sun hidden forever.”
Following the December arrests, DIICOT claimed in a statement that it had identified six victims in the human trafficking investigation who were reportedly subjected to “acts of physical violence and mental coercion” and sexually exploited by members of the suspected crime ring.
According to the agency, victims were seduced with pretenses of love and then intimidated, placed under surveillance, and subjected to other forms of control while being pressured into engaging in pornographic actions for the financial gain of the crime group.
In January, Romanian officials raided a compound associated with the Tate brothers near Bucharest, seizing a collection of luxury vehicles, including a Rolls-Royce, a Ferrari, and a Porsche. They reported seizing valuables valued at $3.9 million.
Authorities have stated that if they can prove the automobile owners made money from illegal acts such as human trafficking, the assets will be used to reimburse investigation costs and compensate victims. Tate also lost his appeal against asset confiscation.
