Andrew Tate Detained by Police for 30 Days in Romania in Sexual Trafficking Investigation

Andrew Tate, Twitter
Andrew Tate, Twitter
Kurt Zindulka

British-American internet personality Andrew Tate and his brother have been reportedly remanded in custody for 30 days by a court in Bucharest on Friday.

Following five hours of hearings and three hours of deliberation,  a Romanian court has ordered that Andrew and Tristan Tate remain in detention for the next thirty days ahead of a potential trial over allegations of sex trafficking surrounding an online cam girl business, establishing an organised crime network, and rape, the Libertatea newspaper reported.

Prior to the ruling, a tweet was sent out from the account belonging to Andrew Tate — who was unbanned from the platform by Elon Musk — cryptically saying: “The Matrix sent their agents”.

While it appears that it was not Mr Tate who sent the post, the tweet did reference his often used catchphrase, ‘The Matrix’, which Tate uses to describe political and corporate elites and the “slave” mindset that he believes many people fall into as a result of legacy and social media brainwashing, implying therefore that his detention was politically motivated.

Others have also suggested that the case brought forward against Tate was politically motivated, with the former kickboxing champ turned anti-feminist Tik Tok star himself even predicting that he would be arrested on a fake charge to silence his message. Referencing Jeffery Epstein, Tate has also frequently declared that he has no intention of killing himself.

However, others have noted that the length of the detention likely points towards the Romanian government having a significant case to be brought forward. Also pointing to the seriousness of the allegations, the prosecution has reportedly tasked prominent mafia prosecutor Rareș Petru Stan with the case. Among his credits are successfully prosecuting Marian Bejan, who was considered one of the most dangerous drug traffickers in Romania during his heyday.

The detention followed a raid on the Tate villa in Bucharest on Thursday, in which police found piles of money and weapons. The Directorate for the Investigation of Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) said in a statement that two British citizens (believed to be the Tate brothers) have been accused by six women of sexually exploiting them to produce pornographic material for cam girl pay sites, a business both brothers have openly admitted to have been a part of.

“In the case it was noted that, at the beginning of 2021, 4 suspects (two British citizens and two Romanian citizens) constituted a criminal group organised in order to commit crimes on the territory of Romania, but also of other countries, such as the United States of America and Great Britain, of the crime of human trafficking,” the statement added.

The case against the brothers was initially started in April after a raid was conducted on their home after allegations from an American woman that she was being kidnapped. The case was seemingly dropped, however, and it appears that Andrew and Tristan had believed that the case had been scrapped altogether, yet, this was not the case and they were both arrested on Friday in Bucharest.

According to the Romanian newspaper Libertatea, the pair have 48 hours to launch an appeal against their detention.

Follow Kurt Zindulka on Twitter here @KurtZindulka

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