Andrew Tate today lost his appeal against a decision to keep him in jail for 30 days for sex trafficking, meaning he will remain in custody until February 27.
Tate, 36, was arrested in December along with his brother Tristan on suspicion of human trafficking, rape and forming an organized crime group to exploit women.
He appeared in court in Bucharest today with Tristan and two of their alleged female accomplices in an attempt to appeal a judge’s decision to extend their arrest for a second time by 30 days.
But all four lost their appeals and will be detained for 30 days, said Ramona Bolla, spokeswoman for Romania’s organized crime agency DIICOT.
The decision came after Tate told the Romanian court that he was “detained to make me mentally ill”.
Police officers escort centre-back Andrew Tate in handcuffs to his brother Tristan, left, from the Court of Appeal after appealing the decision to extend their arrest
Andrew Tate today lost his appeal against a decision to keep him in jail for 30 days for sex trafficking, meaning he will remain in custody until February 27.
Former police officer Luana Radu (L) and Georgiana Naghel (R) are also being held on suspicion of aiding the Tate brothers in the crimes for which they are being investigated.
He demanded his detention was part of a scheme to make him mentally succumb.
As Tate was escorted out of the Bucharest Court of Appeals with his brother and their two alleged accomplices, he shouted to reporters, “You will soon find out the truth about this case.”
The notorious misogynist insisted there was ‘no evidence’ he was exploiting young girls and forcing them to create pornographic content on webcams.
“Ask them for evidence and they won’t give you any because it doesn’t exist,” Tate shouted as he was escorted from court in a police van. “You will soon find out the truth about this matter.”
Tate, Tristan and their two alleged accomplices, former police officer Luana Radu and Georgiana Naghel, all appeared in court today to appeal a judge’s decision to extend their detention for the second time.
But judges overturned the appeal today, meaning they will remain in jail until February 27.
Last month, a judge decided to extend their detention for 20 days because of the “particular dangerousness of the defendants” and their ability to identify victims “with increased vulnerability, in search of better life opportunities”.
Prosecutors said the Tate brothers recruited their victims by seducing them and falsely claiming they wanted a relationship or marriage.
The victims were then taken to properties on the outskirts of the capital, Bucharest, and forced to produce pornographic content for social media sites which generated large financial gains, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors can ask the courts to extend the detention of suspects for up to 180 days.
Earlier today, as he was escorted into the courtroom, Tate told reporters: “You know I’m an incident.”
When asked if he hoped to be released on Wednesday, he replied: “There is not much justice in Romania.”
Andrew (L) and Tristan Tate (CL), Luana Radu (CR) and Georgiana Naghel (R) at the Court of Appeal
Divisive influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan are charged with being part of an organized crime group, human trafficking and rape
The brothers, as well as the alleged “lieutenants” Naghel and Radu are being held in Romania on remand.
They received a preventive arrest warrant on December 30, 2022 and have since been detained by the Organized Crime and Terrorism Investigation Directorate (DIICOT) in Romania, where they are both based.
Prosecutors initially argued that the brothers, if released on bail, could “exercise psychic control” over the people they are accused of trafficking.
Both claimed their innocence.
On February 20, the Bucharest court extended the preventive arrest warrant from January 29 to February 27, and may extend it further.
The Tate brothers lost their first overtime appeal last month and today they lost their second appeal.
The four detainees have not yet been formally charged with any crime and maintain their innocence.
Andrew and his brother moved into a converted warehouse in Romania in 2017, which they staffed with armed guards.
In their hideaway on the outskirts of Bucharest, the Tate brothers had a video chat studio where several women were found during a police raid in April 2022.
Prosecutors allege the brothers lured women into the studio where they were sexually exploited through “acts of physical abuse and mental coercion (through intimidation, constant surveillance, control and invocation of alleged debts) and were forced to produce and share pornographic material.
Andrew Tate is also accused of raping a Moldovan, who allegedly followed him from London, in March 2022, which he categorically denies.
In January, he told the Bucharest Court of Appeal that the alleged victim had voluntarily moved to Romania with him in November 2021.
Tate claimed she filed a rape complaint almost six months later when he refused to give her money to buy a house and become a TikTok star.
“My case is not criminal, it’s political. It’s not about justice or fairness. It’s about attacking my influence in the world,’ read a post on his Twitter account on Sunday.
Andrew Tate’s views on women, masculinity and entrepreneurship, expressed in podcasts and shared online, became popular in 2022 as they were shared in short clips on social media.
He was eventually banned from various platforms for misogyny and hate speech.
Andrew (L) and Tristan (R) Tate pictured on February 1 going to the Bucharest Court of Appeal
Andrew Tate pictured with police this morning before his appeal in Bucharest, Romania
Andrew Tate and his brother are being investigated for allegedly forming a criminal group, human trafficking and rape
As Tate maintains his innocence, Romanian DIICOT prosecutors said in a statement that they have identified six victims in the human trafficking case.
They said the alleged victims were held under constant surveillance against their will in the armed shelter near Bucharest and forced to create pornographic content to share online.
They claim that the women were sexually exploited, physically abused and mentally coerced (“by intimidation, […] control and invocation of alleged debts”) by the members of the group for profit.
