Andrew Tate today lost his appeal against a decision to keep him in jail for 30 days on sex trafficking charges, meaning he will remain in custody until February 27.
Tate, 36, was arrested in December with his brother Tristan on suspicion of human trafficking, rape and forming an organised crime group to exploit women.
He appeared at the Bucharest court today with Tristan and two of their alleged female accomplices in a bid to appeal against a judge’s decision to extend their arrest a second time for 30 days.
But all four lost their appeal and will be held for the full 30 days, said Ramona Bolla, a spokesperson for Romania’s anti-organised crime agency DIICOT.
The decision came after Tate told the Romanian court he is ‘being held in custody to make me mentally ill’.
Police officers escort Andrew Tate, center back, handcuffed to his brother Tristan, left, from the Court of Appeal after they appealed the decision to extend their arrest
Andrew Tate today lost his appeal against a decision to keep him in jail for 30 days on sex trafficking charges, meaning he will remain in custody until February 27
Former police officer Luana Radu (L) and Georgiana Naghel (R) are also detained, suspected of assisting the Tate brothers in the crimes they are under investigation for
He claimed his detention was part of a ploy to make him succumb mentally.
As Tate was escorted from the Bucharest Court of Appeals with his brother and their two alleged female accomplices, he shouted at reporters: ‘You will find out the truth of this case soon’.
The notorious misogynist insisted there was ‘no evidence’ he exploited young girls and forced them to create pornographic content on webcams.
‘Ask them for evidence and they will give you none because it doesn’t exist,’ Tate shouted as he was escorted from the court into a police van. ‘You will find out the truth of this case soon.’
Tate, Tristan and their two alleged accomplices, former police officer Luana Radu and Georgiana Naghel, all attended court today to appeal against a judge’s decision to extend their detention for a second time.
But the judges struck down the appeal today, which means they will remain in prison until February 27.
Last month, a judge decided to extend their detention by 20 days due to the ‘particular dangerousness of the defendants’ and their capacity to identify victims ‘with an increased vulnerability, in search of better life opportunities.’
Prosecutors have said the Tate brothers recruited their victims by seducing them and falsely claiming to want a relationship or marriage.
The victims were then taken to properties on the outskirts of the capital, Bucharest, and coerced to produce pornographic content for social media sites that generated large financial gain, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors can ask the courts to extend the suspects’ detention for up to 180 days.
Earlier today, as he was escorted into the court room, Tate told reporters: ‘You know I’m incident’.
Asked whether he was hoping to be released on Wednesday, he said: ‘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 held on charges of being part of an organized crime group, human trafficking and rape
The brothers, as well as alleged ‘lieutenants’ Naghel and Radu are being held in Romania on a pre-trial detention.
They received a preventive arrest warrant on 30 December, 2022, and have since been held by the Directorate for Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) in Romania, where both are based.
Prosecutors initially argued the brothers, if granted bail, could ‘exercise psychic control’ over the people they are accused of trafficking.
Both have maintained their innocence.
On 20 February, the Bucharest Tribunal extended the preventive arrest warrant from 29 January until 27 February, and could extend further.
The Tate brothers last month lost their appeal made against the first extension and today they have lost their second appeal.
The four detained have not been officially charged of any crimes yet, and maintain their innocence.
Andrew and his brother moved into a converted warehouse in Romania in 2017, which they staffed with armed guards.
At their safehouse 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 claim the brothers lured women into the studio where they were sexually exploited through ‘acts of physical violence and mental coercion (through intimidation, constant supervision, control and invocation of alleged debts)’, and made to produce and share pornographic material.
Andrew Tate is also accused of raping a Moldovan woman, who he alleges followed him from London, in March 2022, which he categorically denies.
In January, he told the Bucharest Court of Appeal that the alleged victim moved to Romania with him voluntarily in November 2021.
Tate claimed she filed a rape allegation nearly 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 on the world,’ read a post that appeared on his Twitter account on Sunday.
Andrew Tate’s views on women, masculinity and entrepreneurship, voiced in podcasts and shared online, became popular in 2022 as they were shared in short clips around social media.
He was ultimately 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 ahead of his appeal in Bucharest, Romania
Andrew Tate and his brother are under investigation for allegedly forming a criminal group, human trafficking and rape
While Tate maintains his innocence, Romanian prosecutors DIICOT said in a statement they had identified six victims in the human trafficking case.
They said alleged victims were held under constant supervision against their will in the armed safehouse near Bucharest and forced to make pornographic content to be shared online.
They claim the women were sexually exploited, physically abused and mentally coerced (‘through intimidation, […] control and invocation of alleged debts’) by members of the group for financial gain.
