After latest raid at Andrew Tate compound, brothers on house arrest amid trafficking probe
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Social media personality Andrew Tate was put on house arrest in Romania after he and five others, including his brother, were brought into custody amid a human trafficking and sexual exploitation investigation.
Tate, a former professional kickboxer with nearly 10 million X followers, and his brother, Tristan Tate, were detained on Wednesday for 24 hours after Romania's anti-organized crime prosecuting unit DIICOT searched four homes in Ilfov County and the Bucharest municipality.
The DIICOT asked the Bucharest court to arrest the brothers for 30 days, instead, a judge placed Andrew Tate under house arrest and Tristan Tate under judiciary control for the same period, their rep Mateea Petrescu wrote in a statement, per Reuters.
"The Tates salute the decision and firmly deny all allegations leveled against them, emphasizing that the accusations are baseless and unsupported by substantial evidence," the statement continued.
Tate brothers indicted in 2023 for human trafficking
The Tate brothers were indicted in 2023 along with two Romanian women for human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women. The brothers have denied these allegations.
Due to the 2023 charges, the brothers were given a travel ban prohibiting them from leaving Romania.
On March 11, the U.K. issued an arrest warrant for Tate and his brother concerning incidents dating back to 2012. A Romanian appeals court ruled they could not be extradited until the legal proceedings for rape, trafficking and gang activity charges were resolved.
'There are no new charges'
The Tate brothers hosted a livestream titled "Emergency Meeting - Slanderous Lies" Thursday on the platform Rumble. During the 32-minute livestream, Andrew Tate said the DIICOT took their studio equipment and "stole as much wealth as possible." He continued to say that "the matrix is broken" and that "they" are trying to put him in jail for something he did not do.
"Luckily today we had a very honest, fair and good judge today who saw through the garbage that we're accused of and allowed us to come home," Tate said during the livestream. "But this battle is not over, we're in the middle of it."
Tristan Tate said during the livestream that no "new charges" were brought against the brothers.
"There are no new charges, just an investigation," Tristan Tate said. "They're investigating us for new things."
Tate brothers' accusers harassed online
As the Tate brothers continue to deny the allegations against them, they are also in the midst of a $5 million civil lawsuit they filed in July 2023 against two women involved in the Romanian case, along with some of their outcry witnesses. The brothers are accusing the women of conspiracy, defamation and false imprisonment.
The influencers and many of their supporters have claimed the women are liars and that the Tate brothers' charges will be dropped.
"Around the time of the filing of the lawsuit…there's just this deluge of tweets," said Dani Pinter, legal counsel for the National Center on Sexual Exploitation who represents one of the women. "It's the biggest example of targeted harassment I've ever seen. Like it's her name and her face just over and over and over and over and over again.
Contributing: Reuters and Kinsey Crowley/ USA TODAY
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Andrew Tate put on house arrest following detainment in Romania
