How the controversial 'influencer' Andrew Tate seduced his victims

Andrew Tate is arrested north of Bucharest (Romania), on December 29. AP

Former British-American kickboxing champion turned influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan were recruiting young women under the pretext of starting a love relationship through the well-known

which consists of attracting women, making them fall in love with the aim of creating a dependency on them.

Then, they were transferred to a luxurious house on the outskirts of Bucharest where there were more victims to, in the end, force them to produce videos with pornographic content, which were later published on specialized adult websites, in exchange for money.

This was detailed by the Bucharest court, which has extended his preventive detention for another 30 days, considering his release a danger to public order, given the special seriousness of the crimes committed.

Tate's arrest on December 29 by the Romanian Directorate of Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT), along with his brother and two young Romanian girls, came hours after his famous confrontation with climate activist Greta Thunberg. on Twitter, following the

and former reality show contestant bragging about the fumes emitted by his 33 cars.

His public comments, often hate speech, had led to his removal from the social network, until Elon Musk reinstated him by taking over the company.

Now Tate, after his arrest, faces charges of creating an organized criminal group, human trafficking and rape.

The eccentric businessman's lawyers challenged the extension of the arrest and the decision to confiscate several assets, including 11 luxury cars —Rolls Royce and an Aston Martin, among others—, as a guarantee to pay possible damages to the victims, the Prosecutor's Office pointed out.

Now, the defenders hope that the Court of Appeal of the Romanian capital will rule on January 10 in this regard.

Eugen Vidineac, lawyer for the two brothers, considered on Thursday in statements to the digital medium HotNews.ro that "the measure of the prosecutors is exaggerated", although the judicial instance indicated that the way in which both brothers acted demonstrated "a fundamental contempt to social relations protected by penal norms”.

Specific,

One of the victims, who was persuaded from abroad, told the Prosecutor's Office how they incited her to a cohabiting relationship.

"Initially, she assured him that they would live together but, later, she told him that in the house there are several men who work with him and his brother, so it was better to find another apartment, just for the two of them," says the court.

"At the time the aggrieved person arrived in Romania, the defendant was not in the country and told him that he could not live in the apartment and that he had to do it with the woman who had bought him the plane ticket, he picked her up at the airport and took her to the property where she was going to live," the court continued.

The woman, also accused, informed him that "she would live with other girls who worked for the defendant and his brother, sharing the earnings with the brothers."

Finding what she was hearing strange, the young woman considered that she could not do anything because she was already in Romania.

“I thought that when the defendant returned, they would live together as he promised,” she explained.

Although Tate is under arrest by the Romanian police, numerous posts still appear on his personal Twitter account, where he has 4.4 million followers, with encrypted messages and Islamic teachings, as well as a retweet by a porn actor.

“They plot and plan, and Allah plans too;

but the best of planners is Allah” (Sura Al-Anfal Ayat 30), “God is on our side, so the Matrix will not win.

”, “There are dark forces working against you.

You must recognize them and fight” or “My unmatched insight, coupled with my sheer tenacity, makes me a fearsome adversary in all fields of human endeavor.

For each domain that Matrix closes, we have dozens of domains ready to replace it”, read some of their messages.

In addition to his posts, Andrew Tate's account also redistributed messages from other users, including one from sex

Stirling Cooper, who "guarantees" the Tate brothers are innocent and claims "very powerful people are pulling the strings." to try to silence them.”

“I know these men personally and they are not human traffickers,” Stirling said.

Andrew Tate, 36, and Tristan, 34, were born in Washington.

After her parents' divorce, they moved to London with her father, Emory Tate, an international chess master from the United States.

Tate got his notoriety in kickboxing, winning four world titles.

He also used to give lessons on life and business on social media, gaining thousands of followers on the internet.

Both brothers own a private jet and a spectacular collection of cars.

In Romania, Andrew and Tristan opened a video chat studio, through which, according to the Prosecutor's Office, they exploited young women through physical and mental violence.

In the event they are found guilty, they face more than 15 years in prison.

"Tate's Angels"

During the police operation, the anti-mafia brigade also arrested two young women, a former police officer and Andrew's girlfriend, accused of complicity in the criminal activity of the network.

Luana Radu, 32, worked for four years as a Bucharest police officer before resigning in 2014 to pursue video chat.

Once inside it, she met the two brothers and became her assistant, coming to deal with internet businesses, valued at millions of euros.

Along with Radu, known as Ellie Dely on social networks, Georgiana Naghel, Tate's sentimental partner, both considered "Tate's Angels", alluding to the film

.

The Prosecutor's Office suspects that both coerced at least six women to create pornographic content on the internet.

Radu and Naghel would have kept the victims in the house "as prisoners," the brigade against organized crime pointed out.

Naghel, 28, met Andrew five years ago and they became the fashionable couple who hung out in the most exclusive nightclubs in the Romanian capital.

Tate became famous after passing through the British version of Big Brother, from which he was expelled after posting a video in which he appears beating a woman.

But the former wrestler's popularity skyrocketed after he clashed with climate activist Greta Thunberg on Twitter.

Tate, a misogynist and climate change denier, tried to provoke Thunberg last week with a tweet in which he boasted of the gases emitted by 33 of her cars.

"Please give me an email address so I can send you a complete list of my car collection and its huge emissions."

“Yes, please enlighten me.

Send me all the information to energíadepenepequeño@búscateunavida.com”, was Thunberg's response.