Judge places Andrew Tate under house arrest after allegations

Social media influencer Andrew Tate was placed under house arrest for 30 days on Thursday as Romanian authorities investigate new allegations against him relating to human trafficking and sexual exploitation. He and his brother Tristan, who was placed under judicial supervision, appeared in court in Bucharest on Thursday. Romania’s anti-organized crime agency said it was investigating allegations involving 35 possible victims and that six people had been detained in total, the BBC reported. Andrew Tate said Wednesday, after hours of questioning, that the allegations were “pathetic.” Prosecutors “made a lot of things up,” he said.

Prosecutors have accused the Tates of buying four luxury cars and registering them in other people’s names to hide the proceeds of illegal activities. Sixteen luxury cars were seized when authorities searched four properties Wednesday night, the BBC reported. The two made about $2.8 million from sexual exploitation, prosecutors said. The brothers had already been ordered not to leave Romania, although they were allowed to travel within the country, the Guardian. Last year, they were charged with charges including human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women, all of which the Tates denied. The former kickboxers, who hold dual British and American citizenship, according to AP, are awaiting trial in that case.

Two of the suspects coerced 34 victims into making pornography by convincing them they were in a romantic relationship, the agency said; the money came from selling the pornography online. Another allegation is that Andrew Tate had sex with a 15-year-old girl. When asked about this by the BBC, he refused to answer. He called the whole thing a set-up, saying: “Thirty of those girls say we did nothing wrong. Two are the mothers of our children, two have never been to Romania.” (A court did not allow the Tates’ mother’s reported illness to allow them to leave Romania.)