Controversial influencer and former British professional kickboxer Andrew Tate was arrested this Thursday on suspicion of human trafficking, rape and forming an organized criminal group, Romanian prosecutors said.
Tate, who was banned from various social networks for making misogynist comments and spreading hate speech, and his brother Tristan are being detained for 24 hours along with two other Romanian suspects, the antiorganized crime unit of that country’s prosecutor said in a statement with after invading Tate’s property in Bucharest.
The Tate brothers have been under criminal investigation since April. Both declined to comment, but their lawyer confirmed they had been arrested.
“The four suspects appear to have created an organized crime group with the aim of recruiting and exploiting women and forcing them to create pornographic content destined for specialized websites where this content is paid for,” the statement said Statement by the Romanian Public Prosecutor’s Office. “You will have won large amounts of money.”
Prosecutors claim to have found six women who were sexually exploited by the suspects.
In videos scattered across the internet, Andrew Tate, who has become a men’s selfhelp guru, argues that wives are their husbands’ property and “should have kids, stay home, be quiet and make coffee”.
In other videos, he says he must have authority over the women he dates: “You can’t be responsible for a dog if it doesn’t obey you.” Tate also stated that he would attack a woman who tried him of fraud and described himself as “absolutely misogynistic”.
Tate has also implied that women are partially responsible for rape and that it belongs to men. Earlier this week, the Brit was advised on Twitter by climate activist Greta Thunberg to “get a life” after being told he owned 33 cars with “huge emissions”.