Cal Gaunt
A spokesperson for Andrew Tate has released a statement on behalf of the 36-year-old following his arrest in Romania.
Tate is a social media influencer who has been banned from Facebook, TikTok, Instagram and YouTube over his ‘misogynistic’ and ‘derogatory’ views towards women.
Earlier this week, he made headlines following his Twitter spat with renowned Swedish environmental activist Greta Thunberg, 19.
Now, the controversial ex-kickboxing champion has been arrested alongside his brother, Tristan, after police raided his home in Pipera, Bucharest.
Watch as Andrew Tate is led by police away from his property in Romania…
A police spokesperson confirmed the arrest to the BBC.
The Directorate for Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) are said to be investigating the brothers over alleged human trafficking, r*** and involvement in forming an organised crime group.
At the time of writing, neither of the Tate brothers has been charged, but they remain in police custody for questioning.
According to reports, Romanian prosecutors believe the criminal group allegedly formed by the Tate’s has ‘s**ually exploited at least six women’.
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In a statement, DIICOT said: “We make it clear that during the entire criminal process, the investigated persons benefit from the procedural rights and guarantees provided by the Code of Criminal Procedure, as well as the presumption of innocence.”
The Romanian government agency stated that it had raided five properties during the operation on December 29.
Authorities are reportedly investigating claims that the alleged victims had been ‘recruited by British citizens by misrepresenting their intention to enter into a marriage/cohabitation relationship and the existence of genuine feelings of love (the loverboy method)’.
According to Reuters, DIICOT added: “The four suspects… appear to have created an organised crime group with the purpose of recruiting, housing and exploiting women by forcing them to create p****graphic content meant to be seen on specialised websites for a cost.”
A spokesperson on behalf of Tate said: “We cannot provide any details at the moment regarding alleged reports that they have been detained; however, Andrew and Tristan Tate have the utmost respect for the Romanian authorities and will always assist and help in any way they can.”
Tate has also taken to Twitter and shared the cryptic post: “The Matrix sent their agents.”
The tweet follows previous claims the controversial figure has made about being targeted by the ‘matrix’ because he is ‘outspoken’.
He has previously alleged that once being cancelled, the next step would be to ‘make up a reason to put [me] in jail’.
Watch the video below to see Andrew Tate apparently reveal his location to authorities in a video responding to the Greta Thunberg spat…
News reports in Romania say the raids were carried out at Tate’s home following his Twitter response to Greta Thunberg.
The 36-year-old had originally trolled the teenager over his fleet of luxury supercars having a negative effect on the environment, to which Thunberg snapped back with a comment about the size of Tate’s manhood.
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In his response more than 10 hours later, Tate was shown in a video alongside pizza boxes that had been ordered from a Romanian restaurant, in turn allowing prosecutors to narrow down his whereabouts.
Romanian news outlet Gandul alleges ‘authorities waited for the right moment to catch the Tate brothers, who were always out of the country’.
The publication said: “After seeing, including on social networks, that they were together in Romania, the DIICOT prosecutors mobilised the special troops of the Gendarmerie and descended, by force, on their villa in Pipera, but also on other addresses.”
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