Romanian prosecutors have announced that they have changed the charge of human trafficking they are investigating against Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan.
According to Reuters, prosecutors today (13 June) said that Tate, his brother and two other suspects were now being investigated for human trafficking in continued form.
They said it was a more serious crime than the separate counts of trafficking that officials had previously been investigating.
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The Tate brothers and two Romanian women are currently under house arrest while they are being investigated by authorities on suspicion of human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women.
All four of the accused deny the allegations laid out against them, and Reuters reports that legal representatives for Andrew and Tristan Tate said that the change to the charges was in their 'legal interest'.
They said: "The legal framework has been revised and altered to ensure an impartial investigation is upheld."
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Romania's Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) notified the four accused that their charge of human trafficking they were investigating had been changed to trafficking in continued form.
The case against them initially identified six women and DIICOT has since added another person to the list of victims.
The accused were first arrested on 29 December when Romanian police raided Tate's mansion and he remained in custody until 31 March, after which he was placed under house arrest.
At the initial time of arrest, DIICOT said the six victims they had initially identified had been subjected to 'acts of physical violence and mental coercion' by the alleged crime group.
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DIICOT said the group used something called the 'loverboy method' to lure victims before they were coerced into creating pornographic content.
Tate is an infamous social media influencer who has gained notoriety for posting content containing controversial and, at times, misogynistic views.
Past clips from Tate have seen him say he believes women are the 'property' of men and likening being in a relationship with a woman to 'training a dog'.
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During his period of house arrest he's been posting some very strange videos, including one where he just paced around his home for a bit smoking a cigar.
There was also the time that he claimed he had been poisoned in a series of posts, which Tate later said he 'had to delete', claiming 'they'll put me in jail' if he kept them up.
Tate has been under investigation by the police since April 2022, and in addition to the charges in Romania, he's also facing a lawsuit from three women who have claimed he raped and abused them when they worked as webcam models for Tate in 2013.
A spokesperson for Tate denied the claims against him.
Topics: Andrew Tate, News, Crime
Joe Harker