Romanian prosecutors asked a Bucharest court on Friday to extend the detention of Andrew Tate by 30 days, after the divisive internet personality was arrested on suspicion of human trafficking, rape, and, forming an organised crime group.
Andrew Tate, a former professional kickboxer, and his brother Tristan were detained on Thursday for an initial for 24 hours alongside two Romanian suspects, prosecutors from the anti organised-crime unit said in a statement after raiding their properties in Bucharest.
“Anti-organised crime prosecutors have notified the rights and liberties judge with the Bucharest Court with a proposal to remand the four suspects for 30 days,” the prosecutors said on Friday.
The brothers declined to comment on Thursday but their lawyer confirmed they had been detained.
Prosecutors said the Tate brothers had been under criminal investigation since April.
“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 pornographic content meant to be seen on specialised websites for a cost,” prosecutors said in a statement late on Thursday.
Andrew Tate appeared to have sent a tweet on Friday, suggesting he had access to his phone and social media while in custody.
Many have attributed his arrest to an online spar with climate activist Greta Thunberg on Twitter after he told her he owned 33 cars with “enormous emissions.”
Thunberg told him to get a life. After he was arrested, she wrote, “This is what happens when you don’t recycle your pizza boxes”.
The British national, a former contestant on the UK reality show Big Brother, operates the ‘Hustler’s University’, which claims to have over 160,000 users who pay a subscription to learn about topics such as cryptocurrencies, investing and business.
