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A woman from Moldova thought it was love. Internet celebrity Andrew Tate has given him a new life. They even discussed marriage. They ask for only one thing: absolute loyalty.
“You have to know that if you’re mine, you’ll be mine forever,” Tate told her on February 4, 2022, in one of dozens of WhatsApp messages cited by Romanian prosecutors alleging he trafficked and sexually exploited several women. .
Tate, an influencer with millions of followers online, urged Moldovan women to join Romania. “Nothing bad will happen,” he assured on February 9. “But you have to be by my side.”
The following month, the Romanian prosecutor said, Tate raped a woman twice in the country while seeking to enlist her in a human trafficking operation focused on creating pornography for the online platform OnlyFans, a site that allows people to sell explicit videos of themselves.
The allegations and messages are included in previously unpublished court documents, dated December 30, 2022, and seen by Reuters, which provide the most detailed description yet of the illegal business allegedly run by Tate, a former kickboxing world champion, and his brother. , Tristan.
Arrested in December
They found out after the brothers were arrested on December 29 on charges of forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women.
British American Andrew Tate, 36, who has been based mainly in Romania since 2017, and his 34-year-old brother deny all the allegations. Reuters could not reach police custody for comment.
In response to questions, his lawyer, Eugen Vidineac, said that he could not publicly confirm or deny information about the case while it is under investigation. Romania’s anti-organized crime unit also said prosecutors could not comment on the investigation.
Reuters translated the WhatsApp exchange with the Moldovan woman – which appeared in Romanian in court documents – back to English, her native language. While accurate, the translation of the Romanian version provided by the prosecutor may not be the same as the original wording.
The brothers used deception and intimidation to bring the six women under their control and “turn them into slaves,” prosecutors said in the document. The 61-page file, produced by Bucharest court officials, includes the minutes of the trial in which the judge extended Tates’ arrest and evidence presented by the prosecution.
Vidineac said the alleged victims were not molested, but “lived behind the famous Tates,” according to court documents. “They are excited and no one is forcing them to do that,” he said.
Vidineac admitted in the document that Andrew Tate and a Moldovan woman had sex but said it was consensual and accused her of fabricating rape claims.
Reuters could not independently corroborate the version of events given by prosecutors or defense lawyers, and could not reach the six women named in the documents for comment. News organizations typically do not identify victims of sex crimes unless they choose to release their names.
The two women told Romanian TV station Antena3 on January 11 that they were not victims and that Tates was innocent. The station is known only by its first names, Beatrice and Iasmina.
“You can’t label me as a victim if I say I’m not there,” Beatrice told the station. The other four women, including the Moldovan woman, have not commented publicly.
A hyper-macho image
The charges facing Tate have focused heavily on the self-described misogynist who has built an online fan base, particularly among young people, by promoting a flamboyant and hyper-macho image of driving fast cars and dating beautiful women.
By 2022, he will be the eighth most Googled person in the world, surpassed only by figures such as Johnny Depp, Will Smith and Vladimir Putin, according to Google’s analysis.
Prosecutors said Tates controlled the accounts and income of ‘OnFans’ victims amounting to tens of thousands of euros, underscoring concerns among some human rights groups about the potential for exploitation of women on the platform.
Reuters was unable to verify the existence of the alleged victim’s OnlyFans account.
Monitoring Tate
UK-based OnlyFans has 150 million users who pay monthly “creator” fees of varying amounts for content, many of which are erotic or pornographic, but also in areas such as fitness training and music.
The company, whose 1.5 million creators can earn anything from hundreds of dollars to tens of thousands per month, says on its website that it is “the most secure digital media platform.” It was founded in 2016 and grew rapidly during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Spokeswoman Sue Beeby told Reuters that Andrew Tate “never owned” a creator account or received payment. He said OnlyFans had been monitoring him since early 2022 and had taken “proactive measures” to prevent him from posting or monetizing content, without elaborating on the reasons for the investigation or the steps taken. He also said that all creators have undergone extensive identification checks and that all content has been reviewed by the platform, which cooperates with law enforcement.
Vidineac declined to comment on the steps taken by OnlyFans against Tate.
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