A Romanian court has upheld influencer Andrew Tate’s 30-day arrest for organized crime, human trafficking and rape.
A spokesman for Romania’s organized crime agency DIICOT, said a court in the capital Bucharest had rejected an appeal by Tate against a judge’s earlier decision to extend his arrest by 24 hours to 30 days.
The controversial social media influencer expected the court to rule on Tuesday.
Tate, 36, a British-American citizen who has 4.4 million Twitter followers, was initially detained for 24 hours on December 29 along with his brother Tristan, who has been charged in the same case.
Two Romanian women were also taken into custody.
All four immediately challenged the extension of arrest a judge granted to prosecutors on December 30.
A document explaining the judge’s motivation for the extension said that “the possibility that they evade investigations cannot be ignored” and that they could “leave Romania and settle in countries that do not allow ‘extradition”.
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After the December raids, Romania’s organized crime agency DIICOT said it identified six victims in the case who were subjected by the group to “acts of physical violence and mental coercion” and were exploited sexually by members of the group.
The agency said the victims were lured under the pretense of a romantic relationship, then later through physical abuse and mental intimidation, forced to perform pornographic acts for social media sites that generated significant financial gains.
