Andrew Tate has reportedly threatened legal action against a woman who made rape and human trafficking allegations against him.
Tate and his younger brother Tristan have sent a cease-and-desist letter to a woman in the United States accusing her of making up defamatory statements about them to the media and authorities, the BBC reported Saturday.
According to the letter, Andrew and Tristan accuse the woman of “repeat[ing] false and defamatory statements to the police, the media, and another United States citizen about the Tate brothers.”
If she doesn’t retract her statements, the Tates could sue her and her parents for $300 million, according to the letter, which was seen by the BBC.
“In April 2022,” the letter reads in part, “you falsely stated to a third party that our Client human trafficked you, abused you and held you against your will.”
A lawyer for the brothers confirmed to the BBC that a letter was indeed sent to a woman in December, but denied their intention was to intimidate their alleged victim.
Tina Glandian, one of the Tates’ legal advisers, said they are simply pursuing their legal rights in a civil matter of defamation and slander.
But Benjamin Bull, a lawyer representing some of the women in the investigation into the Tates, said the letter was “intended to shut down the witness; stop the witness from bringing testimony forward in any proceedings.”
The brothers want to stop any victims from coming forward with information, Bull told the BBC. “It’s clearly an effort to intimidate,” he added.
Andrew, a former kickboxing world champion and self-proclaimed misogynist, was arrested in late December in a suburb of the Romanian capital, Bucharest, alongside Tristan and two other women.
Authorities said they ran an organized crime group that held women against their will and forced them to film pornographic videos. The Tates were detained on suspicion of human trafficking and rape, which they deny, but have yet to be formally charged.
Last month the Romanian law enforcement agency that focuses on organized crime and terrorism (DIICOT), said in a statement that it had identified six victims in the human trafficking case.
The victims were sexually exploited and subjected to “acts of physical violence and mental coercion” by members of the alleged crime group.
Following their arrest, prosecutors seized several luxury cars and properties owned by the Tate brothers or companies registered to them.
On Jan. 12, authorities announced the raid of seven additional homes tied to the criminal investigation into the 36-year-old British-U.S. citizen and his brother.
The two are currently being held in preventive custody in Romania.
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