Romanian authorities have seized luxury cars from the compound of influencer Andrew Tate, who remains in custody on rape and trafficking charges.
Anti-organised-crime prosecutors detained Mr Tate, his brother Tristan and two Romanian female suspects on 29 December on charges of forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit six women. They have denied any wrongdoing.
On Saturday several cars, including a Rolls-Royce, a BMW and a Mercedes-Benz, were taken from the compound on the outskirts of the capital, Bucharest, to be transported to a storage location.
Earlier this week, prosecutors said they had seized 15 luxury vehicles and more than 10 properties and homes belonging to the suspects, in Bucharest as well as in the counties of Prahova and Brasov, to prevent the assets from being sold or hidden.
Tate and his co-defendants arrived at court in Bucharest in handcuffs on Tuesday morning to challenge the 30-day arrest warrant under which they are being detained.
But the Bucharest Court of Appeals rejected the challenge and said they should remain in police custody.
Eugen Vidineac, a Romanian defence lawyer representing the defendants, said after the hearing: “All four of the accused have made statements,” adding: “The lawyers’ pleas were listened to entirely.”
After Tate lost his appeal, a cryptic post on his Twitter account read: “When Allah said ‘I test only those I love.’ I took the pain like it was an honour – Abu Hurayrah.”
It was one of several ambiguous posts that have appeared on the account since his arrest.
Romania’s Directorate for Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIIOCT) said after making the arrests that it had identified six victims who allege they were subjected by the group to “acts of physical violence and mental coercion” and were sexually exploited by group members.
The agency said victims were lured by pretences of love, and were later intimidated, surveilled, and persuaded by means of control to perform pornographic acts intended to make substantial amounts of money for their exploiters.
If prosecutors can prove the Tates gained money through human trafficking, the seized assets “will be taken by the state and [used to] cover the expenses of the investigation and damages to the victims”.
Tate, a former kickboxer and contestant on the reality show Big Brother, gained notoriety for his misogynistic remarks and hate speech.
His remarks saw him banned from all major social media platforms, although his Twitter account became active again in November after Elon Musk acquired the platform.
Tate, who holds both US and British nationality, has previously said that women are partially responsible for being raped and that they belong to men.
He has gone on to attract millions of followers on social media, and his Twitter account has continued to post messages despite his detention.
Additional reporting by agencies
