30 December 2022 11:02 am
Controversial ex-kickboxer and social media influencer Andrew Tate has been arrested for allegedly abducting two girls in Romania.
A handcuffed Tate, 36, who rose to fame this year for his sexist and misogynistic views, was filmed being led from his luxury villa by police following a raid on Thursday. His younger brother Tristan, 34, was also arrested along with two further suspects, with all four being held for 24 hours in Bucharest.
The Brit, who was born in Washington DC but raised in Luton, is under investigation by the Directorate for Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) and reports in Romania claim he and his brother are being questioned on suspicion of forming an organised crime group which used girls in adult videos.
The siblings were also questioned in April when police reportedly found two girls who claimed they were being held against their will. The brothers were released while the investigation continued but were detained again on Thursday in connection with an investigation into human trafficking, rape and forming an organised crime group.
Romanian prosecutors said the Tate brothers along with two unnamed people "appear to have created an organised crime group with the purpose of recruiting, housing and exploiting women by forcing them to create pornographic content. They would have gained important sums of money."
A spokesperson for Tate told the Daily Mirror : "We cannot provide any details at the moment regarding alleged reports that they have been detained; however, Andrew and Tristan Tate have the utmost respect for the Romanian authorities and will always assist and help in any way they can."
Tate was the most-searched man on the internet earlier this year before he was banned from social media sites including Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and Twitter, as well as YouTube. His Twitter account was restored when Elon Musk completed his takeover of the tech giant and Tate resumed posting immediately.
He was this week involved in a spat with climate activist Greta Thunberg with Tate boasting of his supercar collection and asking for Thunberg's email address to "send a complete list of my car collection and their respective enormous emissions". Thunberg hit back in a tweet which is now among the most-liked in history, saying: "Yes, please do enlighten me. Email me at smalld***energy@getalife.com."
Tate is a former kickboxing world champion and has been linked with boxing fights with YouTube brothers Jake and Logan Paul, as well as with their fellow social media star KSI. He also appeared briefly on Celebrity Big Brother before being kicked off after a footage emerged of him allegedly beating a woman. The woman later insisted her relationship with Tate was consensual. (Courtesy Mirror UK)