Andrew Tate back in Romanian court as new charges emerge

Romanian prosecutors are asking a court in Bucharest to remand in custody the controversial internet influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan as they investigate new and serious allegations, including sex with a minor and trafficking underage persons.

The new investigation involves a total of 35 alleged victims, including a woman who was 15 at the time.

In a statement, Romania’s agency against organised crime, DIICOT, said six people had been detained in total, both Romanians and foreigners.

The statement says the accused were grooming "vulnerable" people, who were then housed in different locations and forced to produce pornographic material for online broadcast.

One of the foreign men is accused of forcing a 17-year-old foreign citizen to "perform sexual acts" in order to make online video content. He is said to have kept all the $1.5m (£1.1m) profit. The statement does not name him.

The same man is accused of repeatedly having sexual relations with a girl who was 15 years old when they met.

The Tate brothers have previously been charged with human trafficking - and Andrew Tate charged with rape - and are awaiting trial on those charges.

The Tate brothers strongly denied any wrongdoing and deny the formal charges they face. These are new and separate allegations.

After questioning for several hours at the DIICOT offices, Andrew Tate told the BBC on Wednesday night that the latest allegations were "pathetic" and that prosecutors were "desperate". He said they had "made up a lot".

He also said he was accused of "lover-boying" the mother of his children - a technique used by criminals to prey on victims' vulnerabilities and then exploit them.

A notorious misogynist with a giant online following, Andrew Tate has referred on Twitter/X to the case against him as some kind of mainstream "conspiracy" to silence him.

In the new statement, prosecutors accuse the brothers of buying four luxury cars, and registering them in the names of other people in order to hide the proceeds of what they describe as their illicit activity.

In total, it is alleged that the accused made some $2.8m through sexual exploitation.

Those detained are also accused of attempting to intimidate the victims and witnesses.

During a 10-hour search of four properties on Wednesday, investigators seized cash and other items, including luxury watches, laptops, hard drives and documents. They also impounded 16 luxury cars.

The Tate brothers were taken into custody late on Wednesday night after questioning, along with four Romanian citizens.

But to hold them longer than 24 hours, the prosecutors need to bring them before a judge, and the two men appeared in court on Thursday afternoon.