The former world champion boxer and now celebrated social media influencer Andrew Tate was arreted and taken in custody once again as part of an investigation into new charges against him.
According to BBC, Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan Tate were taken in for questioning by Romanian criminal police DIICOT while police searched his home on Wednesday night.
The internet star was already awaiting trial on charges of rape and human trafficking, but could face additional charges including sexual intercourse with a minor, human trafficking, money laundering and attempted witness influence, prosecutors said.
Andrew and Tristan Tate, with a huge social media following, have denied all previous charges.
They were arrested in Romania in December 2022 and released from house arrest in August 2023.
Four house searches were carried out in the capital Bucharest and Ilfov County on Wednesday morning, according to a DIICOT statement released that morning.
The brothers were then taken to the DIICOT in Bucharest for questioning, after which they were handcuffed and detained under armed guard.
They were held for 24 hours. The brothers' lawyers said they would be held until the prosecutor could ask the judge to detain them further, place them under house arrest or release them, according to the brothers' lawyers.
When asked by the BBC what he had to say about the new allegations, Andrew Tate shouted over his shoulder that the prosecutors were "desperate." "Wait until you see it," he said. "They say I cheated on the mother of my children. We made her have children. "Now ask me what the evidence is."
He described the file as "more pathetic than the first one." When the brothers arrived at the DIICOT building in a police car early Wednesday morning, they were greeted by a handful of reporters and supporters.
As Andrew Tate entered the building, he greeted the local blogger and asked her why she was back at DIICOT. Tate laughed and replied that he didn't know, but shouted through the closing door that he was in his "favourite place".
Two police officers with balaclavas covering their faces were seen carrying a heavy bag into the same building, likely containing items and other belongings seized in the search of the brothers' homes.
When asked to comment on the latest developments, her lawyer Eugen Vidynak said the latest allegations were still unclear to him as he had not yet seen the file.
He said he did not yet know "what we are dealing with". DIICOT officials have 24 hours to interrogate the brothers. After that, they must be brought before a judge if they want to detain her.
The lawyer said he did not expect the brothers to be detained because their freedom of movement is already restricted as they await trial on separate charges, including forming an organized crime group and human trafficking.
In an apparent reaction to the raid, Andrew Tate posted on X (formerly Twitter): "The Matrix is real. And they have a proven script. "Damage is their main tool, and the process is their punishment.
But unfortunately for them, good always wins in the end." Andrew Tate has described himself as a misogynist and has previously been banned from social media platforms for expressing misogynistic views.
He has repeatedly claimed that Romanian prosecutors have no evidence against him and that a conspiracy exists to silence him.
The Tate brothers, former kickboxers with dual British and American citizenship, are accused of exploiting women through an adult content company that prosecutors say they ran as a criminal gang.
The indictment, announced last June, named the brothers as well as two Romanian colleagues and identified seven alleged victims. Another internet celebrity is also wanted in the UK in connection with unrelated sex offences.
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