Andrew and Tristan Tate have asked for US assistance, and the US consul general is expected to visit the British millionaires in custody on Friday, judicial sources tell GÂNDUL.
The American Consul General took steps to arrive in custody on Friday at brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate, say judicial sources consulted by GANDUL journalists.
It is not yet clear why the two British millionaires have sought consular assistance from both Britain and the United States.
The former policewoman accused of helping brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate sexually exploit at least six young women was taken out of custody on Monday and Tuesday to be present for a computer search of her mobile phone. At the same time, the two Britons and Ana B., the mysterious woman who had access to their accounts worth millions of euros, are to be brought to DIICOT headquarters also for computer searches.
Luana Alexandra Radu, a former policewoman from Bucharest’s Police Station 7, was brought to the DIICOT headquarters on Monday and Tuesday to be present for a computer search of her mobile phone.
At the same time, judicial sources revealed to Gândul that the brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate will also be brought to DIICOT for the computer search of their mobile phones. Investigators are looking to identify conversations relevant to the investigation that they may have had via remote communication apps such as WhatsApp, Facebook, or Telegram.
The quoted sources also said that the investigators had seized the mobile phone of Ana B., the woman from Popești-Leordeni who paid the salaries of the videochat girls and the rest of the Tate brothers’ employees, but who also made other payments from the accounts of the companies controlled by the two Britons.
The woman has not been charged and has the status of a witness, which can change at any time during the investigation.
Andrew and Tristan Tate have been in custody since December 29, following the searches conducted by the DIICOT prosecutors at their Pipera villa and video chat studio. Together with them, Georgiana Naghel and former policewoman Luana Alexandra Radu were arrested.
The charges are of setting up an organized criminal group, trafficking in human beings and rape, and the prosecutors brought sufficient grounds in court for the judges of the Bucharest Tribunal to decide to arrest the Tate brothers and the two Romanian women for 30 days, and for the Bucharest Court of Appeal to uphold the preventive measure.