Following his reported arrest on Thursday, Andrew Tate has spoken out after a representative initially released a statement on his behalf.
The 36-year-old controversial social media personality was reportedly arrested in Romania along with his brother, Tristan Tate, on December 29 on human trafficking charges.
The Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) was in charge of the arrest operation.
"The prosecutors of the Directorate for the Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism - Central Structure together with police officers from the Bucharest Organized Crime Brigade implemented five home search warrants in a case in which investigations under the aspect of committing the crimes of constituting an organized criminal group, human traf,ficking and rape," they wrote in a statement.
Authorities are investigating claims that the victims of their alleged human trafficking scheme were "recruited by British citizens by misrepresenting their intention to enter into a marriage/cohabitation relationship and the existence of genuine feelings of love (the loverboy method)."
"They were later transported and housed in buildings in Ilfov county where, by exercising acts of physical violence and mental coercion (through intimidation, constant surveillance, control, and invoking alleged debts), they were sexually exploited by group members by forcing them to perform pornographic demonstrations for the purpose of producing and disseminating material through social media platforms [...] and by submitting to the execution of forced labor," they added.
Following his arrest, a spokesperson for Tate told the Daily Mail: "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."
Following his release, Tate also took to Twitter to tell his followers: "The Matrix sent their agents." He is yet to comment further at the time of writing.
The brothers have been under investigation since April alongside two Romanian nationals but it wasn't until Andrew Tate ignited a heated back-and-forth with 19-year-old climate activist, Greta Thunberg, that things really kicked off.
Posting to Twitter, Tate asked Thunberg to offer her expertise on the carbon emissions of his massive car collection.
"I have 33 cars," he began, before listing the specifications for his Bugatti and Ferraris.
"This is just the start. Please provide your email address so I can send a complete list of my car collection and their respective enormous emissions."
Thunberg responded publicly to his tweet a few days later writing: "Yes, please do enlighten me. email me at smalld***[email protected]" - that must have stung.
Tate then posted a two-minute video rant response to make it clear that Thunberg has not managed to get under his skin. In the video, he was handed a pizza box - which many social media users and publications have claimed "gave Tate's location away" to the police.
However, Ramona Bolla - a spokesperson for Romanian anti-organized crime agency DIICOT - has confirmed to AP that although the theory is "funny", it is not true.
In recent years, Tate has become known as a controversial figure online, dominating the internet with his divisive and so-called "traditional views" on the roles of men and women. Beyond his debates, he also provided men with online courses in "modern wealth crtoorder to help them become successful.
And for some reason, he's also obsessed with telling people to go and get themselves a Bugatti. Apparently it's a huge indicator of success... Yeah, I don't get it either.
Prior to his career on the internet, his initial rise to fame came following a short stint on Big Brother where he was removed from the show after a video obtained by The Sun showed him whipping his ex-girlfriend with a belt and allegedly saying that he would "kill her" if she was messaging other men.
