Key Points
- Mr. Tate's plea to replace police custody with restricted bail was deemed 'inadmissible' by the court.
- Mr Tate, his brother and two female suspects are under investigation for human trafficking.
- The Tate brothers lured victims by falsely promising relationships or marriage, according to prosecutors.
A Romanian court has denied social media personality Andrew Tate's request to be released on bail from police custody pending a criminal investigation into alleged sex trafficking.
Mr Tate, his brother Tristan and two Romanian female suspects have been under police detention since 29 December as prosecutors investigate them for suspected human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women, accusations they have denied.
The Bucharest court said Mr Tate's request to have police custody replaced with a restricted release on bail was "inadmissible in principle".
His defence team said they were "disappointed in this outcome" and that they will appeal the ruling.
The court will rule on a similar request filed by Tristan Tate on Wednesday.
Prosecutors have said the Tate brothers recruited victims by seducing them and falsely claiming to want a relationship or marriage.
The victims were then coerced to produce pornographic content for social media sites.
Andrew Tate was detained by Romanian authorities on 29 December last year. Source: AP / Alexandru Dobre
Prosecutors can ask Romanian courts to extend suspects' detention for up to 180 days.
Mr Tate, who has been based mainly in Romania since 2017, is an online influencer who has built up a following of millions of fans, particularly among young men drawn to his hyper-macho image.
While in detention, Mr Tate has made multi-pronged attempts to defend himself, including trying to recruit lawmakers to his cause and attempting to intimidate some of his alleged victims, according to wiretaps of his phone calls submitted to the court by prosecutors.
