Andrew Tate ‘tried to recruit daughter of Romanian politician when she was 16’

3 January 2023, 12:54

The daughter of a Romanian politician has claimed Andrew Tate tried to ‘recruit’ her into his webcam operation when she was 16 years old.

Daria Gusa, now 19, the daughter of political analyst, journalist and businessman Cozmin Gusa, said she received a message from the influencer asking her out.

Miss Gusa told Romanian site Realitatea Plus: “I had just created an account on Instagram when I received a message, quite suggestive, in which Andrew Tate basically asked me to go out with him.

“I then asked my other colleagues, who had received similar messages, because it seemed strange to me that someone with millions of followers would contact me, who had 200. 

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“Another colleague continued to chat with him and [he] invited her directly to go out with him. Basically it was the "loverboy" method, he applied it to girls from Ilfov or Prahova, from areas as close as possible to his home.”

She went on: “'It's very likely that a lot of people are involved. These guys have trained their girls to record their customers and, of course, when it comes to intimate poses, it's very easy to blackmail important people.’”

Tate is being detained in Romania as part of a human trafficking and rape investigation.

The former kickboxer was held alongside his brother, Tristan, and two other suspects while his house was raided in the capital, Bucharest. Prosecutors say Tate and his brother Tristan allegedly recruited women on social media platforms before forcing them to perform on webcams.

"The four suspects ... appear to have created an organised crime group with the purpose of recruiting, housing and exploiting women by forcing them to create pornographic content meant to be seen on specialised websites for a cost," prosecutors said, according to the Reuters news agency.

Romania's Directorate for Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) issued a statement that two British citizens and two Romanian citizens were suspected of being part of a criminal group focused on human trafficking.

According to the organisation, six injured people have been identified in relation to the investigation, one of whom is said to have been violently sexually assaulted in March.

Some of the suspects allegedly used the "loverboy" method of trafficking, which involves a man luring a victim into a relationship in order to sexually exploit them later on, DIICOT said.

The victims were subsequently transported and housed in buildings in Ilfov county, which surrounds Bucharest, where they were coerced into making pornographic content, it is alleged.

DIICOT also released a video of the raid, showing guns, knives, and money on display in one room.

In a Tweet that was posted later on Friday and appeared to suggest he had been released, Tate said: "The Matrix sent their agents."

The post was the latest in a series of "matrix" references made by Tate, apparently to the movie franchise that depicts a fictionalised world in which humanity is trapped in a simulated reality.

The concept of the films has been co-opted by a number of far-right conspiracy theorists and men's rights groups in recent years.

Since retiring from combat sports, Tate, 36, has received attention for his misogynistic commentary on social media.

He gained notoriety in 2016 when he was removed from British TV show Big Brother over a video that appeared to show him hitting a woman with a belt.

In 2017, he was banned on Twitter for saying that women should "bear responsibility" for being sexually assaulted, but was reinstated last month.

Earlier in the week, Tate sparked a war of words with 19-year-old climate activist Greta Thunberg when he shared a picture of himself standing next to a Bugatti and claimed he owned 33 cars.

"Please provide your email address so I can send a complete list of my car collection and their respective enormous emissions," he tweeted, tagging Ms Thunberg.

She replied: "Yes, please do enlighten me. email me at smalldickenergy@getalife.com."

In the video, Tate said: "I'm not actually mad at Greta because she doesn't realise she's been programmed, she doesn't realise she's a slave of the matrix, she thinks she's doing good."

Tate and his brother have been under investigation since April alongside two Romanian nationals.

Footage circulated widely on social media on Thursday appears to show Tate and his sibling being led away from a luxury villa.

He moved to Romania five years ago.