The Tate brothers are threatening to pay $300 million to one of the victims who disclosed the abuse of British billionaires and her parents if they do not withdraw their claims, the BBC reports.

Controversial influencer Andrew Tate has threatened to sue at least one of the women who accused him of rape and human trafficking. It concerns a young woman from the United States whose lawyers say they received a cease and desist letter from a US law firm on behalf of Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan in December.

The letter contained a threat to sue the woman and her parents for $300 million if she did not retract her claims.

The BBC says it has seen a redacted copy of the letter, apparently sent on behalf of the brothers.

“In April 2022, you falsely stated to a third party that our client trafficked you, abused you and held you against your will (…) you repeated false and defamatory statements about the Tate brothers to the police, the media and other United A citizen of the state,” the letter says.

Andrew and Tristan Tate are currently in custody while police investigate allegations of human trafficking and rape, which both men deny.

Benjamin Bull, who works at the National Sexual Exploitation Center, says his client is a key witness in the Romanian investigation and that the letter was designed solely to silence her and discourage her from testifying in court.

“They want these young women to go into a hole and hide, never to come forward to describe what they saw and what happened to them. This is clearly an attempt at intimidation,” commented Benjamin Bull.

Tate’s lawyers deny it was intimidation

Lawyers for the Tate brothers confirmed to the BBC that the letter was sent in December and was based on US defamation and slander laws, but denied any intimidation.

Tina Glandian, who is part of the Tate brothers’ legal team, said there was nothing unusual about them suing for defamation. “The fact that they are now imprisoned is no reason for them not to defend their legal rights,” she said.

The investigation into allegations of rape and human trafficking is based on the testimony of at least six women, but the Tate brothers have not yet been formally charged, the BBC said.

Victims were terrorized and harassed

The Tate family’s legal team also revealed the brothers filed criminal charges in Romania last April against two women, including a US witness who received the letter.

Glandian said the April criminal complaints were filed in response to allegations that the Tate brothers held the two women against their will.

“There was no evidence of that, so the Tate brothers weren’t even arrested in April. They were nothing more than victims of false accusations, and they had every right to file criminal charges because their homes were searched and their property confiscated,” explained the lawyer.

Benjamin Bull says the impact of the lawsuit on his clients has been upsetting and frightening. Dani Pinter, who is part of the same team of prosecution lawyers, says it’s not just the threat of a lawsuit that’s frightening, but also the online harassment many of her clients face for speaking out.

“There are really obscene statements, they are trying to embarrass them, they say that it is a lie. But there is also information from their private lives – where they work, who their family members are – with the clear intention of inciting harassment. And it works,” says Dani Pinter. According to her, the two alleged victims she represents have even received death threats.

“They’re scared to death. They’re both hiding. They feel like they can’t settle down because people are trying to find them,” the lawyer said.

The Tate brothers would have an army of trolls

The prosecutor’s office made sure that the names of the six women were kept strictly confidential, but the full names of some of them were published on social networks, the BBC reports.

The names of two witnesses even appeared in a statement to the BBC from the Tate brothers’ US liaison team, but the BBC says it will not release their names.

Andrew Tate and his brother have no access to social media while in prison, but have built up a large network of loyal fans and supporters who are very active online, the BBC reports.

Some of the accounts appear to be run by a professional team that regularly posts videos and documents aimed at undermining the testimony of witnesses and other women making allegations against Tates.

Earlier this week, one of the most active accounts published the full name, social media addresses and WhatsApp messages of one of the alleged victims of the investigation.

The BBC has contacted the account for comment but has yet to hear back.

Daria Gushi was threatened after talking to the BBC

Even those who have only a small part in the story can be targeted. Daria Gusha, the daughter of politician Kozmin Gusha, has told the BBC and others that she received a private message from Andrew Tate’s Instagram account when she was 16.

It followed the same pattern he demonstrated in his online speeches on how to attract and influence women. She did not claim that any crime had been committed, but she was subsequently harassed online.

“I received many messages. Most of them were from people saying I was lying or calling me a whore,” Daria Gusha told the BBC. She claims she received “10-15 threats” online.

“The guy sent me a message: I know you study at this university, the program is published online, I know where you are,” said Daria, who studies in England.

Several of her friends, who apparently also had contact with Andrew Tate, refused to talk about their experiences, Daria says.

“It’s not just about the people who work for him,” she explained. “It’s the fact that basically there are millions of men who really adore these people and are ready to do anything to protect them and their image, so I think it’s completely justified that so many girls don’t want to talk,” said Daria Gusha.

It is unclear who exactly runs some of the most active accounts defending the Tates, or how co-operative they are, but the risks for women making public allegations against Andrew Tate could be high and could come from several directions, the BBC concludes. . (source news.ro)