The jail cell phone taps cited by the judge in court documents obtained by BuzzFeed News show that Andrew wanted to flee to Dubai on the pretext of receiving treatment there. (The UAE does not have an extradition treaty with Romania.) A Tate representative told the Daily Mail in early March that the black spots on Andrew’s lungs “most likely were tumors.” . However, Andrew later revealed on Twitter that the spot was actually a scar “from an old battle”.
The Tates’ attorney, Eugen Vidineac, dismissed speculation that the brothers would attempt to escape. “They have homes and children in Romania, are under criminal investigation and have no reason to flee,” he told local media. Tates spokesperson Mattea Petrescu told BuzzFeed News: [namely] Andrew discusses leaving for Dubai for medical investigations only if his status permits. ”
Romanian authorities also said the Tates family encouraged an army of followers to send messages to at least one of the alleged victims, demanding that they withdraw their accusations. “Speaking to the victim in a threatening tone is of a nature that induces a state of fear in the victim, and we are trying to get her to decide to change her statement about the accused in the case,” the judge said. . Summary of February.
(Tate online personality Sulaiman Ahmed tweeted on Feb. 18 that he traveled to Palm Beach, Fla. — the hometown of one of the key witnesses to the incident —for the big storyBut there was no indication that Ahmed, who did not respond to BuzzFeed News’ request for comment, actually met the witnesses or their families.)
Additionally, in December, the US law firm representing the brothers sent a cease and desist letter to the Florida woman, requiring her to retract her statements or sue for defamation. Romanian authorities see the letter as a threatening puzzle piece.
Tina Grandian, another Tates US attorney on the Romanian legal team, recently stressed to the media that “her firm was not involved in sending the cease and desist letter.” . Petrescu told BuzzFeed News that the letter was “a legal action in the United States” and that “these allegations are outdated, given that an appeals court judge ruled on house arrest.”
