Andrew Tate will remain in a Romanian prison for the rest of the month after a court upheld the arrest, and he could remain locked up for 180 days.
Tate was arrested on December 29, 2022, on charges of gang crime, human trafficking and rape.
The controversial social media influencer was ordered to remain in prison for 30 days, despite claiming it was all the fault of “the Matrix”.
The 36-year-old was initially detained for 24 hours after revealing his location using a pizza box during a Twitter spat with climate change activist Greta Thunberg.
He was arrested alongside his brother Tristan, who was charged in the same case.
Their assistants – two Romanian women – were also taken into custody.
All four immediately challenged the arrest extension a judge granted to prosecutors on December 30.
A document explaining the judge’s reasoning said “the possibility of them evading investigations cannot be ignored” and they could “leave Romania and settle in countries that do not allow extradition”.
Tate arrived at Bucharest’s Court of Appeal in handcuffs on Tuesday, January 10. He was photographed walking into court holding a Quran.
Prosecutors investigating the case have so far seized 15 luxury cars – at least seven of which are owned by the Tate brothers – and more than 10 properties or bits of land owned by companies registered to them.
It is now being decided whether or not the Tate brothers could be kept in detention for a maximum of 180 days.
A decision on the extension is set to be made this week, despite pleas from Tate’s representatives to allow him to serve the original time under house arrest.