- In an interview, Andrew Tate’s bodyguard described life in his entourage while his boss is in prison.
- Bogdan Stancu said Tate’s Bucharest home was teeming with women who thought they would marry him.
- Fooling women with a fake relationship is part of the “loverboy method” Tate used, according to authorities.
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Andrew Tate’s bodyguard described in an interview with the BBC how many of the women around him were eyeing the controversial influencer.
Bogdan Stancu, who has worked at Tate’s premises in Bucharest, Romania for the past two years, told the outlet that the women around Tate thought they were going to marry him.
“Some of the girls misunderstood the reality and believed [they would] be his next wife,” he said, describing her insanity.
Stancu speculated, without providing concrete evidence, that this could have led to the allegations against Tate.
“Once you see the reality, it’s easy to go from friend to foe and make a statement to the police,” he told the BBC.
Stancu also told the BBC that he continues to support Tate, who is in prison, while the Romanian police continue to investigate him.
There is another way of interpreting Stancu’s description of the women in Tate’s circle. Falsely believing one is in a relationship with someone is a common feature of a type of human trafficking Tate says Romanian prosecutors have used.
They said he used the so-called “loverboy” strategy to manipulate women into creating porn for his online business.
Romanian investigative agency DIICOT arrested Tate, his brother Tristan and two Romanian women on December 29 for forming a criminal organization. They face allegations of human trafficking and rape.
A DIICOT press release issued after Tate’s arrest cited the “loverboy” tactic used by Umar Zeb, a senior partner at law firm JD Spicer Zeb Solicitors, to insiders in human trafficking cases.
It works by “ensnaring vulnerable victims,” Zeb said, and “tricking them into believing they’re in a loving relationship.”
“Once victims have essentially fallen in love, they are coerced into various exploitative measures, including human trafficking for the sex industry,” he said.
Andrew Tate’s premises in Bucharest. DANIEL MIHAILESCU/Getty Images
Tate has openly described recruiting women for his business in terms very similar to the loverboy method.
For example, on his now-deleted website, he said he would make women fall for him so “she would do anything I say and then put her on webcam so we can get rich together.”
Social media has played a huge role in enabling human traffickers in recent years, Zeb said while speaking to Insider for an article earlier in January.
“Not only can victims be found from a wider circle because of the reach, the methods of coercion have also changed,” he said.
“What used to be a long scam practiced over a long period of time has now become a much more rapid form of trap, as victims are threatened with blackmail, such as exposing pornographic images, and violence.”
Stancu told the BBC he would “never doubt Andrew” and called the women who have come forward with allegations “young and stupid”.
Tate’s attorney, Eugen Vidineac, believes his clients are innocent and denies there is any evidence against them.
Vidineac also told Romanian outlet Gândul that Tate was not the “violent, illiterate, abusive character” he was believed to be, arguing what he said on social media should not be used as evidence against him.