 "Who are Alexander brothers, luxury real estate agents, who drugged, raped women in the US?")
Two luxury real estate agents in the US have been charged with sex trafficking.
Prosecutors have accused Oren and Tal Alexander, widely known as the Alexander brothers, of using their wealth and influence to traffic women for over a decade.
A third brother, Alon, has also been charged.
But who are the Alexander Brothers? What do we know about the case?
Let’s take a closer look:
Who are they?
Tal and Alon are 37, while Oren is 38.
As per Business Insider, the brothers hail from Miami.
They are the sons of a wealthy South Florida real-estate developer.
Oren and Tal kicked off their real estate careers at Douglas Elliman.
Alon, who went to law school, works for his family’s firm Kent Security.
It was here that they got their ‘Alexander brothers’ moniker.
Oren in 2011 was put on the Forbes’ “30 under 30” for real estate.
In 2012, the Alexander brothers set the record for the priciest single-family home ever sold in Miami.
The $47 million mansion was developed by their father.
As per BBC, the brothers have handled properties for Liam Gallagher, Lindsay Lohan, Kim Kardashian, Kanye West and other celebrities.
Tommy Hilfiger, Steve Madden and Sander Jacobs are some of the brothers’ other clients, as per Hindustan Times.
In 2019, the Alexander brothers were part of the most expensive US home sale in history.
They represented Ken Griffin, the billionaire who founded Citadel, in his purchase of a $238 million penthouse in Manhattan.
The Alexander brothers co-founded luxury real estate brokerage firm Official in 2022.
The company focuses on brokering high-end real estate sales and rentals in New York, Miami, the Hamptons near New York and Aspen, Colorado.
It was involved in brokering a $14.3-million deal in Bay Harbor, Florida in May.
Oren and Tal Alexander stepped down from their roles at Official in June, The New York Times reported.
Hindustan Times quoted Details magazine as calling the brothers “real estate royalty.”
Tal told the magazine, “You’ve gotta go out there and take it.”
“They earn rock-star salaries, look like rockstars, fly private jets, hobnob not necessarily with the greatest but with the richest,” the profile added.
Tal Alexander since 2019 has rented an apartment on a strip of skyscrapers near Manhattan’s Central Park known as “billionaire’s row.”
Alon and Oren Alexander own properties in Miami Beach with private docks.
As per Business Insider, the Alexander brothers were part of the social elite.
Oren and Tal would frequently share images of themselves at events like New York Fashion Week to their tens of thousands of followers.
Oren’s 2023 wedding was also featured in Vogue.
What do we know about the case?
The brothers have been accused of sex trafficking dozens of women for over a decade.
The Manhattan US Attorney’s office has accused Oren, Tal and Anon of drugging and sexually assaulting women for more than a decade starting in 2010.
In an eight-page indictment, prosecutors said the brothers often invited women to parties or trips, where they would rape them alone or together, sometimes within hours of meeting them.
CNN quoted the indictment as saying that the brothers “arranged for these sexual assaults well in advance, using the promise of luxury experiences, travel, and accommodations to lure and entice women to locations where they were then forcibly raped or sexually assaulted, sometimes by multiple men,” including themselves.
The outlet said that the indictment claimed the brothers and others would combine their resources to pay for the women’s travel and even share photographs to “select those they found sufficiently attractive to invite.”
They would recruit women on social media or dating apps and work with party promoters.
BBC quoted the indictment as saying that the brothers gave the women drugs including “furtively” in drinks.
These included cocaine, mushrooms and GHB, as per CNN.
The brothers “physically restrained and held down their victims during the rapes and sexual assaults and ignored screams and explicit requests to stop” in some instances, the indictment read.
They sometimes offered the victims travel or concert tickets after the assaults, according to the indictment.
Prosecutors say that though the incidents for which the brothers have been charged fall between 2010 and 2020, they have uncovered allegations against the men going back as far as high school.
They each face one count of sex-trafficking conspiracy and one count of sex trafficking.
Tal Alexander faces an additional count of sex trafficking.
As per CNN, the brothers, if convicted, face 15 years to life in prison.
“As of today, law enforcement has interviewed dozens of women who reported being forcibly raped or sexually assaulted by at least one of the Alexander brothers,” Damian Williams, US Attorney for the Southern District of New York, at a press conference in Manhattan, was quoted as saying by BBC. “This conduct, as alleged, was heinous.”
The brothers were arrested in Florida on Wednesday morning and are expected to be transferred to New York. Prosecutors are seeking to have them detained pending trial. They face up to life in prison if convicted.
“The defendants used their wealth and positions to create and facilitate opportunities to sexually assault women,” Williams added. “This office is determined to investigate and prosecute anyone who engages in sex trafficking, no matter how powerful or wealthy or famous you may be.”
A lawyer for Tal Alexander declined to comment. Alon Alexander will enter a not-guilty plea, his lawyer Isabelle Kirshner said in a statement.
Susan Necheles, a lawyer for Oren Alexander, said: “Oren Alexander is innocent. The evidence will show that neither he nor his brothers ever committed a crime.”
A lawyer representing the alleged victims hailed the development.
“We are glad to hear that there will finally be some measure of accountability for the Alexander brothers and justice for their many victims,” David Gottlieb said in a statement posted by his law firm Wigdor LLP on X.
“We applaud all the survivors who have had the strength and courage to speak up about their unimaginable experiences after years of pain and suffering.”
Officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Prosecutors have alleged that the brothers are flight risks and ought be jailed.
Oren, Tal and Alon Alexander have also been sued in civil court over sexual-assault allegations. All three brothers have denied the allegations.
Williams’ office has prioritised sex-trafficking cases in recent years, having secured the conviction of Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell and brought charges against hip-hop impresario Sean “Diddy” Combs.
Maxwell recently lost an appeal of her conviction, and Combs has pleaded not guilty.
With inputs from agencies
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