NEW YORK (AP) – Two high-end real estate brokers and their brothers seduced, drugged and violently assaulted dozens of women over more than a decade, according to a federal indictment unsealed Wednesday in Manhattan. He was charged with rape.
State charges were also filed Wednesday in Florida against two of the brothers and a third man on three counts of sexual assault.
Federal prosecutors say in a New York indictment that Oren and Tal Alexander, known for brokering high-end real estate deals in New York City and Miami, and their brother Aron Alexander, made a fortune and acquired wealth from at least 2010 to 2021. They allege that he used his influence to exploit women. .
The brothers, all of whom live in Miami, used “deception, fraud and coercion” to lure victims into traveling with them, attending parties and events, and paying for their flights, hotels and other expenses, according to the indictment. It is said that there were many things to do. They also sometimes promised romantic relationships.
AP correspondent Julie Walker reports on three prominent luxury real estate brothers in New York and Florida who have been indicted on sex trafficking charges.
The women were then drugged and raped by one or more of their brothers and other men before being sent back with concert tickets and other luxuries.
“This act was heinous,” Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said at a news conference in Manhattan.
Williams said the brothers typically met their victims on dating apps, social events, bars and nightclubs, but also used party promoters to “source” women.
He added that the women were frequently provided with drugs such as cocaine, psychedelic mushrooms and GHB. Prosecutors said in the indictment that the brothers secretly drugged some of the women’s drinks, leaving them disabled and unable to fight back or escape the sexual assault.
“In some cases, the defendants physically restrained and held the victims down during the rapes and sexual assaults, ignoring their screams and clear requests to stop,” the indictment states.
In the Florida case, state prosecutors said in a December 2016 incident that no one except Aron Alexander and his brother Oren were invited to a barbecue at his Miami Beach apartment. It was described as a “gang rape” of the woman, who said no one was there. Another relative, Ohad Fisherman, remains at large.
Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle said the woman was taken anonymously to a bedroom and held down by a fisherman, begging him not to assault her while the brothers debated who would rape her first. He said they got into an argument. .
The second incident occurred in October 2017, when a woman claimed Oren Alexander sexually assaulted her in his apartment after drinking wine, leaving her weak and unable to control her body, prosecutors said. He says he can no longer do it.
They said the third incident occurred in October 2021 and involved a woman who claimed Oren Alexander assaulted her after returning to Oren Alexander’s residence with friends after dinner.
Williams, the U.S. attorney for New York, said the three brothers were arrested in Florida on Wednesday and are scheduled to appear in Miami federal court before being taken to New York.
He declined to say whether others would also be charged, but urged other potential victims to come forward.
Meanwhile, the brothers’ lawyers have denied the charges, including one count of each brother’s involvement in a sex trafficking conspiracy.
“Oren Alexander is innocent,” attorney Susan Necheres wrote in an email. “The evidence will show that neither he nor his brother committed the crime in any way.”
Aron Alexander’s attorney, Isabel Kershner, responded, “My client has entered a not guilty plea and will address these charges in the appropriate forum, which is the courtroom.”
Tal Alexander’s attorney, Joel Denaro, declined to comment.
The brother appeared in Miami federal court on Wednesday and is scheduled for a detention hearing Friday as prosecutors argue he is a danger to the community and a flight risk. The other two brothers are in state custody and are scheduled to appear in court Thursday.
Lawyers for numerous women who filed lawsuits earlier this year alleging violence at the hands of their brothers welcomed the charges.
“We are pleased to hear that there will finally be some accountability for the Alexander brothers and justice for their many victims,” said attorney David Gottlieb. I wrote to Xformerly Twitter. “We applaud all the survivors who, after years of pain and suffering, had the strength and courage to speak out about their unimaginable experiences.”
Tal Alexander, 38, and Oren Alexander, 37, first worked as a team for real estate giant Douglas Elliman, where they listed properties for Kim Kardashian, Kanye West, Liam Gallagher and Lindsay Lohan. . In 2022, they founded a new company called Official.
Oren’s twin brother, Aron Alexander, attended law school; I participated Family private security business.
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Associated Press writer Michael Schneider in Orlando, Florida, contributed to this article.
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Follow Philip Marcelo twitter.com/PhilMarcelo.
