When Andrew Tate and his brother were arrested last month their initial detention was only for 24-hours. But a judge quickly extended that to 30 days. That was on December 30th. Tate and his lawyer appealed that extension earlier this month but his appeal was denied. That meant Tate and his brother would have to remain in jail until the end of January.

Today, the court extended the Tates’ detention for another 30 days.

Influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan will stay in custody until 27 February after a Romanian court extended their police detention.

The pair are being investigated over allegations of rape and exploitation and will remain in custody for another 30 days while police build their case.

The reasons for this extension will be given in a written statement later…

No charges have been brought against the brothers yet. As they have not been charged, they have not yet had the chance to plead guilty or not guilty.

I’m not sure what the limit is here for how many times police can extend this detention while they continue to investigate, but the Tates are expected to appeal this extension as well. Previously a judge said the chances of them fleeing the country were too great to allow them to leave jail.

Meanwhile, police haven’t been idle. In addition to seizing several million dollars worth of cars, police have reportedly searched at least seven properties.

Romania’s anti-organized crime agency has carried out seven additional house searches in its investigation into divisive social media influencer Andrew Tate, an official said Thursday.

Ramona Bolla, spokesperson for the agency, DIICOT, said searches are taking place in the counties of Bucharest, Ilfov, and Prahova “in order to obtain further evidence.”

Finally, there’s another story about Tate today. I’ve already covered the allegations by a 16-year-old girl named Daria Gusa that she was contacted by Tate on social media. The BBC spoke to another teen who was approached by Tate’s brother in the same way.

Gabriela (not her real name) was 17 when she was contacted on social media by Andrew Tate’s brother Tristan – though she later pretended she was 19.

She’s asked that we call her Gabriela to disguise her identity. She showed me his initial message, which read, “You’re beautiful”.

“I knew he was using the same approach with other girls,” she said. “He always starts the conversation with the same exact line: ‘You’re beautiful’.”

Gabriela said a friend of hers received exactly the same opening message from Tristan Tate.

In his video online, Andrew Tate says the phrase ‘”you are beautiful” isn’t bad as an opening, and goes on to outline what he describes as “a perfect example” of a conversation…

Gabriela says he invited her out in his car, and to a party, though she declined.

The BBC points out that it’s not illegal for a 36-year-old to flirt with a 17-year-old online or ask them out. But investigators say this is how the Tates operated their porn empire. They approached lots of young girls and dated some of them until they felt had enough control to push them into the business.