By Luc Cohen
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The co-founders of a U.S. luxury real estate brokerage have been arrested on sex-trafficking charges, federal prosecutors said on Wednesday, accusing them of raping dozens of victims.
The Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office accused brothers and co-founders of the Official brokerage Oren Alexander and Tal Alexander, as well as their brother Alon Alexander, of drugging and sexually assaulting victims for more than a decade starting in 2010.
The brothers often invited women to parties or trips, where they would rape them alone or together, sometimes within hours of meeting them, prosecutors said in an eight-page indictment. They sometimes offered the victims travel or concert tickets after the assaults, according to the indictment.
They each face one count of sex-trafficking conspiracy and one count of sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion. Tal Alexander faces an additional count of sex trafficking. U.S. Attorney Damian Williams is expected to provide further details at a press conference beginning at 1 p.m. EST (1800 GMT).
A lawyer for Tal Alexander, 38, declined to comment. Lawyers for twins Oren and Alon Alexander, both 37, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
Oren and Tal Alexander stepped down from their roles at Official in June, the New York Times reported. Alon Alexander has worked as an executive at a private security firm, prosecutors said.
Official did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Oren, Tal and Alon Alexander have also been sued in civil court over sexual-assault allegations. All three brothers have denied the allegations.
Official focuses on brokering high-end real estate sales and rentals in New York, Miami, the Hamptons and Aspen, Colorado.
Williams’ office has prioritized sex-trafficking cases in recent years, having secured the conviction of Jeffrey Epstein associate Ghislaine Maxwell and brought charges against hip-hop empresario Sean “Diddy” Combs. Maxwell recently lost an appeal of her conviction, and Combs has pleaded not guilty.
(Reporting by Luc Cohen in New York; Editing by Rod Nickel)
Comments