Law&Crime Sidebar - Wealthy Real Estate Brothers Lured Women on Exotic Getaways to Rape Them: Cops

Episode Date: December 13, 2024

Twin brothers Oren and Alon Alexander, as well as their older brother Tal, are accused of sex trafficking. Two of the brothers are behind a luxury real estate brokerage with offices in Manhattan and Miami. Both federal and state prosecutors say the Alexander brothers were part of a coordinated effort to convince women to join them for an exotic trip that turned into a nightmare. Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber has the details.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW: Watch Sidebar with Jesse Weber NOW on Spotify! - https://bit.ly/41thR8LHOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael Deininger and Christina FalconeScript Writing & Producing - Savannah Williamson & Juliana BattagliaGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondry Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify. 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. Investigators in both New York and Miami say three brothers in the real estate and private security family businesses are serial sexual predators and alleged that their heinous behavior, dates all the way back to high school, but now they are facing very serious charges as federal prosecutors pledged to take down men who prey on vulnerable people, no matter how rich and famous they might be. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by Law and Crime. I'm Jesse Weber. Hey, so before we jump into the story, I have really, really exciting news for you. The video

version of Sidebar is now available on Spotify. That's right, we are so thankful for your guys. supportive sidebar and us getting the show on spotify video it is truly due to how loyal this audience is so thank you so much and yes you can now watch and listen on the go from didy to the united health care murder updates to crazy court movements it is all on spotify now so right now you can scan the QR code on screen or click the link in the description to follow sidebar on spotify the alexander brothers if you're in the new york city scene strong chance you know who these guys are now if you're not i'm going to lay it out for you because they are part Of the who's who of the real estate business, they specialize in ultra high-end properties in the New York City and Miami areas.

I am talking palatial homes, these penthouse condos that cost millions and millions of dollars. But prosecutors in both New York and Florida have now accused these brothers of using the fruits of their labor to fund a sex trafficking scheme. And they allege that the brothers have been sexually violent with women for more than 20 years. So when you think about this between Jeffrey Epstein, R. Kelly, Sean Combs, Mike Jeffries, sex trafficking charges against wealthy, high-profile individuals have become more and more common over the past few years. And I've said it before, I'll say it again. Why you're seeing wealthy, high-profile individuals being targeted with these charges is because you have to think a sex trafficking scheme, the ability to maybe transport people for the purposes of illegal sexualized. activity, you have to be somewhat wealthy and have the resources and the power and the influence to do these kinds of things, something to think about. Now, okay, so here are the men believed to be

involved in these brutal acts of sexual assault. We're talking about Orrin Alexander, as well as his twin brother, Alon Alexander. Tal Alexander is their older brother, and there is a fourth man who has now been brought up on charges in Florida. We'll talk about these state charges, But this fourth man has been identified as O'Hod Fisherman, who Miami prosecutors identified as their cousin, but his lawyer actually denies that he's a cousin. We'll get into that in just a minute, but let's talk about the brothers. So Oren and Tau are the founders of this Ritzie real estate firm called Official.

They have offices in Manhattan and Miami Beach, according to the company's website, which now appears to have been taken down. Now, Alon, Oren's twin, works at the family's private security firm, And O'Hod Fisherman is also a real estate broker who has his own company. So between them, the three brothers have reportedly made millions of dollars over the years. And authorities in at least two states say that the men use that money to fund luxury vacations, which they invited women to join them on with the express intention of sexually assaulting them. So there are actually two joint investigations going on here, two cases.

One in federal court, one in state court. Miami-Dade County prosecutors have filed charges against the twins and their cousin or this fourth man, Ohad, but again, not maybe not really a cousin. Federal prosecutors, though, have filed charges against all three brothers. But actually, I'll say today, the twin brothers, Oran and Alon, appeared in Miami court today to face those state charges and they entered not guilty, please. Take a look. So based on the written, they're not guilty, and the man from discovering their reign today, that's because of the purpose of court. Judge, that should be in all cases, just for the record. Warren Alexander has three cases pending.

It's F24-25503A, F-24-25504, and F-24-25507. The state has filed felony information on all three cases. And the charge in the arrest warrant is the same charge as the information. Yes, correct. And then Alon-Alexander is charged in F-24-25503B. as the co-defendant with Mr. Oren Alexander and a third co-defendant who has not yet been apprehended. And Oren and Alon also each secured bonds of $3 million and $2 million, respectively. And it's interesting arrangement here because that comes with their bail packages.

Those bonds are being secured by their father's estate in Balharbour. Sure. For Alon, Alexander, which is, again, F24-25303B, the defendant will put up a personal share of $2 million that will be secured with their home, a mortgage, hold on, can you read this, the home at 248 Val Bay Drive and Val Harbor, Florida. There will be a corporate of surety amount of $25,000. Alon Alexander shall be confined to house arrest, level 3 with GPS monitor. There will be a stayaway order from these victims. Mr. Orrin Alexander, this covers all three of his cases. There will be a personal surety of $3 million in the event he fails to

appear. That will be secured by, again, a mortgage on Shlomi Alexander's home, which I read into the record previously. That's his father. That's his father's home. Yes. There'll be in case F-24-5504, there is a corporate surety in the amount of $25,000, again, issued by Mr. Zemlock. In F-24-2-5-507, there is a corporate surety amount in the amount of $25,000 issued by Roy Zemlock. There is, again, house arrest, level three, with GPS monitor. There's a stay-away order from the victims in all three cases. Now, here's the thing.

The brothers have been ordered to remain on house arrest. by GPS monitor, but it doesn't mean they're being released. I'll explain why in a minute, but during his first court appearance on Thursday, something happened that was really interesting. Orrin interrupted the court to tell the judge why he couldn't be in jail. Your Honor, my wife is nine months pregnant, do any day now with our first child. Her family's in Brazil. She's counting on me to be with her during labor.

And because it's considered a dangerous crime, I'm required to hold you with no bonds. And also a federal hold judge. He does, Your Honor. He has a hold for the FBI. Now, going back to what I mentioned, in the end, even despite the bond, these brothers actually won't be released because they are also under federal indictment, and their brother is in federal custody, TAL. So they will be transferred into federal custody out in New York, too. So with that in mind, now let's talk about the federal case first, and then we'll talk about

the state charges, because the federal case is a little bit more overarching. So according to U.S. Attorney General Damien Williams from the Southern District of New York, the Alexanders would allegedly drug and violently rape their victims. So there's three counts here. All the brothers are facing one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking. Hal is facing one count of sex trafficking by force, fraud, or coercion on his own. But then he also shares another sex trafficking count of forced fraud or coercion with his brothers with respect to another alleged victim. The indictment alleges that between at least 2010 and at least 2021, the Alexander brothers worked together and with others to repeatedly and violently drug, sexually

assault, and rape dozens of female victims. The Alexander brothers reside primarily in New York and Miami. And as alleged, Oren and Tall Alexander were real estate agents who focused on ultra luxury markets. A lone Alexander, who was Oren's twin, was an executive of a private security firm owned and operated by his family. As a ledge of the defendants used their wealth and positions to create and facilitate opportunities to sexually assault women. In particular, Oren and Tal Alexander allegedly used their prominent positions in the real estate industry to induce women to come to events and parties. At those parties and sometimes afterwards, the women were sexually assaulted by one or more of the defendants. As alleged in the indictment,

for years that Alexander brothers, sometimes with others, also arranged domestic and international trips, to carry out their sex trafficking scheme. To recruit and induce women to come on the trips, they provided material benefits, things like travel to vacation destinations, luxury accommodations, and access to other high-end experiences. As alleged, the Alexander brothers met their trafficking victims through a variety of means, in person, over social media, on dating apps, and through social connections.

At times, they allegedly use their social connections or the guise of starting a relationship to lure women into their orbit. The indictment alleges that after meeting their victims, the Alexander brothers would invite the victims to a vacation property or location. The Alexander brothers and other men they planned the trips with paid for the flights or accommodations for the women on these trips. And at times, the defendants hand-picked the women to invite. At other times, they used paid party promoters to source women for them.

The indictment also alleges that, In advance of these events, the Alexander brothers and others procured drugs that they agreed to provide to the women, including cocaine, mushrooms, and GHB. As we allege, these drugs caused some of the women to be physically unable to fight back or to escape. Then, as alleged, the Alexander brothers sometimes acting alone, sometimes with each other, and sometimes with other men, forcibly raped and assaulted the women. In terms of what they can face, according to the DOJ, sex trafficking conspiracy carries

up to life in prison, and sex trafficking by force fraud or coercion is 15 years to life. Now you might be looking at this and saying, why does Williams look so familiar? Well, it is because he is the United States Attorney General for the Southern District of New York who is actually prosecuting at this time, Sean Diddy Combs. Yes, remember when he announced those charges at a press conference when Sean Combs was arrested, And as we know, Combs is facing a number of federal charges. He's facing racketeering, sex trafficking, prostitution charges currently locked away at the Metropolitan Detention Center as he waits trial next year in May of 2025. I stood here several months ago and made clear that this office is firmly committed to prosecuting individuals who exploit and abuse women.

I meant what I said. With our law enforcement partners, 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. And let me add this. We are not done. I encourage anyone with information about this case to come forward and to do so quickly. Now I want to talk about this letter to the court that was filed by the prosecutors and was filed with the indictment. And it is seeking to detain the brothers without bail.

And the government goes into more detail in this letter about these accusations that are just horrific. So it reads, evidence from the investigation, including multiple victim and witness accounts, shows that the Alexander brothers began engaging in acts of sexual violence, including gang rapes, while still in high school in Miami, Florida. So first of all, it just tells you how intensive this investigation was and how expansive it was. This is not something that seemed to have been filed or investigated in a month. This looks like it was going on for quite some time. It goes on to say the government has interviewed multiple women who report being raped,

by at least one of the Alexander brothers in high school in the early 2000s, including victims who were raped by groups of boys, including the Alexander brothers. Several of these victims were given alcohol by one of the defendants or other individuals who participated in the sexual assaults. Each of the victims that the government has interviewed from this period reported hearing that individuals involved, including Tal Alexander, talked about the assaults at school, boasting about running train on their victims and saying that they wanted to do it And in fact, in a footnote in this filing, prosecutors allege that Oren actually bragged about

sexual assaults in his high school yearbook, alluding to an alleged gang rape and saying it was his most memorable moment from that time. Now, the charges of sex trafficking are in connection with two different women. So I want to start with victim one. And remember, this is only with respect to Tal. He's only charged with respect to victim one. But the prosecution's letter to the court lays out what allegedly happened. to Victim 1, saying in or around the summer of 2011, a friend invited Victim 1 to travel to the

Hamptons to stay with her friends. Victim 1 accepted the invitation. She was living in Manhattan at the time and traveled by Long Island Railroad from Penn Station to the Hamptons. Tall Alexander and another man were waiting for Victim 1 and her friend at the train station and drove the women to their vacation house. Victim 1 had never met Tall Alexander before. After arriving at the house, Victim 1 was given a glass of wine and drank about half of it before she began to feel unwell in a way inconsistent with drinking that amount. So again, it looks like this is an allegation of her being drugged. Victim One's memory thereafter became hazy, but she has several distinct memories of the night.

Specifically, victim one remembers being held down by Tal while another man entered the room. Victim one also remembers being in a second location with Tal and the other man and that a camcorder was set up. Victim one's next memory is of waking up in the grass outside of the vacation house with a physical sensation indicating recent, I'll just say, sexual assault. Now, a couple things there. If there is that camcorder and there is a recording and it hasn't been discarded, that could be a key piece of evidence. I will say at first glance, looking at this, I'm sure a defense could be

if she had been intoxicated, and I'm sure they'll deny that she was drugged, but if she was intoxicated, how does she really particularly recall what happened to her? That will be an area I'm sure the defense will explore. But moving on, that transporting element, by the way, is key. That transporting element is key in sex trafficking charges like that, the transporting of people who are sexually assaulted. And that actually leads me now to victim two. So I want you to pay particular attention to the transporting component here.

And remember, when it comes to victim two, all three brothers are charged with sex. trafficking victim two. So, victim two told investigators that in August of 2016, she and a friend matched with Alon and Orrin on a dating app, and they invited the women who apparently lived in Illinois to stay with them in the Hamptons for Labor Day weekend. So the men offered to pay for flights for them to come to New York. And the letter shows transcripts of messages between the Alexander brothers found on Orrin's iCloud accounts that talk about the men buying the tickets. So Alon says, are we booking flights? First three on left, we split and try to orgy, then out? Hall responds for sure last weekend, throw it up. Alon responds, I agree. Orin, and Orin responds all four,

why not? Now, Victim 2 says that she and her friend were taken to the Brothers Hampton's home, where they stayed in a room with other women. And at a party hosted that night, she claims Oren gave her a drink, and shortly after that, she was struggling to walk. Alon allegedly took her to a bedroom to lie down, and then Oren returned a short time later and raped her. This is according to the court filings. Victim two apparently told her friend what had happened, and then they left the Hamptons that same day. Now, according to the filing, it says, quote, the evidence in this case also establishes that the defendants planned and paid for trips involving the interstate and international transportation of women on multiple other occasions. Again, the sex trafficking

component. This evidence includes electronic communications, including from the defendant's own accounts. In one example from October 2016, just weeks after the Alexander brothers sex trafficked and raped victim too, they, along with a number of other individuals, arranged to transport multiple women to Toulon. And the filing again showed this transcript of messages, this time reportedly from WhatsApp. And that included in this conversation. another person only identified as male one. So they discuss whether they want to find women themselves to invite in the trip or if they want to use party promoters to provide them with girls.

And they also discuss the drugs that they want to have with them, including X, likely referring to ecstasy, and G, likely referring to GHB, a well-known date rape drug. So Alon says in this conversation, I think we should all bring chicks and not rely on promoters since we never met the girls. We need fun girls with good attitude. I'm sure we all met many recently this summer.

Male 2, again, not being identified, I know you know some winners. Also, by the way, I have to say it's interesting that male 2 is not being identified could possibly be a cooperating witness for the government, and that is why we don't know who this person is and why they're not being indicted alongside the brothers. And by the way, that also applies to male 1.

So later on in a conversation, male 1 says, I just need to handle drugs, Tau responds, yes, male one. I don't want X around too much. Nothing gets done with that. Coke, shrooms and G. Then, a few days after that, Tau allegedly asks the chat, photographers, drugs? Male one responds, all getting worked on. Orrin says, are all girls getting shipped out on Sunday? Male one, yeah. The men also use terms from the business world when talking about women. For example, Orin says, Just trying to make sure I get max returns was going to come for that Sunday night tax and make sure all girls make quota. Orrin also allegedly said, no free rides under my watch.

That's more than most of us have ever spent on girls. Just want to make sure we get a good ROI. ROI stands for return on investment. The government also alleges that if women complained about their treatment or tried to report assaults, they were targeted. The letter reads in March 24, multiple lawsuits alleging sexual misconduct and assault against the Alexander brothers were publicly reported. In response to the public accusations, Alon Alexander began compiling files on each publicly identified victim and several who had not made public accusations as part of an apparent attempt to discredit their accusers. The government's investigation of the defendant's obstructive conduct is ongoing. When the men were accused in those lawsuits, this was reported in the real estate community.

In fact, it was reported in the real estate news site, the real deal. And that was sensational news in the realty world. But now that the men face arrest, detention, criminal charges at the state and federal level, their names are being splashed across headlines worldwide. And the letter goes on to make arguments for why the three brothers should be locked up and not granted any sort of bail, including their relationship. dangerousness, their significant wealth, and their ties to other countries like Israel. So a footnote reads, based on the government's review of messages between the Alexander

brothers, it appears that the brothers purchased a private airplane in or about 2021. The location of this airplane is unknown. Now, during his news conference, a reporter asked Damien Williams, how many women the brothers have allegedly victimized over the years? I can't give you an exact number, of course. But what I can say is that we are unfortunately busy with sex trafficking, investigations, trafficking of all forms, human trafficking, labor trafficking. It's an area that we are very active in and focused on.

It's not just the powerful, though. Obviously, those kinds of cases get more attention than others. I think we have seen over time that this kind of conduct, no one is immune from it. They're victims of all sorts. And the ones that keep me up the most at night are the ones where the people who have been victimized don't think that they have the ability to hold the wrongdoers accountable because they are not famous or are well-known. And so it really spans the gamut, I would say.

And it's another reason why we're committed to this work to make sure that someone is looking out for these people and that people are out there, whether they're rich and famous or not, know that on the other side of this conduct, if there are people like the FBI and the NYPD and the Southern District of New York Civil Rights Unit out there working it, there will be accountability. Even if it takes a little bit of time, there will be accountability. Okay, I want to also quickly talk about those state felony charges that I mentioned out of Florida. So Orrin and Alan are facing charges for alleged sexual battery, and they were arrested Wednesday morning. Now, O'Hod, fisherman, who I mentioned before, he is also facing charges and was reportedly at large. But O'Hod's lawyer, Jeffrey Sloman, said in an email to the New York Times that his client is not at large, but is on this long pre-planned honeymoon outside of the United States, apparently in Japan. and he told the New York Times that his client denies these allegations and is making plans to return to South Florida

to ultimately be arraigned on these charges. Sloman also denied, by the way, as I mentioned before, the fisherman is a cousin of the Alexanders, so it's a little unclear why he was first identified as a cousin by the government. No further information was given about this alleged misidentification, but we'll see what to make of that. Now, I want to talk about Miami-Dade State Attorney Catherine Rundle. So she gave more details to reporters about these three alleged assaults from 2016,

2017, and 2021 that make up these charges. And that is more fully documented in reporting by the Miami Herald. So Rundle said in the 2016 incident, a victim told investigators that Alon invited her to attend a barbecue at a Miami Beach condo along with O'Rin and O'Hod. And she claims that she was held down by O'Hod fishermen, while O'Rin and Alan argued, about who was going to rape her first. And it turned out, according to her, first it was Oren, and then it was Alon.

Now, in the second incident from 2017, Oran allegedly invited a victim to his apartment after a real estate event, gave her a glass of wine, and without her consent, undressed her, took her to a bedroom, and then assaulted her. Now, she claims that when she confronted him about this weeks later,

he not only committed allegedly another sex act upon her, but also allegedly threatened her if she spoke up about what happened. Now we go to 2021. A third alleged victim comes forward and says that she was raped by Orrin at his Miami Beach home after he confiscated her phone, claiming it was, quote, to protect the privacy of his famous house. This is according to Rundle. Now, state attorney Rundle told reporters Thursday,

these women are strong and resilient, and they are an example to anyone else out there who has experienced sexual violence or has been a witness to it or knows someone, we want everyone out there to realize that a victim of sexual crimes is what we in law enforcement do. We're here for you. Wow, we're going to keep our eyes on this case

because really, really stunning developments that are happening both at the state and federal level. But as of right now, that's all we have for you right now here on Sidebar. Thank you so much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on Apple Podcast, Spotify, YouTube, wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time.

You can binge all episodes of this long crime series ad free right now on Wondery Plus. Join Wondery Plus in the Wondery app, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify.