Real estate stars Oren, Tal Alexander, brother charged with sex trafficking

Federal prosecutors in New York accused top real estate agents Tal and Oren Alexander and their brother, Alon, of drugging and raping “dozens of victims” over more than a decade.

The brothers “used their wealth and positions to create and facilitate opportunities to rape and sexually assault women,” according to the newly unsealed federal indictment charging them with sex trafficking.

At times, they “lured” women with luxury travel to destinations where they were then sexually assaulted, the indictment alleged.

They also allegedly “worked together and with others known and unknown” to carry out the sex trafficking scheme. Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, declined to specify who else is under investigation in the case.

The brothers — who had been synonymous with Manhattan’s luxury real estate market before allegations against them first surfaced earlier this year — were arrested in Miami on Wednesday morning.

They each face one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking and one count of sex trafficking of a victim by force, fraud, or coercion, according to the eight-page indictment in U.S. District Court in Manhattan. Tal Alexander faces an additional count of sex trafficking of a victim by force, fraud, or coercion.

If convicted, the brothers could face prison sentences of 15 years to life, prosecutors said.

Also on Wednesday, Florida State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle unveiled separate charges against Oren and Alon Alexander related to alleged sexual assaults in the state.

Oren was charged with two counts of sexual battery in two separate incidents, and one count of sexual battery by multiple perpetrators, Fernandez Rundle announced at a press conference. Alon faces one count of sexual battery by multiple perpetrators.

Ohad Fisherman, a cousin of the Alexanders, is also facing charges in the Florida state case but remains at large, Fernandez Rundle said.

The New York prosecutors on Wednesday also urged federal judges in Manhattan and Miami to keep the brothers detained, arguing they “pose an ongoing and significant danger to the community and present a serious risk of flight.”

That detention memo also noted that while the charged conduct took place between 2010 and 2021, the federal investigation found that the Alexander brothers have raped and sexually assaulted victims for more than 20 years — starting when they were in high school.

An attorney for Oren, Susan Necheles, said in a statement to NBC News, “Oren Alexander is innocent. The evidence will show that neither he nor his brothers ever committed a crime.”

Isabelle Kirshner, an attorney for Alon and Oren, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Deanna Paul, an attorney for Tal, declined to comment. 

“This conduct, as alleged, was heinous,” the U.S. attorney Williams said at a press conference Wednesday afternoon.

Williams noted that the Department of Justice is still investigating allegations against the Alexander brothers, and urged others with information about the case to come forward. “We are not done,” he said.

Several women have previously filed civil lawsuits in Manhattan accusing the brothers of sexual assault. The brothers have denied wrongdoing.

“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, an attorney for the plaintiffs in a number of the civil suits, said in a statement.

“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,” Gottlieb said.

The federal court filings unsealed Wednesday accused the brothers of carrying out the long-running sex trafficking scheme by deceiving and coercing victims to travel with or meet them in private locations.

The brothers then allegedly “used various methods, including drugging the victims and, at times, physical force, to rape and sexually assault the victims — sometimes alone and sometimes together.”

The indictment describes a range of methods the brothers allegedly employed to facilitate the scheme.

The brothers arranged events and international trips as “bait” to entice women, who were then “frequently” assaulted, the indictment alleged.

They allegedly would also work with party promoters to get women to attend parties and events at their vacation properties, including their house in the Hamptons. Before those events, they and others would procure drugs including cocaine, mushrooms and the drug GHB, which is considered a date rape drug.

Oren and Tal in particular allegedly “used their prominent positions in the real estate industry” to get women to attend events and parties. Alon runs the family’s private security business, Kent Security.

The brothers secretly drugged women’s drinks “on multiple occasions,” leading some of them to feel physically and mentally impaired, the indictment alleged.

“Immediately” after assaulting victims, the brothers sometimes offered them “material items, including travel, concert tickets, and other luxury experiences,” according to the indictment.

They would also use similar tactics to rape women they met by chance at nightclubs or parties, luring women to a second location, the prosecutors alleged.

One of the brothers would sometimes meet women online and invite them to his apartment, prosecutors said in the detention memo.

Victims allegedly reported “in most instances” that one of the brothers would give them a drink at some point in the process, after which they felt symptoms of being “unwittingly dosed with a substance that impaired their physical capacity” or memories.

“Many victims told the brothers ‘no’ or even screamed while the rapes were happening but, on each occasion, the defendants ignored any verbal resistance,” prosecutors alleged in the memo.

— CNBC’s Jim Forkin contributed to this report.