Two prominent real estate brokers and their brother charged in sex trafficking case

By Kara Scannell and Lauren del Valle, CNN

(CNN) — Federal prosecutors charged two prominent real estate brokers and their brother in a sex trafficking scheme, alleging they baited, drugged and sexually assaulted multiple women since 2010.

Tal and Oren Alexander, top real estate brokers and brothers who started at real estate company Douglas Elliman, and their brother Alon, were arrested Wednesday morning, according to a spokesman for the FBI’s New York field office.

Alon and Oren Alexander were arrested by state authorities on sexual battery charges and are expected to be transferred into federal custody after their initial appearance in state court. Tal Alexander briefly appeared before a federal judge in Florida on Wednesday afternoon and is expected to make another appearance Friday. Prosecutors in Miami-Dade County said they were coordinating with federal officials in New York City on the next steps for both men, including possible extradition.

All three brothers face 15 years to life in prison, if convicted of the federal charges.

Prosecutors allege the Alexander brothers worked together and with other men “to repeatedly and violently drug, sexually assault, and rape dozens of victims” in New York, Miami and elsewhere. The newly unsealed federal indictment charges the brothers for a scheme from 2011 through 2021. But prosecutors say the sexual violence against dozens of women spans more than 20 years, dating as far as when the men were in high school.

Authorities say they used their wealth and status as elite brokers to lure women whom they promised travel, luxury rooms at high end hotels, and access to events. During those trips and events, they allege, the men “frequently raped and sexually assaulted the women” sometimes within hours of meeting them. After the assault, prosecutors say they sometimes offered the women concert tickets or travel.

According to the indictment they “arranged for these sexual assaults well in advance, using the promise of luxury experiences, travel, and accommodations to lure and entice women to locations where they were then forcibly raped or sexually assaulted, sometimes by multiple men,” including themselves.

Prosecutors allege the brothers and others would pool financial resources to pay for the women’s travel expenses. In choosing targets they’d share photographs of women to “select those they found sufficiently attractive to invite,” according to the indictment. The brothers and others allegedly contacted the women through social media or dating apps and invited them to attend events, often by purchasing their flights. They also allegedly worked with party promoters to find women to attend events, and in advance would obtain cocaine, mushrooms and GHB, according to the indictment. During these events and trips, the brothers allegedly “surreptitiously drugged women’s drinks,” authorities allege.

The brothers often “drugged their victims before assaulting them, preventing them from fighting back or escaping,” the indictment says. The brothers allegedly held down their victims during the attacks and “ignored screams and explicit requests to stop,” according to the indictment.

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

Isabelle Kirschner, an attorney who has represented Alon and Oren Alexander, who are twins, in civil sex trafficking lawsuits, confirmed their arrest and declined further comment. Deanna Paul, an attorney for older brother Tal Alexander, also confirmed his arrest and had no further comment. A spokesperson for Douglas Elliman did not respond to a request for comment.

Sexual assault allegations have been publicly levied against the Alexander brothers since earlier this year. Douglas Elliman’s stock began plummeting in 2021, years before the allegations were made public. After questions were raised about how the assault allegations were handled by management, along with other concerns about the company’s plummeting valuation, the company’s former CEO, Howard Lorber, abruptly retired in October. Neither Lorber nor Douglas Elliman were mentioned in the criminal charges against the Alexander brothers.

A letter filed by by federal prosecutors in Manhattan on Wednesday asking the court to deny the brothers bail also reveals additional details about the allegations in the indictment.

Dozens of accusers

Law enforcement agents have interviewed dozens of women who reported being forcibly raped or sexually assaulted including multiple women who report being raped by at least one of the Alexander brothers while they were in high school in Miami in the early 2000s, the letter says.

All three brothers have been charged with conspiracy to commit sex trafficking and sex trafficking of one victim in 2016.

The victim connected to that sex trafficking charge alleges she and a friend first met the twins on a dating app.

Oren and Alon offered to pay for the women from Illinois to fly to New York to spend the Labor Day weekend with the brothers in the Hamptons, the letter says, which the women accepted.

Oren gave the alleged victim a drink at a house in the Hamptons hours after they arrived. After drinking the cocktail, she was unable to move or speak as Oren raped her, the allegations say.

Data recovered from Oren’s iCloud account shows all three brothers discussing their weekend plans for an “orgy,” according to the letter.

The letter details other message threads capturing detailed plans between the brothers and other unnamed men planning international trips where they’d “import” women. One scheme planned for Tulum, Mexico, in October 2016 occurred weeks after the alleged Hamptons altercation.

In a group WhatsApp chat entitled “Lions in Tulum,” the Alexander brothers and other men attending the trip discussed “imports” of women to Tulum for the upcoming trip and discussed, among other things, splitting the cost of lodging and flights for the women that they planned to “import” and providing drugs to the women that would make them more likely to engage in sex, including “coke, shrooms, and G.”

A message from Oren in the message thread said, “ Are all girls getting shipped out on Sunday?”

Sex trafficking allegations

Tal Alexander is separately charged with sex trafficking of a second victim in July 2011 while in the Hamptons.

The alleged victim had planned to go to the Hamptons that weekend with friends.
Tal Alexander and another unnamed man allegedly picked up the woman and her friend from a local train station bringing them to their vacation house.

The woman felt unwell after drinking half a glass of wine given to her at the home, according to the prosecutors’ letter.

“Victim-1’s memory thereafter became hazy but she has several distinct memories of the night,” the letter said. “Specifically, Victim-1 remembers being held down by Tal while another man entered the room. Victim-1 also remembers being in a second location with Tal and the other man and that a camcorder was set up.”

Her next memory was waking up in the grass outside of the vacation house, the letter says.

Prosecutors say Tal and Oren took steps to protect their reputations in the real estate industry and conceal their crimes.

“The Government is aware, for instance, of at least one occasion in which Tal and Oren filed a police report alleging harassment against a woman who has described being forcibly digitally penetrated by Tal while Oren was in the room. Tal also threatened that victim with a defamation lawsuit if she did not stop telling people that he and Oren had sexually assaulted her.”

Prosecutors in New York want all three brothers imprisoned ahead of their trial, calling them a flight risk and significant danger to the community.

In the letter prosecutors say the men are a flight risk with international connections to countries including Israel and have extensive resources including regular access to private jets, yachts and Florida residences with direct water access to the Atlantic Ocean.

The three brothers have faced multiple civil lawsuits alleging they sexually assaulted numerous women.

According to one lawsuit, Alon and Tal raped a woman in 2012 “in a coordinated sexual assault that was planned and facilitated by Oren Alexander along with his brothers.”

Representatives for the brothers have previously denied any wrongdoing to those allegations.

Correction: An earlier version of this story mischaracterized when the Alexander brothers were publicly accused of wrongdoing. The first public report was in June. The story was also updated to add context about Douglas Elliman’s stock decline and the retirement of its CEO.

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