Luxury real estate brokers charged with sex trafficking in NYC

NEW YORK (AP) — Two luxury real estate brokers and their brother have been charged with luring, drugging and violently raping dozens of women over more than a decade, according to a federal indictment unsealed Wednesday in Manhattan.

State charges were also filed Wednesday in Florida against two of the brothers and a third man stemming from three alleged sexual assaults.

Federal prosecutors allege in the New York indictment that Oren and Tal Alexander, known for brokering deals on high-end properties in New York City and Miami, and sibling Alon Alexander used their wealth and influence to take advantage of women from at least 2010 to 2021.

The brothers, who all reside in Miami, used “deception, fraud, and coercion” to entice victims to travel with them or attend parties or events, often covering flights, hotels and other expenses, according to the indictment. They also at times used the promise of a romantic relationship, it said.

The women were then drugged and raped by one or more of the brothers, as well as other men, before being sent away with concert tickets and other luxuries.

“This conduct was heinous,” U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams said at a news conference in Manhattan.

The brothers typically met their victims on dating apps, through social events and at bars and nightclubs, but they also used party promoters to “source” women, according to Williams.

He added that the women were often provided drugs, including cocaine, psychedelic mushrooms and GHB. The brothers even surreptitiously drugged some of the women’s drinks, leaving them physically impaired and unable to fight back or escape from the sexual assaults, prosecutors said in their indictment.

“In some instances, the defendants physically restrained and held down their victims during the rapes and sexual assaults and ignored screams and explicit requests to stop,” the indictment said.

In the Florida cases, state prosecutors described one incident in December 2016 as a “gang rape” of a woman who said she was invited to a barbecue at Alon Alexander’s Miami Beach apartment only to discover no one there, save Alon, his brother Oren and another relative, Ohad Fisherman, who remains at large.

The woman, who is not named, said she was led into a bedroom where Fisherman held her down and the brothers argued over who would rape her first as she pleaded with them not to assault her, according to Miami-Dade State Attorney Katherine Fernandez Rundle.

The second incident, in October 2017, involved a woman who said she was sexually assaulted by Oren Alexander at his apartment after drinking a glass of wine that left her feeling weak and unable to control her body, according to prosecutors.

They said the third incident happened in October 2021 and involved a woman who said she was assaulted by Oren Alexander after going back to his residence with friends following dinner.

Williams, the U.S. Attorney in New York, said the three brothers were arrested in Florida on Wednesday and will appear in Miami federal court before being brought to New York.

He declined to say if others also will be charged but urged any other possible victims to come forward.

Meanwhile lawyers for the brothers denied the charges, which include one count of engaging in a sex trafficking conspiracy for each sibling.

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

“My client will be entering a not guilty plea and dealing with these charges in the appropriate forum .. .the courtroom,” responded Isabelle Kirshner, a lawyer for Alon Alexander.

Joel Denaro, a lawyer for Tal Alexander, declined to comment.

The elder brother appeared in Miami federal court Wednesday and will have a detention hearing Friday as prosecutors argue he’s a danger to the community and a flight risk. The two other brothers are in state custody and are expected to appear in court Thursday.

Representatives for a number of women who filed lawsuits earlier this year claiming they were violently raped by the brothers welcomed the charges.

“We are glad to hear that there will finally be some measure of accountability for the Alexander brothers and justice for their many victims,” lawyer David Gottlieb wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “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.”

Tal Alexander, 38, and Oren Alexander, 37, first worked as a team under real estate giant Douglas Elliman, listing properties for Kim Kardashian and Kanye West, Liam Gallagher, and Lindsay Lohan. In 2022, they started a new company called Official.

Alon Alexander, who is Oren’s twin brother, attended law school and joined the family’s private security business.