Miami brothers, real estate stars, arrested in Miami Beach after sexual assault claims
Three brothers from the Miami area who reached the upper tiers of the high-end luxury real estate market were arrested by Miami FBI agents and local police early Wednesday morning, several months after a series of lawsuits were filed against them with disturbing allegations of drugging and raping women.
Oren and Alon Alexander, twin brothers, were awakened by joint task force members from Miami Beach Police, the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office and the FBI. Their older brother, Tal, was taken into custody by Miami FBI agents as well. He appeared in Miami federal court Wednesday afternoon.
All three own homes in Miami Beach, Miami-Dade property records show.
Drugged, raped ‘dozens of victims,’ feds say in indictment
All three Alexander brothers were charged with conspiracy to commit sex trafficking and related counts of sex trafficking two victims by force, fraud or coercion between 2010 and 2021 in Manhattan, Miami and elsewhere.
The Alexander brothers “worked together and with others … to repeatedly and violently drug, sexually assault, and rape dozens of victims,” according to the indictment filed in the Southern District of New York in Manhattan.
“At times, the Alexander brothers 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 one or more of the Alexander brothers.
“Other times, the Alexander brothers encountered and chose their victims by chance,” the indictment says. “Often, the Alexander brothers drugged their victims before assaulting them, preventing them from fighting back or escaping.”
The arrests were first reported by the industry real estate magazine The Real Deal, which claimed agents showed up at Oren Alexander’s Miami Beach home and ordered him outside.
Tal Alexander is the only brother who appeared in Miami federal court Wednesday before Magistrate Judge Lisette Reid. Tal, who was wearing a blue long-sleeved T-shirt and jeans and cuffed by the ankles and wrists, will have a detention hearing on Friday. Prosecutors are seeking to detain him, saying Tal is a danger to the community and a flight risk. Tal is being represented by Miami attorney Joel Denaro.
Alon and Oren are in state custody on rape charges. They will be arraigned in state court in Miami Thursday. Ultimately, all three brothers will be transferred to New York City, where the federal indictment was filed.
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‘Heinous’ acts linked to influence: feds
The Alexander brothers used their wealth and positions in the real estate industry to violently drug and sexually assault women, said Damian Williams, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, whose office filed the indictment. Through dating apps and social media accounts, the brothers sought women to traffic, sometimes taking them on luxurious international trips.
Investigators, Williams said, interviewed dozens of women possibly sexually assaulted by the Alexanders. The brothers, at times, also hosted group events where they invited other men to rape women.
Williams said federal prosecutors pursued the charges at their “earliest opportunity” after coordinating with the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office.
“This conduct, as alleged, was heinous,” Williams 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.”
Brothers attended Krop High near Aventura
One or more of the brothers are facing at least four lawsuits in New York state court. The civil complaints are full of sordid details involving two of the brothers, Oren and Tal, jet-setting real estate stars who over the past decade brokered some of the country’s most expensive residential deals from Miami to Manhattan.
Since the early summer filing of those suits, an attorney representing two of the women told the Miami Herald an additional 40 women — including a dozen from the Miami area — have come forward with allegations against one or more of the brothers.
Some of the alleged incidents happened decades ago, when the brothers attended Dr. Michael M. Krop Senior High School near Aventura. New York personal injury lawyer Evan Torgan told the Miami Herald in September that it’s possible some of those could produce additional lawsuits.