On December 8, 2024, officials from the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced charges against real estate brokers Oren and Tal Alexander and their brother Alon for allegedly running a sex trafficking scheme. The three brothers were accused of using their wealth, fame, and status to traffic dozens of women for over fourteen years. Officials charged the Alexanders with two counts of sex trafficking and one count of conspiracy to commit sex trafficking.
Oren and Tal Alexander were well-known luxury real estate brokers in Miami and New York. While Alon Alexander did not work in real estate, he still frequented the same social circles as his brothers.
According to the indictment, the Alexander brothers used “deception, fraud, and coercion” to lure victims into traveling or attending parties and events with them prior to allegedly “repeatedly and violently drug[ing], sexually assault[ing], and rap[ing] dozens of victims.” Regarding the current charges, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams stated the brothers arranged domestic and international trips during which they executed their alleged crimes. He said the Alexanders met their alleged victims in person, over social media, or via dating apps, and used lavish events and trips to entice and transport women who they then raped or sexually assaulted. It is also alleged the brothers raped numerous women opportunistically, after encountering them at bars, night clubs, or social events.
These federal charges are not the only charges the brothers are facing; state charges were also brought in Florida against Alon, Oren, and another relative, Ohad Fisherman. These charges stem from one woman’s allegation that Alon Alexander invited her to an event at a Miami Beach condo after messaging her on Instagram, where she was subjected to a “gang rape” by Alon, Oren, and Fisherman.
Another woman also brought separate charges in Florida, accusing the brothers of sexual assault from an incident that occurred in 2017. After informing her friends of the incident, Oren learned of the accusation and, according to the warrant, threatened to “ruin” her if she did not stop. The state charges from Florida are still pending.
Concerning the federal charges, the indictment also accuses the brothers of conspiring together and with other men in sexually assaulting and trafficking women. Prosecutors state that the brothers coordinated with other men in creating a group chat to plan a trip to Mexico where they discussed the transportation or “importing” of women into the country for their plans. According to the prosecutors, Oren Alexander said in one message that the price they were paying was “more than most of [them] ever spent on girls.” They allegedly supplied the women with drugs, including GHB, a known “date-rape” drug that impairs users, making them incapable of fighting back or effectuating an escape.
Wealth is known to be a significant demand factor in perpetuating human trafficking. In the sex trade, it serves a dual role: not only does wealth make it logistically possible for individuals like the Alexanders to engage in expensive trafficking schemes, but wealth also serves to lure vulnerable and often financially unstable victims into those schemes.
Many powerful and affluent people have used their wealth to sexually exploit others, such as Sean Combs, Jeffrey Epstein and Harvey Weinstein. Economic power also permits perpetrators to act in affluent communities, where wealth becomes their best resource to fuel their exploitative schemes. Individuals in positions of wealth or status in society can utilize that position to finance the expenses of commercial sexual exploitation. They can afford the transportation and lodging of victims, as well as the price of the parties, drugs, and alcohol that often accompanies these manipulative schemes.
By abusing their wealth and resources, they are able to entice victims with their lifestyles, which can often result in victims becoming financially dependent on their abusers or trapped in their trafficking schemes.
Furthermore, this elite class is a position that permits them to weaponize their wealth to recruit victims and maintain their status as such. For example, many people in positions of power or wealth threaten victims to ensure that they refrain from seeking help or informing others of the abuse. Threats may include exposing them through nude photos and videos, harming them, or ruining their reputation. The Alexander brothers explicitly exemplified this pattern by allegedly using their social status and wealth to both attract victims as well as later threaten them into silence.
Lastly, this pattern has persisted where wealth not only facilitates trafficking, but also effectively insulates offenders from detection or the consequences of criminal activity. As with Epstein, Weinstein, and R. Kelly, fame and wealth are capable of immunizing traffickers from criminalization or consequences.
If the facts alleged in the indictment are true, human trafficking charges are appropriate in this case. Under federal law, a person is guilty of sex trafficking if they recruit, entice, transport, or exploit someone through force, fraud, or coercion to engage in a commercial sex act, or benefit from such actions. The Alexander brothers satisfy the federal law for human trafficking as they are accused of using force, fraud, and coercion to exploit vulnerable women for commercial sex acts. According to the indictment, the brothers allegedly lured victims into traveling or attending events under false pretenses, then used drugs to incapacitate them.
The CSE Institute commends the victims who courageously spoke out against the Alexander brothers. We hope this serves as a source of empowerment for other victims to come forward and seek justice regardless of the wealth, power, or status enjoyed by their exploiters. Understanding the role that wealth plays in fueling, enabling, and perpetuating the sex trade is vital to eventually dismantling it. We must understand that the growing demand for commercial sex and the increasing prevalence of sex trafficking are driven by the abuse of wealth and influence.
The CSE Institute will continue to provide updates as they become available.
This piece is part of our first-year law student blog series. Congratulations to author Madi Lopez on being chosen!
All views expressed herein are personal to the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the Villanova University Charles Widger School of Law or of Villanova University.