FBI Agent Testifies That 40 Women’s Rape Allegations Against Alexander Brothers Are ‘Credible’

An FBI agent said at Tal Alexander’s federal detention hearing, one of three rich Miami Beach brothers charged with sex trafficking, that she had interviewed 40 women from New York and elsewhere who claimed to have been raped by one of the brothers since June.

On Friday, Special Agent Justine Atwood testified that all of the women’s allegations were “credible,” and that the victims did not know each other, came from different places, and were sexually attacked at various periods over the last 20 years.

Atwood is the lead FBI agent investigating the Alexander brothers’ sex trafficking case, which was filed in New York City and resulted in their detention in Miami Beach last Wednesday. Tal, 38, and his brother, Oren, 37, former celebrity New York real estate brokers, as well as Oren’s twin brother, Alon, 37, a security firm executive, are described as “serial” sex predators in court filings. The brothers, who grew up in the Miami region, are accused in an indictment of coercing dozens of women into having sex by offering them drug-laced wine or holding them down in Manhattan, the Hamptons, Miami Beach, and Mexico.

“As adults, the Alexander brothers’ serial sexual violence only escalated,” according to one court filing requesting the boys’ imprisonment until trial.

At Tal Alexander’s detention hearing in Miami, a federal magistrate court refused his request for a bond, even though he and his family guaranteed $115 million in real estate assets, ruling that he posed a flight risk, possibly to Israel. Magistrate Judge Lisette Reid’s decision is expected to have an impact on Tal’s two younger brothers, Oren and Alon, who are also charged with three counts of sexual battery in Miami-Dade Circuit Court and are awaiting transfer to federal custody.

However, on Monday, Tal Alexander’s legal team requested that Reid reopen the detention hearing and postpone his transfer to New York. His defense wants to challenge any investigative statements made by the FBI agent before to her testimony, as well as the prosecutors’ claim that the defendant cannot be extradited from Israel.

During the two-hour detention hearing on Friday, one of Tal Alexander’s lawyers questioned the FBI agent’s testimony. He argued that the indictment charges the three brothers with a sex-trafficking conspiracy from 2010 to 2021 and contains only two more counts naming a pair of victims.

During his questioning, defense counsel Milton L. Williams Jr. suggested that several of the women had “friendly contact” with the three brothers after they were allegedly raped, implying that their sexual interactions were consensual.

Atwood stated that she had not studied any electronic evidence of text messages submitted by some of the women to the FBI, thus she was unable to comment on the defense lawyer’s claim of cordial contact with the three brothers following the alleged rapes.

In a letter to federal judges in Miami and New York seeking to detain the brothers, prosecutors stated that they used “their power and wealth to identify victims, carry out their sadistic sex trafficking scheme, conceal their sexual violence, and prevent victims and witnesses from coming forward” by threatening retaliation.

Tal and Oren filed a police report alleging harassment against a lady who claimed to have been assaulted by them, and Tal threatened to sue her for defamation, according to the letter.

Another victim claimed Tal threatened her when she told others he had drugged her. Following the filing of civil cases against the brothers in March, Alon began compiling files on the victims “in an apparent attempt to discredit their accusers,” the letter states.

However, during Tal Alexander’s detention court in Miami, his defense attorney attempted to refute those charges because they would affect his client’s eligibility for a bond.

But Atwood, the FBI agent, informed Williams bluntly: “Your client has threatened some of our witnesses.”

Williams also attempted to undermine the prosecutors’ assertion that Tal and his siblings pose a flight danger due to their considerable wealth, easy access to private jets, and Israeli family connections.

During interrogation, Atwood stated that the FBI launched its sex trafficking investigation in New York in June 2024 and soon after began sharing information with federal investigators in South Florida, the Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office, and the Miami Beach Police Department.

Williams pointed out that the New York Times, Bloomberg, and other major news sites published stories about the FBI investigation into the Alexander brothers in July 2024, but Tal Alexander did not depart the country. He stated that Tal, who is married and has an infant child, owns homes in Miami Beach and Manhattan, and that his parents own a home in Bal Harbour. He also stated that Tal and his brothers don’t own a private jet.

Nonetheless, Atwood plainly stated: “Your client travels to Israel,” emphasizing that he is a “flight risk.”

During the detention hearing, federal prosecutor Lauren Astigarraga referred to Tal and his siblings as “serial rapists,” noting that since their arrests this week, “a new wave of potential victims have come forward.” She informed the judge that Tal possesses the financial resources to fly to Israel.

Astigarraga informed the judge that he has flown to Israel on “multiple occasions.”

She argued against releasing him from federal custody to his house before trial, claiming that the judge “would be sending him back to what is the scene of the crime.”