Social media influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate groomed vulnerable women using a “lover boy” model of exploitation before forcing them into creating online pornography “through a culture of fear and intimidation”, UK investigators allege.

Setting out the prosecution case against the brothers in newly-released court documents in Miami, a detective with Bedfordshire Police said the pair established intimate relationships to snare the women and get them to travel to Romania with the promise of earning money, before pressuring them to perform sexual content on webcam through threats and violence.

One of the complainants was reportedly menaced with a machete, according to the filing.

British prosecutors are currently seeking the extradition from the US of Andrew Tate, 39, and Tristan Tate, 38, to face a series of criminal charges, including rape and sex trafficking.

Andrew Tate is also accused of making and distributing indecent images of a child and possessing extreme pornography.

The former professional kickboxers, who hold dual US and British citizenship, have been held in custody since their arrest in July.

They were detained after more charges were brought against them by the UK authorities.

Both men have denied wrongdoing.

The police summary lodged with the court in support of the extradition proceedings said the Tates used their status “to attract and pursue vulnerable women”.

It added: “The complainants were often individuals who had experienced failed or abusive relationships, social isolation, low self-esteem or other personal vulnerabilities.

“The prosecution case is that these vulnerabilities were not incidental but were deliberately identified and exploited by the Tate brothers.”

The statement went on: “It is alleged that these relationships were not genuine romantic partnerships but formed part of a wider pattern of coercive conduct through which the Tate brothers established and maintained control over the complainants.

“The operation incorporated features commonly associated with the ‘lover-boy’ model of exploitation.

“This method involves an offender presenting himself as a romantic partner, demonstrating affection, attention and apparent commitment in order to establish emotional dependency.”

It is also alleged that Andrew Tate further encouraged the women to move to Romania by claiming they could earn “substantial sums of money” through the webcam business if they wished.

However, the prosecution allege this was a “carefully cultivated deception”.

The summary said: “Whilst the complainants had travelled to Romania ostensibly of their own free will, the prosecution case is that, upon arrival, they were subjected to a range of controlling measures.

“Their passports were removed and retained, they were accommodated in premises under the Tate brothers’ control, and they became dependent upon the Tate brothers for accommodation, transport and financial support.”

It added: “The prosecution case is that Andrew Tate and Tristan Tate used and threatened physical and sexual violence in order to maintain control and compliance.

“There was a culture of fear and intimidation created by Andrew and Tristan Tate.

“By means of manipulation, coercion and violence the complainants were pressured to produce increasingly intimate pornographic material for subscribers on webcams.”

But the brothers’ lawyer, Joe McBride, has argued the accusations cannot be “meaningfully tested” as the British prosecutors had not identified the complainants.

Unlike in the UK, alleged victims of sex crimes in the US are not automatically granted anonymity.

Mr McBride said: “No American court should be asked to surrender a person to a foreign country on the word of secret accusers.

“If Britain wants America to extradite Andrew and Tristan Tate, America must first demand that Britain identify the people accusing them.”

The Tates are deeply divisive figures, who built a massive online following – mainly among young men and boys – to whom they have been accused of promoting misogyny and toxic masculinity.