Federal judge rejects $115 million bond for an Alexander brother charged with sex-trafficking
One of three wealthy Miami Beach brothers charged with sex-trafficking dozens of women offered to put up a $115 million bond secured by his family, but a federal magistrate judge on Friday rejected the proposal to release him after ruling he would be a risk of flight before trial.
Tal Alexander, 38, will now be transferred from custody in Miami to federal court in Manhattan, where he and his two younger brothers, Oren and Alon, have been charged with conspiring to lure more than 40 women to condos, hotels and resorts and then plying them with drug-laced alcohol before raping them between 2010 and 2021.
“My area of concern is risk of flight,” Magistrate Judge Lisette Reid found after a two-hour hearing in Miami federal court. “His family has extensive financial resources. He has the financial resources to flee.”
Reid said she was less concerned about whether Tal Alexander posed a danger to the community because his bond proposal would have required him to live at his parents’ $40 million home in Bal Harbour with his wife and their infant child. He would have been required to wear an electronic ankle monitor and surrender his U.S. passport.
Reid’s ruling will likely lay the foundation for twin brothers, Oren and Alon, to be denied bond in federal court for the same reason before being transferred to Manhattan. The sex-trafficking charges against all three brothers, who were known as superstar real estate brokers in Miami Beach and New York, carry up to life in prison.
During the detention hearing on Friday, federal prosecutor Lauren Astigarraga described Tal and his brothers as “serial rapists,” highlighting that since their arrests this week “a new wave of potential victims have come forward.” She warned the judge that Tal has the financial means to fly to Israel, where he and his family have visited often because of connections there.
“He uses his wealth to commit the crime,” Astigarraga told the judge. “Now he’s using his $115 million to get out of jail.”
Tal Alexander’s defense attorney, Milton L. Williams Jr., said the prosecutor’s argument that he would flee to Israel because he’s a rich American Jew was “nonsense.”
Williams countered that the proposed $115 million bond would be secured not only with his parents’ home in Bal Harbour, but also with a Miami office building and three waterfront residences in Miami Beach belonging to Tal, Oren and Alon Alexander.
“If he skips out [before trial], he and his family will lose everything,” Williams said.
But Reid wondered aloud if the Alexander family has greater wealth hidden away, deciding to reject the proposed bond package.
Earlier on Friday, Tal’s two brothers, Oren and Alon, appeared for bond hearings in Miami-Dade Circuit Court where they are separately charged with raping a woman while she was pinned down in a high-rise condo on Miami Beach.
Oren and Alon Alexander, 37, obtained a $3 million bond and a $2 million bond, respectively, that are secured by their parents’ home in Bal Harbour — bail packages that were approved by Circuit Judge Lody Jean on Friday morning. Jean found that the bonds would reasonably assure their appearances at trial.
But the twin brothers are not going to be released. Instead, they will be transferred from state to federal custody because they face the separate sex-trafficking charges along with the third brother, Tal, who is already being held in a federal lock-up.
The twin brothers also entered not guilty pleas in the Miami-Dade court through their attorney, Joel Denaro. Oren was wearing a red jail jumpsuit, designated for high-profile inmates, and Alon was in a suicide-prevention vest.
The twins, along with their older brother, Tal, were arrested Wednesday in their Miami Beach homes by local police and FBI agents. The arrests culminated parallel criminal investigations into allegations of rape and sex-trafficking against the high-flying real estate brokers in Miami Beach and Manhattan.
Locally, Oren Alexander has been charged with rape in three separate incidents.
The first alleged incident was during a 2016 New Year’s Eve gathering at a Collins Avenue condo in Miami Beach. The victim said, according to the arrest report, that Alon Alexander invited her to the condo saying they were having a party. The two knew each other from New York City.
When she arrived, Alon introduced her to Oren and Ohad Fisherman, their friend. (The State Attorney’s Office had erroneously identified Fisherman as their cousin.) Alon led her into a bedroom and Oren and Fisherman followed.
There, the arrest report says, she was pinned by Fisherman while the Alexander twins argued over who would assault her first. She claims she was raped by Oren, before Alon raped her as his brother watched.
On Friday, Fisherman’s defense lawyer, Jeffrey Sloman, and Miami-Dade prosecutor Natalie Snyder reached an agreement to quash his arrest warrant so he can surrender to state authorities on Wednesday . Sloman told Judge Jean that Fisherman is returning on Tuesday to Miami from Japan, where he and his wife have been on their honeymoon. Jean approved the arrangement and scheduled Fisherman’s arraignment on a sexual battery charge for Wednesday.
In the state case, Oren Alexander is also accused of rape on Oct. 20, 2017. The victim said she met Oren and a friend for dinner, followed by an evening at a real-estate event in Hallandale Beach and later drinks at a bar.
She had one drink before leaving with Oren and agreeing to go to the Collins Avenue condo for a drink. At the condo, the woman drank a glass of wine and put on a pair of virtual reality goggles. She alleges Oren undressed her without consent, moved her to his bedroom and sexually assaulted her while she had the glasses on.
A few weeks later, the woman met with Oren to discuss her concerns, according to the report. When she wouldn’t allow him to kiss her, the woman said he began to masturbate and ejaculated on her stomach. She said Oren texted her later with a threat to “ruin” her if she mentioned anything about the incident.
Another woman claimed Oren raped her in 2021. The arrest form says the two met for dinner and then took a boat to his Miami Beach home. He then took her phone, saying no pictures permitted.
Then, she said, a tour of his home led her to a sitting area near the bedroom. He got aggressive. As she tried to get away, the woman said Oren ripped her dress. When the woman realized the doors were locked remotely, she said Oren Alexander mounted and assaulted her, before ejaculating on her stomach.
READ MORE: Do you know the Alexander brothers? We need your help
Drugged, raped ‘dozens of victims,’ feds say
Ultimately, the three Alexander brothers are expected to be transferred to Manhattan, where a three-count sex-trafficking indictment was filed in federal court for the Southern District of New York, the same court where rap mogul Diddy was recently indicted in a similar case.
Federally, Oren, Alon and Tal Alexander have been charged with conspiracy to commit sex trafficking between 2010 and 2021 in Manhattan, Miami and elsewhere — including the exclusive Hamptons resort on Long Island. Tal is also charged with sex trafficking two victims by force, fraud or coercion in July 2011 and September 2016 in New York. Tal’s two brothers are charged along with him regarding the 2016 allegation.
The federal indictment unsealed in Manhattan Wednesday morning tells a story of serial sexual predators.
The Alexander brothers “worked together and with others ... to repeatedly and violently drug, sexually assault, and rape dozens of victims,” reads the indictment.
“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.”
Since the early summer filing of the civil 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.
A woman spoke to the Herald earlier this year and recounted how she was about 15 and a student at Miami Country Day School when she managed to escape as the brothers were pinning her down with her arms and legs apart. The incident took place in the early 2000s, when the brothers were in high school, she said.
A New York attorney representing some of the women told the Miami Herald in September that more lawsuits should be expected.
Precipitous fall for real estate superstars
Even before Wednesday’s arrests, the lawsuits and national media scrutiny had been costly for Oren and Tal Alexander, who stepped away from Official, the boutique New York City-based real estate firm they founded about three years ago.
Alon continued to work for Kent Security, a private security firm built by his father Shlomi Alexander, which offers crisis management, guards and video technology.
It’s been a precipitous fall for the trio. Tal and Oren’s high-end real estate deals in Miami, Aspen and Manhattan are legendary. They got a jump-start in the business from their father, who also dabbled in the sale of high-end luxury properties.
Miami Herald Staff Writer Charles Rabin contributed to this report.
This story was originally published December 13, 2024 at 10:41 AM.
