Oren and Alon Alexander, twins who were once fixtures of Miami and New York’s nightlife circuit, appeared in state court on sexual battery charges in Miami on Thursday.
The twins, 37, and their older brother Tal Alexander, 38, were arrested in Miami Beach on Wednesday morning. Tal and Oren Alexander had worked previously as real estate agents, brokering some of the most expensive properties in Florida and New York. Alon Alexander did not work in real estate, but he attended parties and went to private clubs with his brothers.
All three brothers face federal sex-trafficking conspiracy charges in Manhattan, accused of using their wealth and status to lure, drug and then sexually assault and rape dozens of women, according to an indictment made public on Wednesday.
Thursday’s hearing in Miami concerned state charges of sexual battery over three separate incidents — Oren Alexander faces charges in all three events, and Alon Alexander faces charges in one.
The twins both appeared in court in handcuffs, wearing protective green vests. Oren Alexander made a plea to the judge to be released.
“Your honor, my wife is nine months pregnant, due any day now with our first child,” Oren Alexander told Judge Mindy S. Glazer of Miami-Dade County in his court appearance, held via video link. “Her family is in Brazil. She’s counting on me to be with her during labor.”
Judge Glazer ordered both men be held without bond for now; another hearing will be held Friday.
Tal Alexander, who faces only the federal charges in Manhattan, also has a hearing on Friday in U.S. District Court in Miami on whether he should remain held pending a trial. On Wednesday, the same day he was arrested, he was ordered detained pending the Friday hearing.
The brothers’ arrests followed months of mounting public allegations against all three. Tal and Oren Alexander had ascended luxury real estate’s heights, becoming stars at Douglas Elliman, one of the largest real estate brokerages in the country, and then cofounding their own brokerage.
Rumors of sexual assault had swirled around them since high school.
The state charges include an incident of a woman who told the police that Alon Alexander and Oren Alexander sexually assaulted her while another man, Ohad Fisherman, helped hold her down, according to an arrest warrant and a news conference held by the state’s attorney on Wednesday. At that conference, prosecutors identified Mr. Fisherman as a cousin of the Alexanders.
On Thursday, in State Supreme Court in Manhattan, that woman, who was a resident of New York City at the time, also filed a lawsuit against Alon Alexander and Oren Alexander. In the complaint, the woman said that on Dec. 31, 2016, Alon Alexander invited her to a luxury condo in Miami Beach for what he said would be a barbecue and pool party. She has not revealed her identity.
When she arrived, the complaint says, she was greeted by Alon Alexander and introduced to both Oren Alexander and Mr. Fisherman, whom Alon Alexander referred to as his “cousin.” Mr. Fisherman held her down, the complaint continues, while Oren Alexander sexually assaulted her and Alon Alexander watched. The brothers then switched places, the complaint continues, and Alon Alexander also assaulted her.
Through her attorney, Carissa Peebles of the Florida law firm Morgan and Morgan, the woman issued a statement on Thursday, saying, “If my decision to speak out encourages even one person to share their own truth, whether it’s about these brothers or anyone else, then this effort will have been worth it.”
Mr. Fisherman, 39, also faces a sexual battery charge and has not yet been taken into custody. Jeffrey Sloman, a lawyer for Mr. Fisherman, said on Thursday that his client is not “at large” but rather “on a long-ago planned honeymoon outside of the country.”
“Mr. Fisherman vehemently denies those allegations and is making plans to return to South Florida” to address the charges brought by the Miami-Dade County state attorney’s office, Mr. Sloman said in an email. Mr. Sloman also denied that Mr. Fisherman is a cousin of the Alexanders.
Tal and Oren Alexander’s reign as real estate princes came to an abrupt end in June when The Real Deal, a real estate trade publication, first reported that women had filed lawsuits that claimed they were sexually assaulted by the brothers.
Two women sued Oren and Alon Alexander for assault; a third woman sued the twins along with Tal Alexander. In the wake of those suits, dozens of other women came forward with allegations of assault against the brothers, including in The Times. Two days after The Times’s report, a fourth woman filed a suit against Oren Alexander.
Thursday’s lawsuit marks the fifth against Oren Alexander, and the fourth against Alon Alexander.