High-flying real estate broker brothers found guilty of sex-trafficking after Australian accused them of shocking assault

Three high-flying brothers have been found guilty of sex-trafficking charges after an Australian woman was the first to accuse them of sexual assault.

Twins Oren and Alon Alexander, 38, and Tal Alexander, 39, faced a five-week trial in New York during which 11 women testified the brothers used their fame and vast wealth to dazzle them before drugging and sexually assaulting them.

The first woman to air allegations against the Alexanders was 45-year-old Australian citizen Kate Whiteman.

However, she was not part of the prosecution’s case after she was found dead in Sydney just days before the jury was set to be selected in January.

In a civil suit launched in March 2024, Whiteman claimed to have met Oren and Alon at a nightclub in Manhattan, New York, in 2012, before being taken to a mansion in the Hamptons where she was allegedly assaulted.

The twins vehemently denied her claims, which remained before the courts at the time of her death.

Another suit was filed a day after Whiteman’s, followed by dozens of other accusations made by women from around the world which led to the trio being arrested in December 2024.

The brothers said the accusations were only made to cash in on their wealth and fame.

Oren was one of the top-earning real estate agents in New York alongside his other brother Tal, while Alon was an executive at a private security company.

But prosecutor Elizabeth Espinosa pushed back on that claim, telling jurors only two accusers have lawsuits pending and both of them are also wealthy.

In his closing argument last week, prosecutor Andrew Jones said the brothers masqueraded as party boys but really were predators.

“They used a consistent playbook to lure, isolate and rape their victims,” Jones said.

“They did it with callousness and a perverse sense of pride.”

All three shook their heads as the jury foreperson said “guilty” 19 times as the charges were read aloud on Monday, local time.

All three men were convicted of the top counts: conspiracy to commit sex-trafficking and sex-trafficking by force, fraud or coercion.

Alon and Tal were convicted of sex-trafficking of a minor while Alon and Oren Alexander were convicted of aggravated sexual abuse by force or intoxicant and sexual abuse of a physically incapacitated person.

Oren was also convicted of sexual exploitation of a minor.

They were led back to custody, where they have been since their arrest, as they prepare for sentencing on August 6 when the brothers could face up to life in prison.

Outside court, defence lawyer Marc Agnifilo said it was “not the verdict we were looking for” and the defence team would continue trying to clear their clients.

“We believe in our clients’ innocence and we’re not going to stop fighting until we prevail, and we believe that we will one day prevail,” he said.

“Today was not the outcome we were looking for, obviously, but ... our resolve is unshaken.”

Agnifilo said the defendants were disappointed with the verdict.

He said he believed there were many appeals issues that will be raised in the future.

— With AP and Reuters