A former Playboy model has told friends how Andrew Tate tried to lure her to his Romanian hideaway.
Carla Howe, 32, said she was shocked and feels that she had a lucky escape after the disgraced influencer was arrested with his brother and subsequently two others in connection with alleged human trafficking and rape.
The blonde model was left 'horrified' as shocking details emerged of how Romanian prosecutors are investigating four suspects for allegedly keeping six women under 'house arrest 24/7 like prisoners'.
Prosecutors in Romania say the brothers allegedly recruited the women on social media platforms and persuaded them to travel to his £600,000 secret bolthole in Bucharest by falsely professing love for them.
The women - including an American citizen - were allegedly held at the property with employees shadowing their every move before being forced to take part in online pornographic videos.
Ms Howe told friends how she believes she may have been one of the intended victims as the tactics bore a chilling similarity to the way Romanian prosecutors allege Tate and his brother tried to strike up a relationship with the victims.
She told friends: 'He wanted me to go to Romania and I was tempted. It makes me think now how it could have gone terribly. I'd probably have ended up not leaving the house ever.'
Ms Howe confided how Tate showered her with compliments and romantic messages after they began to chat online when he sent a private message to her Instagram account in February.
But she claimed she quickly learned of a darker side of his character when his messages became 'controlling and aggressive'.
Ms Howe told friends how he tried to ban her from going on holiday to Spain with a girlfriend and insisted she had to 'obey' him.
Despite her concerns their chats continued and Ms Howe told friends how she was surprised when out of the blue Tate told her he was in Romania and asked her to fly out to visit him.
At first she told him she couldn't 'come to another country to meet someone I've never met'.
But she reconsidered and spoke to a friend who agreed to go with her in August.
In the end she did not travel there as their communications stopped abruptly when Tate was banned from the social media platform.
She told friends that she feels: 'I had a lucky escape. I thought I would give him a chance and was tempted to have a relationship with him.
'Maybe God saved me from that happening.
'Things could have turned out very differently if I had gone - I hate to think.
'A lot of people think that as he is famous he wouldn't do anything bad but we're in a new day and age. Just because of who he is doesn't mean he isn't capable of other things.
'I had so many people contacting me after he was arrested. I was like "Oh my God - it gets worse".'
Romanian investigators began their probe when the US embassy in Bucharest raised the alarm after diplomats discovered that an American woman was being held against her will in the city.
The 22-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, had managed to recover her mobile phone and call her boyfriend in the US who alerted the embassy.
Ms Howe was left shaken after seeing images of police working for Romania's organised crime and terrorism agency leading Tate and his brother, Tristan, away from his property in handcuffs.
A video of the raid released by police showed officers recovering guns, knives and money.
Ms Howe - who lived in LA for 10 years and moved into Hugh Hefner's Playboy mansion with her twin sister Melissa in 2011 - was ready to pack her bags and head to Bucharest despite alarm bells ringing during their online exchanges.
A close friend told MailOnline: 'She is very spontaneous in doing things, that's the problem.
'She was surprised when he asked her to go out to Romania. He has a very luxurious lifestyle with expensive cars and travels on private jets but nobody has any idea where the money comes from.
'It was strange that he was hiding away in a country like Romania. Somebody like that you would think he would be in St Tropez or LA, especially as he has British and US citizenship.
'She couldn't figure out why he would want to live in Romania and what would be there to make her want to go. It's not known as a glamorous place.
'He said on his bio that he was living in Dubai and his posts suggested that he was living there.'
Ms Howe told friends how she didn't know who Tate was when he first made contact and was quickly warned off after being alerted to his 'disgusting misogynistic' views.
Her friend said: 'She was getting messages saying he was so disgusting - the way he talks about girls. That put her off in the beginning but the way he spoke to her was very, very nice and charming.
'It made her think some of the controversial things he was saying in public were just for show and for the camera.
'When he first messaged Carla he asked for her number. He asked if she was in London and accompanied it with an emoji of a rose.
'He was talking about how they would go off and save the world together. He wanted to meet Carla in Knightsbridge when he was in London in March but she was on a photoshoot.'
Ms Howe shared a mutual interest with former professional kickboxer Tate, 36, as she was training at the time to take part in a planned boxing match against former Love Island star AJ Bunker.
Her friend said: 'When she asked for boxing tips and sent him videos he would give her advice and encouragement and tell her how proud he was of her.'
The pair's hopes of meeting up were thwarted as Tate's 'mysterious' movements meant he made only occasional short visits to London.
When Ms Howe asked him why he never stayed for long Tate told her: 'Because I'm in and out. Like a ninja businessman.'
Ms Howe told friends how she began to have concerns after the tones of his messages changed when she told him she could not meet up with him in London at short notice as she was heading to Marbella with a girlfriend for five days.
The friend said: 'He became volatile in the messages he was sending. He was being crazy - and they hadn't even met.
'He became very jealous and possessive. He said to her "You better not cheat on me". He told her she could not talk to men or go to a party and told her she had to stay in her hotel.
Carla told him she was focused on training for her fight but he was saying all these things like "You need to obey me. I'm your man".
'He was accusing her of going to b******* places and doing drugs and drinking. He was acting crazy.
'She told him she never took drugs and she was going out to spar and do training.
'Carla was very shocked by what he was saying.
'The way he acted was not a good sign. He was claiming her as his own.
'He became very controlling and possessive and to act the way he was acting was not a good sign whatsoever.'
In the end Ms Howe believes she was saved after Tate was banned from Instagram over his hate-fuelled messages.
It brought an end to their exchanges and Ms Howe did not call Tate as her doubts about him remained.
Although Ms Howe's boxing bout was cancelled the pair finally met up in November when she travelled to Dubai to act as ring girl when former world champion Floyd Mayweather fought Deji Olatunji.
Tate had a front row seat at the event and a video of the moment they met which was posted on TikTok had more than 15 million views.
Tate hastily left the event when he was ushered out of the arena after a brawl broke out in the crowd and the pair did not see each other again.
The friend said: 'Carla really was lucky to escape his clutches.
'She is very open minded. She is not a judgemental person, that's probably why she took the conversation forward and was open to dating him.
'She didn't care what anyone else said. She was open to having a relationship with him and giving him a chance.
'Later on, the messages and the aggression towards her made her think again but she was still tempted to go to Romania.
'No-one knows 100 per cent what the truth is behind his arrest and what will happen now but there is definitely something not right.'