The real estate magnate twins accused of raping a Miami woman have been offered a glimmer of hope in their court case after their alleged accomplice was cleared.
Oren and Alon Alexander are each charged with sexually assaulting a woman known in court records as 'MW' on New Year's Eve 2016, and real estate broker Ohad Fisherman was initially charged with aiding them by holding the woman down.
But the charges against Fisherman have now been dropped after he produced a time-stamped video showing that he was on board a boat in Miami Beach very close to the time of the alleged assault.
Fisherman's video was uploaded to Facebook at around 9pm that night, showing him cruising on the water. Prosecutors said the video was a valid alibi.
'We determined in good faith that we could not prove the case against Ohad Fisherman beyond and to the exclusion of all reasonable doubt,' the state attorney in Miami-Dade County, Katherine Fernandez Rundle, wrote in a media release.
'The defendant's presence at the scene of the crime is an essential element of proof and this video evidence casts doubt on that proof.'
Fisherman's lawyer Jeffrey Sloman said his client had been 'totally exonerated' in a surprise move which came just one day before jury selection was set to start.
It marks the latest twist in the myriad court cases against real estate magnates Oren and Tal Alexander, and their brother Alexander, who socializes in the same high-flying circles in Miami, Los Angeles and New York City.
The trio were charged with sex trafficking offenses including drugging, raping and sexually assaulting dozens of women from around 2010 to 2021, the US Attorney's Office announced in December.
Additional sex trafficking charges were also brought in May after prosecutors in Manhattan said they spoke with more than 60 people who claim they were raped by at least one of the brothers.
Oren and Tal were already charged with using their wealth and influence to rape and sexually abuse women from 2002 to 2021.
No date was immediately set for the men to be arraigned. They previously pleaded not guilty, and all three are being held without bail.
The superseding indictment filed in May added five new charges related to four alleged victims, including one female who was under 18 years old.
An attorney for the brothers, Richard Klugh, said in an email that the 'new charges, like the government´s first two factually and legally unfounded efforts, show nothing but prosecutorial overreach'.
'It is simply another swing-and-a-miss by a government that has gone off the rails in an overzealous, unwarranted pursuit,' he added.
Nicholas Biase, a spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of New York, said: 'We will decline to comment beyond our filings to the court.'
'This is an ongoing investigation; anyone who may have information related to this case can please contact 1-800 CALL FBI or alexander-case@fbi.gov.'