Andrew Tate is pictured inside The Court of Appeal in Bucharest, Romania, on December 10, 2024. The US-born Briton, Andrew, and his brother Tristan, who say they are innocent, are accused of having formed an organised criminal network in early 2021 in Romania and in Britain. Prosecutors allege that the brothers and two women set up a criminal organisation and sexually exploited several victims. (Photo by Daniel MIHAILESCU / AFP) (Photo by DANIEL MIHAILESCU/AFP via Getty Images)
Romanian prosecutors on Friday (August 4) indicted social media influencer Andrew Tate on charges of trafficking minors, sex with a minor, and money laundering. Tate, 39, and his brother Tristan Tate, 38, were first arrested in Romania’s capital, Bucharest, in late 2022.
Aside from Andrew, Tristan Tate is indicted on charges of complicity in the case, according to DIICOT, Romania’s anti-organized crime agency. The agency said on Friday that the Tate brothers coerced a victim by pretending to be in a loving relationship. Then, they forced her to produce pornographic material for an online webcam business.
The new indictment stems from an investigation that led to the brothers’ arrest in 2022 and their being formally indicted in 2023. A court returned the case to DIICOT in 2024 due to multiple legal and procedural irregularities by Romanian prosecutors. The case wasn’t closed. Also, there was a separate legal case against the brothers in Romania in 2024.
DIICOT alleges in the new indictment that the Tate brothers’ victims had been paid or intimidated in attempts to influence them “not to give statements or to give false statements.” A lawyer for the Tate brothers in Romania did not immediately respond to a request for comment, according to the Associated Press.
DIICOT alleges that in 2012, the Tate brothers recruited a 15-year-old girl in Luton, a town in England where the brothers are from. Ultimately, they obtained more than $1.2 million from her webcam activity after she was repeatedly transported to Romania. The crime agency alleges that Tristan Tate knew the victim’s age and that Andrew had recruited her. Also, per the prosecutors, between 2014 and 2021 Andrew Tate knowingly deceived her about his brother’s “feelings and intentions.” This helped to facilitate her sexual exploitation.
It is further alleged that between December 2020 and mid-2021, Andrew Tate “repeatedly had sexual intercourse and sexual acts with another minor victim,” who was also aged 15.
Between December 2023 and July 2024, DIICOT alleges the Tates tried to “hide or disguise the illicit origin of the money” obtained from human trafficking. They allegedly purchased four luxury cars worth about 825,000 euros ($957,000), and said they had requested the vehicles be confiscated.
Andrew and Tristan Tate, who are dual U.S.-British citizens, are among the world’s most polarizing internet personalities. They promote wealth, male dominance and misogyny through their social media empire.
The Tates were arrested in Bucharest in late 2022. Their charges allege they participated in a criminal ring that lured women to Romania, where they were sexually exploited. Andrew Tate was also charged with rape. Both the Tate brothers have repeatedly denied the allegations against them. Andrew Tate has also claimed that there is a political conspiracy to silence them.
Right now, the Tates are being held in Miami. Prosecutors in the United Kingdom requested their extradition in July on sex crime allegations. The Tates took the witness stand in federal court last week. They said they can’t adequately defend themselves from criminal sex charges if they have to remain in a Miami jail while fighting extradition to the U.K.
Their lawyers repeated arguments that the U.K.’s extradition request was out of line because their criminal case in Romania is going first. Romanian officials allowed the Tates to remain free with some restrictions. This includes reporting to a Bucharest police station while the proceedings are ongoing.
Associated Press writers Stephen McGrath and Vadim Ghirda contributed to this report via AP Newsroom.
