bucharestReuters —
Romanian prosecutors on Friday formally charged social media influencer Andrew Tate with trafficking in minors, money laundering, sex with a minor and witness tampering, years after launching an investigation, and formally charged his brother Tristan with conspiracy.
The Tate brothers, former kickboxers with dual U.S. and British citizenship, were arrested in Miami in late July after Britain requested their extradition.
They have been primarily based in Romania since 2017, and have been under criminal investigation in that country since December 2022 on charges including human trafficking.
Romanian prosecutors said the Tates seduced their victims, falsely claiming they wanted a relationship or marriage, and then forced them to produce pornographic content for their webcam business.
They denied all wrongdoing. “We will examine all aspects (of the indictment) with the same level of scrutiny and will challenge any evidentiary, procedural or legal deficiencies through the appropriate judicial process,” Eugen Vidinac, the Tate’s Romanian lawyer, said in a statement.
“Our clients continue to deny the allegations against them.”
The Tate brothers remain in prison in the United States until a judge decides on their extradition request to Britain, where they are wanted on rape charges.
A spokesman for Romania’s anti-organized crime prosecution unit, DIICOT, which is investigating the Tates, said it was not immediately clear whether the unit would seek their extradition from the United States.
In Romania, the Tates can be tried in absentia, but the trial will not begin immediately. Under Romanian law, indictments are sent to a preliminary court, where a judge examines the case file to confirm legality.
The law provides that a trial judge has 60 days to finalize a report, but prosecutions typically take much longer.
DIICOT said one of Andrew Tate’s victims was 15 years old when he seduced her in the UK in 2012, then transported her to the Romanian capital Bucharest and sexually exploited her by using physical violence and psychological intimidation to force her to produce pornographic content for social media sites.
The force said his brother Tristan was an assistant who physically attacked the victim to coerce him.
Prosecutors said the brothers kept $1.25 million from the victim’s video chat income, representing about 80% of the victim’s total profits. The brothers allegedly purchased four luxury cars and tried to launder the money.
The brothers had previously been charged with human trafficking in Romania, but in late 2024 the Bucharest Court of Appeal deemed some evidence inadmissible and sent the case back to prosecutors.
Andrew Tate, a self-proclaimed misogynist, previously said he moved to Romania because of the country’s lax law enforcement.
Both brothers have built a fan following, primarily among young men, by cultivating an image of extravagant, hyper-macho men who drive fast cars and date beautiful women.
