Romanian prosecutors have charged social media influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate with additional sex crimes, alleging they made over $1.2 million (£888,000) by coercing a woman into performing sex acts for online video chats. Andrew Tate, 39, faces charges of trafficking minors, money laundering, and sex with a minor, while Tristan Tate, 38, is charged with complicity in trafficking and money laundering. The brothers, currently detained in the US while fighting extradition to the UK on separate charges, deny all allegations.
The Romanian Directorate for Investigating Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) alleges that Tristan Tate recruited the woman, who was 15 at the time, in the UK in 2012, and brought her to Romania where she was allegedly exploited. Investigators claim Andrew Tate controlled her through surveillance, physical aggression, and forced her to participate in video chats for his financial gain, and that he also had sex with another 15-year-old girl in Romania. DIICOT is seeking to confiscate four luxury cars, valued at £710,000, believing they were purchased with laundered money.
The Tates were initially arrested in Romania in December 2022 on similar allegations, but an appeals court returned the case to prosecutors after finding some evidence inadmissible. They were then able to travel to Florida in February 2024 before being arrested in July following a British extradition request. Their US-based lawyer, Joseph McBride, maintains the British case is politically motivated. In the UK, the Crown Prosecution Service has brought 59 charges against the brothers, including rape and sexual assault. The brothers’ Romanian lawyer, Eugen Constantin Vidineac, stated that the new indictment does not determine guilt and will be scrutinized for legal deficiencies, adding that previous indictments had irregularities.
The case has been referred to the Bucharest Tribunal, where preliminary proceedings are expected to last at least two months.
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