Andrew Tate indicted in Romania on minor trafficking and money laundering charges
Romanian prosecutors have formally indicted Andrew and Tristan Tate on charges including trafficking minors and money laundering. The brothers are currently held in Miami fighting extradition to the UK.
Romanian prosecutors file new indictment against Tate brothers over trafficking and laundering
Romanian prosecutors formally indicted social media influencer Andrew Tate, 39, and his brother Tristan Tate, 38, on Friday on charges of trafficking minors, sex with a minor, and money laundering, nbcnews.com reports.
The new indictment was issued by DIICOT, Romania's anti-organised crime agency. Tristan Tate faces a charge of complicity in the case. A lawyer for the brothers in Romania did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
DIICOT alleges that the brothers coerced a victim by pretending to be in a loving relationship and then forcing her to produce pornographic material for an online webcam business. According to the agency, the brothers recruited a 15-year-old girl in Luton, England — the town where they grew up — in 2012, and obtained more than $1.2 million from her webcam activity after she was repeatedly transported to Romania.
The agency further alleges that Tristan Tate was aware of the victim's age and that she had been recruited by Andrew, and that between 2014 and 2021 he knowingly deceived her about his brother's "feelings and intentions," facilitating her sexual exploitation. Andrew Tate is separately alleged to have "repeatedly had sexual intercourse and sexual acts with another minor victim," also aged 15, between December 2020 and mid-2021.
On the money laundering charge, DIICOT alleges that between December 2023 and July 2024 the brothers attempted to "hide or disguise the illicit origin of the money" derived from human trafficking by purchasing four luxury cars worth approximately 825,000 euros ($957,000). The agency said it had requested those vehicles be confiscated.
The current indictment follows from an investigation that led to the brothers' initial arrest in Bucharest in late 2022, when they were charged with participating in a criminal ring that lured women to Romania for sexual exploitation. Andrew Tate was also charged with rape at that time. A formal indictment was issued in 2023, but a Romanian court returned that case to DIICOT in 2024 citing multiple legal and procedural irregularities. That earlier case was not closed, and a separate legal proceeding against the brothers was also active in Romania in 2024.
DIICOT alleges in the new indictment that victims had been paid or intimidated in attempts to persuade them "not to give statements or to give false statements."
The Tate brothers, who hold dual U.S.-British citizenship, are currently detained in Miami after prosecutors in the United Kingdom requested their extradition in July on sex crimes allegations. The brothers took the witness stand in federal court last week, arguing they cannot adequately defend themselves against criminal sex charges while held in a Miami jail and simultaneously fighting extradition to the UK. Their lawyers have maintained that the UK's extradition request is out of order given that the Romanian criminal proceedings take precedence.
Romanian officials had previously allowed the Tates to remain free under restrictions — including a requirement to report regularly to a Bucharest police station — while proceedings were ongoing.
Both brothers have repeatedly denied all allegations. Andrew Tate has also claimed that a political conspiracy is aimed at silencing them.
Source: Google News MT