Crime: Court rejects start of trial against Tate brothers

The ongoing criminal proceedings in Romania against the British-American influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan as well as two alleged accomplices have been declared irregular by a court. If the public prosecutor’s office wants to continue pursuing the charges, it would have to restart the process completely. The appeal court in Bucharest justified the final decision by saying, among other things, that statements from two victims were invalid and could not be accepted as evidence.

The public prosecutor’s office had accused Andrew (38) and Tristan Tate (36) of abusing and exploiting women. The brothers’ lawyer called the court decision a “significant legal victory.”

The appeal court also found that Andrew Tate’s right to defense had been violated when he was informed of the charges against him by one of his victims. Statements by the Tate brothers as witnesses were invalid as evidence. Furthermore, the prosecutors failed to state the sums of money that were to be confiscated from the accused.

Tristan Tate wrote on Platform X that he wanted a “not guilty” verdict. “After a thorough review of the legality of the investigation, the court correctly determined that there was no sufficient basis to continue the proceedings,” the brothers’ lawyer, Eugen Vidineac, was quoted as saying by the Romanian internet newspaper g4media.ro.

Accusation: Exploitation using the “loverboy method”

Prosecutors had accused the Tates of forcing young women to take part in commercially distributed sex videos. They made her dependent on themselves using manipulation techniques such as the so-called lover boy method. In a first indictment from June 2023, the brothers and their alleged accomplices were accused of rape, human trafficking and forming a criminal organization.

The Tates and their alleged accomplices were arrested for the first time on December 30, 2022 near Bucharest. This measure was later converted into house arrest, after which they were released on the condition that they not leave the country. In August this year, a court ordered Andrew Tate back to house arrest after a brief arrest. Shortly beforehand, investigators confiscated another 16 luxury cars and large sums of money from the brothers after house searches.

Nearly three dozen victims identified

The public prosecutor’s office had recently identified a total of 34 women as victims of the crime, including a 15-year-old. By exploiting the women, the brothers are said to have made criminal profits of at least $2.8 million (2.5 million euros). The two brothers deny all allegations.

Andrew Tate, a former kickboxer, reached millions of teenagers and young men with misogynistic statements on social networks. His brother Tristan assisted him.