After weeks in the United States, influencer brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate arrived early on Saturday in Romania, where they face charges of human trafficking and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women.
The Tates, who are dual US and British citizens, were arrested in Romania in late 2022 and formally indicted last year on charges that they participated in a criminal ring that lured women to Romania, where they were allegedly sexually exploited.
Andrew Tate (38) was also charged with rape. They deny all of the allegations against them.
Andrew Tate, a former professional kickboxer and self-described misogynist who has amassed more than 10 million followers on X, has repeatedly claimed prosecutors in Romania have no evidence against him.
The brothers’ plane — which Andrew Tate said earlier in a post on X cost $185,000 dollars (€170,000) to “jet across the Atlantic to sign one single piece of paper” — landed at Bucharest Henri Coanda International Airport shortly before 1am local time Saturday morning.
After arriving at their residence near the capital, Bucharest, Andrew Tate told reporters they returned because “innocent men don’t run from anything” and he vowed to clear his name in court.
“After all we’ve been through, we truly deserve the day in court where it is stated that we’ve done nothing wrong and that we should have never been in court in the first place. We should have never gone to jail. We should have never had our assets seized. We should have never had our names slandered,” he said.
“Anyone who believed any of this garbage has a particularly low IQ.”
Their return to Romania comes nearly a month after a travel ban imposed on the brothers was lifted, after which they flew on a private jet to the US, landing in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.
The brothers remain under judicial control, which requires them to appear before judicial authorities in Romania when summoned.
Eugen Vidineac, one of the Tate brothers’ lawyers in Romania, told the Associated Press the Tates are due to check in with a surveillance officer on Monday.
Days after the brothers arrived in the US, on March 4th, Florida’s attorney general James Uthmeier said his office had opened a criminal investigation into Andrew and Tristan Tate.
He said in a social media post that he directed his office to work with law enforcement to conduct a preliminary inquiry into the brothers.
A day after the investigation was opened, Andrew Tate said in a post on X: “I didn’t commit any crime and they’re trying to find one because they don’t like me.”
The lifting of their two-year travel ban came after a Bucharest court in December ruled that a case against them could not go to trial because of multiple legal and procedural irregularities on the part of the prosecutors.
The case, however, remained open.
After returning to Romania, Tristan Tate said: “I think it’s very telling that we were investigated for two and a half years, and we were dragged … in front of the media, into prison, out of prison, all this time, and in December last year, a judge said … there’s not evidence enough for this to even go to trial.”
Last August, Romania’s anti-organised crime agency also launched a second case against the brothers, investigating allegations of human trafficking, the trafficking of minors, sexual intercourse with a minor, influencing statements and money laundering. They have denied those charges as well.
Andrew Tate said: “If a court needs to speak to us, we’ll be there because we’re innocent.”
The Tate brothers’ legal battles are not limited to Romania.
Four British women who accused Andrew Tate of sexual violence and physical abuse are suing him in the UK after the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to prosecute him.
UK authorities issued arrest warrants over allegations of sexual aggression in a separate case dating back to the period from 2012 to 2015. The UK has been permitted to extradite the Tates once legal proceeding in Romania end. -AP
