Masked police raided the home of controversial internet influencer Andrew Tate again Wednesday morning, who is awaiting trial on charges of human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women.
Romania’s anti-organized crime agency, DIICOT, said it was searching four homes in Bucharest and nearby Ilfov counties to investigate allegations of human trafficking, trafficking of minors, sexual intercourse with a minor, influencing statements and money laundering. The agency added that hearings will be held at its headquarters later.
Tate’s spokeswoman, Mateea Petrescu, said in response to the raids that “while the charges in the search warrant are not yet fully clarified, they include suspicions of human trafficking and money laundering,” and added that her legal team was present. Petrescu did not address the allegations involving minors.
Dozens of police officers and forensic personnel searched Tate’s large property on the outskirts of the capital Bucharest. “Throughout the criminal proceedings, the accused persons benefit from the procedural rights and guarantees provided for by the Code of Criminal Procedure, as well as the presumption of innocence,” DIICOT noted in its statement.
Andrew Tate, 37, and his brother Tristan, 36, both former kickboxers and dual British and American citizens who have amassed millions of followers on social media, were arrested in 2022 near Bucharest along with two Romanian women. Romanian prosecutors formally charged the four last year. They have denied the allegations.
In April, the Bucharest court ruled that prosecutors’ case against the four individuals met the legal criteria and that a trial could begin, but did not set a date for its start. The decision came after the court case was argued for months in the chamber’s pretrial stages, a process in which defendants can challenge the evidence and prosecutors’ case.
After the Tate brothers were arrested in 2022, they were detained for three months by police before being placed under house arrest. They were then restricted to Bucharest and Ilfov counties, and then to all of Romania.
Last month, a court overturned an earlier ruling that allowed the Tate brothers to leave Romania while they await trial. The previous court had ruled on July 5 that they could leave the country as long as they remained in one of the 27 countries of the European Union. The decision was final.
Andrew Tate, who is known for expressing misogynistic views online and has 9.9 million followers on the social network X, has repeatedly claimed that prosecutors have no evidence against him and that there is a political conspiracy to silence him. He has previously been banned from several social media platforms for misogynistic views and hate speech.
In March, the Tate brothers also appeared before the Bucharest Court of Appeal in a separate case, after British authorities issued arrest warrants for sexual assault allegations in a British case dating back to 2012-2015. The appeals court accepted the British request to extradite the Tates to the UK, but only after the conclusion of legal proceedings in Romania.