Andrew Tate, who faces rape and trafficking charges in Romania, has left
for the US
 [February 27, 2025]
By STEPHEN McGRATH and ANDREEA ALEXANDRU
BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — Influencer brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate,
who are charged with human trafficking in Romania, have left for the
U.S. after a travel ban on them was lifted, an official said Thursday.
The brothers are also charged with forming a criminal gang to sexually
exploit women. Andrew Tate also faces an additional charge of rape.
It wasn't clear under what conditions the Tates — who are avid
supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump and boast millions of online
followers — were allowed to leave Romania.
An official at the Ministry of Internal Affairs, who spoke on condition
of anonymity because they weren't authorized to discuss the case, said
that the decision was at the discretion of prosecutors.
Romania’s anti-organized crime agency, DIICOT, said in a statement
Thursday that prosecutors approved a "request to modify the obligation
preventing the defendants from leaving Romania,” but that judicial
control measures remained in place. The agency didn't say who had made
the request.
“These include the requirement to appear before judicial authorities
whenever summoned,” the statement read. “The defendants have been warned
that deliberately violating these obligations may result in judicial
control being replaced with a stricter deprivation of liberty measure.”
Andrew Tate, 38, and Tristan Tate, 36 — who are dual U.S.-British
citizens — were arrested near Romania’s capital in late 2022 along with
two Romanian women. Romanian prosecutors formally indicted all four last
year. In April, the Bucharest Tribunal ruled that a trial could start
but didn't set a date. All four deny all of the allegations.
The Tates' departure came after Foreign Minister Emil Hurezeanu said
this month that a U.S. official in the current Trump administration had
expressed interest in the brothers’ legal case in Romania at the Munich
Security Conference. The minister insisted it didn’t amount to pressure.
While it is unclear whether the request to lift the brothers' travel ban
came from the U.S., Cristi Danilet, a former judge in Romania’s northern
city of Cluj, said that such an agreement would be unprecedented.
“I have never heard of a foreign government asking Romania to lift
preventive measures to allow some suspects to leave the country,” he
told The Associated Press. “If I had been a judge, this would not have
happened.”
“If it is true, it means that there is no more rule of law and sovereign
countries,” he added.
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Andrew Tate gestures, next to his brother Tristan, outside the
Bucharest Tribunal in Bucharest, Romania, Thursday, Jan. 9, 2025.
(AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
In December, a court in Bucharest ruled that the case against the
Tates and the two Romanian women couldn't go to trial because of
multiple legal and procedural irregularities on the part of the
prosecutors.
That decision by the Bucharest Court of Appeal was a huge setback
for DIICOT, but it didn't mean the defendants could walk free. The
case hasn't been closed, and there is also a separate legal case
against the brothers in Romania.
Last August, DIICOT also launched a second case against the Tate
brothers, investigating allegations of human trafficking, the
trafficking of minors, sexual intercourse with a minor, influencing
statements and money laundering. They have denied all of the
charges.
Andrew Tate, a former professional kickboxer and self-described
misogynist who has amassed more than 10 million followers on X, has
repeatedly claimed that prosecutors in Romania have no evidence
against him and that there is a political conspiracy to silence him.
The Tates brothers' legal battles, however, aren't limited to
Romania.
Late last year, a U.K. court ruled that in a separate case against
the Tate brothers, police can seize more than 2.6 million pounds
($3.3 million) to cover years of unpaid taxes from the pair and
froze some of their accounts. Andrew Tate called it “outright theft”
and called it “a coordinated attack on anyone who dares to challenge
the system.”
Last March, the Tate brothers appeared at the Bucharest Court of
Appeal in a separate case after U.K. authorities issued arrest
warrants over allegations of sexual aggression in a case dating back
to 2012-2015.
The appeals court granted the U.K. request to extradite the Tates,
but only after legal proceedings in Romania have concluded.
___
Stephen McGrath reported from Sighisoara.
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