By Sam Tobin, Reuters
Andrew Tate (L) and Tristan Tate (R) in December 2023.
Photo: DANIEL MIHAILESCU / AFP
British police can seize nearly 2.7 million pounds (NZ$5.9 million) from internet personality Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan over unpaid tax, a London judge ruled.
Britain’s Devon and Cornwall Police took legal action at Westminster Magistrates’ Court against the Tates and an unnamed third person earlier this year.
The force’s lawyers said the Tates had not paid any tax on around 21 million pounds of revenue from online businesses between 2014 and 2022 and that funds in seven accounts should be forfeited.
Judge Paul Goldspring said in a written ruling that the Tates had been liable to register with the tax authorities and declare and pay tax on revenue in Britain and/or Romania, where they have lived since 2017.
Andrew and Tristan Tate are currently facing human trafficking and other criminal charges in Romania, which they deny.
Goldspring found that Andrew and Tristan Tate’s “entire financial arrangements are consistent with concerted tax evasion and money laundering”.
“I am satisfied on the balance of probabilities that they have engaged in long-standing, deliberate conduct in order to evade their tax/VAT liabilities in both jurisdictions,” the judge added.
Andrew Tate said in a statement: “First, they labelled me a human trafficker, yet they couldn’t find a single woman to stand against me.
“When that narrative crumbled, they turned to outright theft, freezing my accounts for over two years and now seizing everything they could. This is not justice, it’s a coordinated attack on anyone who dares to challenge the system.”
Tate, a self-described misogynist, has gained millions of fans by promoting an ultra-masculine lifestyle that critics say denigrates women.
-Reuters