A British court says police could seize millions in unpaid taxes from misogynistic influencer Andrew Tate
London – A court in the United Kingdom ruled on Wednesday that police can seize the equivalent of $3.3 million in frozen financial assets misogynistic social media influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan to cover years of unpaid taxes.
The money was held in seven bank accounts frozen by British authorities and belonged to Tate, who previously lived in the United Kingdom, his brother Tristan and a woman identified by British authorities only as J.
Chief Justice Paul Goldspring of Westminster Magistrates’ Court said in his ruling on Wednesday that the transactions made by the brothers, including transfers of almost $12 million to J, were a “simple fraud” designed to evade tax authorities .
Lawyers for Devon and Cornwall Police had argued that Tate and his brother were regular tax evaders and failed to pay taxes on around $26.5 million in income from their online businesses.
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According to the French news agency AFP, during the trial, lawyer Sarah Clarke, who represented the police, quoted from a video posted online by Tate in which he said: “When I lived in England, I refused to pay taxes.”
Tate railed against the ruling and accused the government of “blatant theft.”
“This is not justice; “It is a coordinated attack on anyone who dares to challenge the system,” he said in a statement, claiming the seizure of his assets “raises serious questions about how far the authorities will go to silence dissent.” .”
The Associated Press quoted a lawyer for the men, Martin Evans, who defended the bank transfers in question as “completely orthodox” for owners of online businesses.
Tate gained millions of followers online before being banned from TikTok, Facebook and YouTube when the platforms accused him of posting misogynistic hate speech.
Tate and his brother are currently under house arrest in Romania are charged with human trafficking. When this case is concluded, the brothers are expected to be extradited to the United Kingdom to face further charges of human trafficking and rape.
The Tate brothers have denied all allegations of sexual violence and human trafficking.
