A British court ruled on Wednesday that police can seize more than 2.6 million pounds ($3.3 million) to cover years of unpaid taxes from influencers Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan.
Devon and Cornwall Police went to court to recover the money held in seven frozen bank accounts from the Tates and a woman identified only as J.
At Westminster Magistrates’ Court, Chief Justice Paul Goldspring ruled that the brothers’ financial transactions, including the transfer of almost $12 million into an account in J’s name, amounted to a “simple fraud” of the tax authorities.
A police lawyer said the Tates were “serial” tax evaders who failed to pay tax on £21 million in income from their online businesses between 2014 and 2022, including War Room, Hustlers’ University, Cobra Tate and OnlyFans.
Andrew Tate, 38, accused the government of “outright theft” for freezing his accounts and seizing “everything it could”.
“This is not justice; It is a coordinated attack on anyone who dares to challenge the system,” Tate said in a statement. “This raises serious questions about how far the authorities will go to silence dissent.”
Get breaking national news
If you want to receive news that affects Canada and around the world, you can sign up for breaking news alerts delivered to you as soon as they happen.
At a hearing in July, barrister Sarah Clarke quoted a video posted online by Andrew Tate in which he said: “When I lived in England I refused to pay taxes.”
She said J – who cannot be named due to a court order – was not involved in the brothers’ business.
A lawyer for the brothers, Martin Evans, argued that the bank transfers were “completely orthodox” for people running online businesses. He said the siblings spent money on a number of “exotic cars” but did nothing illegal.
It is a civil case that has a lower standard of proof than a criminal case. Goldspring had to decide on the balance of probabilities whether the Tates had evaded taxes.
Court documents show there is an estimated total of 2,683,345.88 pounds (about $3.4 million) in the seven accounts that police can now seize.
Andrew Tate is a former kickboxer and dual British-American citizen who has more than 10 million followers on X. He was banned from TikTok, YouTube and Facebook after the platforms accused him of posting hate speech and misogynistic comments.
He and Tristan Tate, 36, are prosecuted in Romaniaincluding human trafficking and the formation of a criminal gang to exploit women. Once the case is complete, they will be extradited to the United Kingdom to face further charges of rape and human trafficking.
The Tates deny all allegations.
___
Associated Press writers Brian Melley in London and Stephen McGrath in Warwick, England, contributed to this story.
&Copy 2024 The Canadian Press
