A London court ruled on Wednesday that the police in Britain can seize more than 2 million pounds, about $2.5 million, from bank accounts associated with Andrew Tate, the misogynistic online influencer who has bragged about evading taxes in the country.
The court found that Mr. Tate and his brother Tristan had failed to pay taxes on more than £21 million in revenue from a slew of business that include sexualized adult entertainment and online payment methods. The brothers, who are facing criminal charges including human trafficking in Romania, have failed to pay taxes there and in Britain, the court ruled.
Judge Paul Goldspring said in his decision that it was clear that the brothers had “engaged in longstanding, deliberate conduct in order to evade” their tax liabilities. He described the matter as “a relatively straightforward case.”
The police in the Devon and Cornwall district of southwestern England had approached the court for an order to seize cash and cryptocurrency from frozen bank accounts belonging to Mr. Tate and his brother, as well as a woman identified only as “J” in court documents.
An American and British former competitive kickboxer, Mr. Tate has flaunted his wealth in ostentatious displays, including a fleet of luxury cars. Now an influencer and conspiracy theorist, he has used his online platform to brag about evading tax and to coach others on how to do so. Those videos were used against him in court as evidence.
“When I lived in England, I refused to pay tax,” Mr. Tate said in one video quoted from in the ruling. In another, he incorrectly advised that setting up an online business in the United Arab Emirates would mean not having to pay tax.
Misogyny and demeaning comments about women are a fixture of Mr. Tate’s online messaging, and that extended to his stance on taxes, court documents showed.
“Tax is also another important element for controlling your woman,” he said in a YouTube video that was used as evidence.
He went on to tell his followers, most of whom are men, that he paid women who worked for him only a third of their salaries, and bragged that he lied about tax deductions while keeping the rest of the money for himself.
Lawyers for the Devon and Cornwall police also questioned how Mr. Tate and his brother, who are in their 30s, had amassed their fortunes in less than a decade, “despite having no significant qualifications, business experience, shares, intellectual property or similar assets.”
The lawyers said the brothers had purchased land in Romania and bought assets that had nothing to do with their businesses, transactions that the lawyers said bore “all the hallmarks of money laundering.”
After the ruling, Mr. Tate accused the British government of stealing his money.
“When they fail to control your influence, they audit your influence,” he said in a lengthy post on social media.
He also used the opportunity to condemn the charges that he is facing in Romania. “I’m a human trafficker supposedly. Where’s the evidence?” he wrote in another post. “Remember that the government hates you.”
Prosecutors in Romania and Britain have brought multiple charges against Mr. Tate and brother, including human trafficking and rape. Mr. Tate’s case in Romania began in 2022, while the charges in Britain were filed in 2012 and 2015 but later dismissed.
The police in England now say they are working with their counterparts in Romania to revive that investigation and have obtained an arrest warrant. A court in Bucharest said this spring that Mr. Tate and his brother could be extradited to Britain, but only once legal proceedings in Romania are concluded.
The post Police Can Seize £2 Million From Andrew Tate Accounts, U.K. Court Rules appeared first on New York Times.
