Police seize £2.8 million from controversial influencer Andrew Tate and brother Tristan over unpaid tax

18 December 2024, 10:27 | Updated: 18 December 2024, 11:11

Police have successfully seized more than £2 million from controversial influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan in relation to unpaid tax on £21 million of revenue.

Devon and Cornwall Police's bid to confiscate funds follows claims the pair owe millions in unpaid tax, with Chief Magistrate ruling in favour of the force at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Wednesday.

Lawyers for Devon and Cornwall Police had claimed the brothers failed to pay tax on £21 million of revenue from their online businesses.

The pair will now forfeit £2.8 million over the unpaid tax bill, with funds held in seven frozen bank accounts under the Tates' names and a woman identified only as 'J'.

Ruling at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring ordered confiscation of the funds.

It comes as the human trafficking, rape and sexual exploitation case against the influencer in Romania may be withdrawn after a court found "multiple irregularities" in prosecutors' indictment.

In his judgment handed down on Wednesday, Mr Goldspring said what appeared to be a "complex financial matrix" was actually a "straightforward cheat of the revenue".

The court previously heard the brothers paid just under 12 million US dollars into an account in the name of J, and opened a second account in her name, even though she had no role in their businesses.

Part of the money the force applied to seize was cryptocurrency held in an account in J's name.

Read more: Andrew Tate sex offences case could be withdrawn after court finds 'multiple irregularities'

J received a payment of £805,000 into her Revolut account, the court previously heard.

The proceedings are civil, which carries a lower standard of proof than criminal cases.

Speaking at an earlier hearing in July, Sarah Clarke KC, representing Devon and Cornwall Police, told Westminster Magistrates’ Court that the brothers are “serial tax and VAT evaders”.

The brothers own a number of online businesses including War Room, Hustlers’ University, Cobra Tate and OnlyFans, with claims they failed to pay tax between 2014 and 2022.

Representing the force, Ms Clarke KC quoted from a video posted by the online influencer.

In the clip, Andrew Tate was heard to say: “When I lived in England I refused to pay tax.”

The court heard he said his approach was “ignore, ignore, ignore because in the end they go away”.

It comes as a ruling by the Bucharest Court of Appeal came as a major setback for Romanian authorities' case set out by the anti-organised crime agency.

The appeals court also ordered that some evidence be removed.Its decision comes nearly two years after Tate, 37, and his brother Tristan Tate, 36, were arrested along with two Romanian women near the capital.

Romanian prosecutors formally indicted all four last year.