A British court ruled Wednesday that police can seize more than 2.6 million pounds ($3.3 million) to cover years of unpaid taxes from an influencer. Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan.
Devon and Cornwall Police went to court to claim money held in seven frozen bank accounts from the Tates and a woman identified only as J.
At Westminster Magistrates' Court, Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring ruled that the brothers' financial dealings, including the transfer of almost $12 million to an account in J's name, were an "outright fraud" of the tax authorities.
A lawyer for the unit said the Tates were "serial" tax evaders who paid no tax between 2014 and 2022 on £21m of income from their online businesses, 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 they could".
“That 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 the lengths to which the authorities will go to silence dissent."
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At the hearing in July, lawyer Sarah Clarke quoted from 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.
The brothers' lawyer, Martin Evans, argued that bank transfers were "completely orthodox" for people running online businesses. He said the siblings spent money on a number of "exotic motor cars" but did nothing illegal.
The proceedings are civil and have a lower standard of proof than criminal cases. Goldspring had to decide on the balance of probabilities whether the Tates had evaded tax.
Court documents show an estimated total of £2,683,345.88 (about $3.4 million) is held in the seven accounts that police can now seize.
Andrew Tate is a former kickboxer and dual British-American citizen who has amassed over 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, faces criminal charges in Romaniaincluding human trafficking and forming a criminal gang to exploit women. After these proceedings, they will be extradited to the UK to face further charges of rape and human trafficking.
The Tates deny all allegations.
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Associated Press writers Brian Melley in London and Stephen McGrath in Warwick, England, contributed to this story.
© 2024 The Canadian Press
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