Influencer brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate, who are under charges for human trafficking and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women, have left for the United States after a travel ban on them in Romania was lifted. The conditions under which the Tates, who are both supporters of U.S. President Donald Trump and have millions of online followers, were allowed to leave remain unclear.
The decision to lift their travel restriction came at the discretion of prosecutors, as mentioned by a Ministry of Internal Affairs official who wished to remain anonymous. The Ministry further stated that although the Tates are now free to travel, they still need to appear before judicial authorities whenever summoned and warned that any violation of this obligation could lead to stricter judicial control measures.
Andrew Tate, 38, and Tristan Tate, 36, both hold U.S.-British citizenship and were arrested in late 2022 along with two Romanian women. All four were formally indicted by Romanian prosecutors and face the allegations of human trafficking, forming a criminal gang, and sexual exploitation. Andrew Tate also faces an additional charge of rape. The Tates deny all of these allegations.
Their departure from Romania comes after the Foreign Minister Emil Hurezeanu disclosed that a U.S. official during the Munich Security Conference expressed interest in the brothers’ legal case. The Minister emphasized that this did not amount to pressure. A former Romanian judge, Cristi Danilet, stated that such an arrangement would be unprecedented and could potentially signify a lack of rule of law.
The case against the Tates hit a roadblock in December when a Bucharest court ruled that the case could not proceed due to legal and procedural irregularities on the part of the prosecutors. While this decision posed a setback for the prosecutors, the case is far from closed, with another legal case still pending against the brothers in Romania. In August of the previous year, DIICOT also launched a second-case investigating allegations of human trafficking, the trafficking of minors, sexual intercourse with a minor, influencing statements, and money laundering.
In addition to their legal battles in Romania, the Tate brothers have also faced legal action in the U.K. A U.K. court ruled that police could seize over 2.6 million pounds to cover the brothers’ unpaid taxes and froze some of their accounts. In March, the Tates appeared before the Bucharest Court of Appeal in another case where U.K. authorities had issued arrest warrants over allegations of sexual aggression from 2012-2015. The court granted the U.K.’s request to extradite the Tates, but only after legal proceedings in Romania have concluded.
Source: https://time.com/7262274/andrew-tate-us-trafficking-rape-charges-romania/
