Police can seize more than £2m from controversial influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan after they failed to pay tax on £21m of revenue from their online businesses, a court has ruled.
Devon and Cornwall Police had sought to seize the funds – held in seven frozen bank accounts – from the brothers and a third person, referred to as J.
The chief magistrate at Westminster Magistrates’ Court said what appeared to be a “complex financial matrix” was actually a “straightforward cheat of the revenue”.
Andrew Tate said the ruling was “not justice” and called it a “co-ordinated attack”.
Some of the revenue was directly linked by detectives to allegations of human trafficking that the brothers face in Romania.
The court previously heard the brothers had paid just under $12m (£9.5m) into an account in J’s name.
They had also opened a second account in her name, even though she had no role in their online businesses, which include the War Room, Hustlers’ University, Cobra Tate and OnlyFans, the hearing was told.
Part of the money that police applied to seize was cryptocurrency held in an account in J’s name.
Devon and Cornwall Police’s lawyers told the court that Andrew Tate had publicly declared he had not paid tax in the UK, and that his approach had been to “ignore, ignore, ignore because in the end they go away”.
The force had argued that the brothers’ traceable earnings of £21m between 2014 and 2022 seemingly came about despite the men having “no significant qualifications, business experience, established companies, shares, intellectual property or similar assets”.
Ruling in the force’s favour, chief magistrate Paul Goldspring said the brothers had given the court no evidence relating to tax payments, but had insisted through their lawyers that the movement of the cash had been legitimate business activity.
In his written ruling, the judge said he was “satisfied” that the brothers had “engaged in long-standing, deliberate conduct in order to evade their tax”.
The force can seize £2,683,345 in total, including cryptocurrency.
Following the ruling, Andrew Tate said he had been the victim of “the matrix” and “outright theft”.
“It’s a coordinated attack on anyone who dares to challenge the system,” he said in a statement.
“Speak against the matrix, and they’ll come for your freedom, your reputation, and your livelihood.”
Andrew Tate has been banned from TikTok, YouTube and Facebook after the platforms accused him of posting hate speech and misogynistic comments, but he remains on X with more than 10 million followers.
In June last year, Romanian prosecutors charged him with rape, human trafficking and forming a criminal gang.
Tristan Tate faces allegations of human trafficking and the Romanian authorities say their case relates to seven alleged victims who were recruited through false promises of love and marriage.
The Tate brothers deny the allegations against them.
Judge Goldspring said one of the accounts had been used to move money in relation to the allegations.
“I am satisfied that this account is used for payments connected to female complainants in the Romanian allegations and also significant payments to co-defendants in the Romanian criminal proceedings,” he said.
“Whether or not the respondent brothers’ webcam business activities amounts to modern slavery (and other) offences will ultimately be determined by the Romanian criminal courts.
“But for these purposes, I am satisfied that none of these funds were declared to the tax authorities in either the UK or Romania.”
He said this supported his conclusion that the brothers’ “entire financial arrangements are consistent with concerted tax evasion and money laundering”.
When the pair were initially accused of hiding the cash from tax authorities, they had told the court they would rely on evidence from an expert accountant.
That plan was later abandoned and Judge Goldspring said they ultimately provided no evidence to counter the police’s allegation.
Devon and Cornwall Police said it welcomed the judge’s decision.
A force spokesperson said: “From the outset we have aimed to demonstrate that Andrew and Tristan Tate evaded taxes and laundered money through bank accounts located in Devon.
“Both individuals are alleged to have concealed the origins of their income by channelling money through ‘front’ accounts, constituting criminal activity and rendering those earnings proceeds of crime.
“We will refrain from further comment until the 28-day appeal period has concluded.”
Separately, Bedfordshire Police is seeking the extradition of the Tate brothers to the UK in relation to allegations of rape and human trafficking, which they deny.
A judge in Bucharest has said that extradition request will be dealt with after the conclusion of the case in Romania.
