DANIEL MIHAILESCU / AFP via Getty Images
By Jerome London
The Tate brothers have millions of fans and a rape and human trafficking case pending against them in the UK. On Saturday, federal agents put them in jail.
The warrant was closed, and no charges were announced at the time of the arrest, US Marshals Service spokesman Brady McCarron told the Associated Press. A person familiar with the matter, who did not want to be named because they are not authorized to discuss the case, said the two were taken into custody with a request to extradite them to the UK.
Andrew and Tristan Tate are two US and British citizens who have built a following, especially among young men and boys, by selling a life of luxury and infidelity to women. The former professional boxers moved to Romania in 2016 and were arrested there in 2022 for allegedly luring women into sex exploitation schemes. They denied it, and the case fell apart due to legal and procedural irregularities.
The UK case after Saturday’s warrant is huge. The Crown Prosecution Service approved 21 charges against both brothers in connection with alleged offenses in the Luton and Bedfordshire area between 2012 and 2015. Andrew faces 10 charges, including three counts of rape, grievous bodily harm, human trafficking, and controlling prostitution for profit, against three women. Tristan is facing 11 charges, including rape, wounding, and human trafficking, arrested by one woman.
European arrest warrants were issued in 2024. A Romanian court approved the extradition but made it a condition that the Romanian case be completed first, and in late June the UK High Court rejected the brothers’ request to force prosecutors to name the three UK complainants before they surrender, including disclosure of the case during the extradition.
Romania’s case has also grown. In early July, DIICOT, the country’s organized crime unit, expanded the allegations to include making an estimated £1 million (about $1.53 million) by sexually exploiting a 17-year-old child through the brothers’ webcam business between 2014 and 2021, witness intimidation by both brothers, the illegal sale of five seized luxury cars, and cash costs. Tristan was also charged with assaulting a woman as punishment for refusing to film pornography. Five other luxury cars were seized.
Their lawyers said that the brothers deny these accusations in all areas and stop the cases as a political stunt.
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