Online influencer Andrew Tate was detained in Romania and handed an arrest warrant issued by British authorities, his spokesperson said Tuesday.
Tate, 37, and his brother Tristan Tate were detained Monday evening for 24 hours on allegations of sexual aggression in a UK case dating back to 2012-2015, spokesperson Mateea Petrescu said.
She said the Bucharest Court of Appeal, where the Tate brothers appeared in handcuffs on Tuesday escorted by police, was set to make a “pivotal decision” the same day on whether to execute the warrants issued by the Westminster Magistrates Court in London, in a move that could trigger an extradition process.
Four women had reported Andrew Tate to the UK authorities for alleged sexual violence and physical abuse, but the Crown Prosecution Service decided not to prosecute him. The alleged victims then turned to crowdfunding to cover their legal costs as they pursue a civil case against him.
“We handed over our evidence about the horrific acts of violence we endured and waited for action. But four years later we were told the UK authorities would not prosecute him,” they state on their campaign page. “It’s our one remaining route to hold him accountable.”
It wasn’t immediately clear what Tristan Tate is accused of in the UK.
Petrescu said Tuesday that the Tate brothers, who are dual UK and US citizens, reject the charges and “express profound disappointment that such serious allegations are being resurrected without substantial new evidence.”
Andrew Tate is charged in a separate case in Romania with rape, human trafficking and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women. He was arrested near Bucharest in December 2022 along with his brother and two Romanian women.
Romanian prosecutors formally indicted all four in June and they have denied the allegations.
McCue Jury & Partners, the legal firm representing the four British women who accuse Andrew Tate of rape and serious physical and sexual assaults, said in a statement Tuesday they had urged British police to “immediately seek a warrant” for Tate’s detention and extradition after they received information last week that he might be planning to flee Romania.
“Today’s news is very welcome as it had been a significant concern to many that Tate would seek to avoid justice in Romania and abroad,” said Matthew Jury, a managing partner at the law firm. “We are grateful to the British authorities for taking our concerns seriously and issuing an arrest warrant. Tate is accused of serious criminal offences against a large number of victims and he must be held accountable.”
Jury added that since Tate was arrested in Romania, he has “spread a vast amount of disinformation about the criminal charges he faces in the UK” in high-profile interviews with popular media figures such as Tucker Carlson and Piers Morgan.
