Romanian authorities raided the home of kickboxers-turned-influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate on Wednesday amid the ongoing human trafficking probe into the British-American brothers, which now includes allegations of trafficking minors.
According to Romanian media, four searches were carried out in properties in Bucharest and Ilfov County in connection to the criminal case against Andrew and Tristan Tate.
In a statement, Romania’s Directorate for the Investigation of Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) said that it carried out four search warrants “in a criminal case regarding the commission of the crimes of setting up an organized criminal group, trafficking of minors, human trafficking, sexual intercourse with a minor, influencing statements and money laundering.”
“We specify that, throughout the entire criminal process, the investigated persons benefit from the procedural rights and guarantees provided by the Code of Criminal Procedure, as well as from the presumption of innocence,” DIICOT added.
The Tate brothers, along with two Romanian women, were initially arrested and jailed in 2022 before later being moved to house arrest. They have since been allowed to travel freely throughout Romania while they continue to await trial.
Authorities have accused them of rape and human trafficking, claiming that they used false promises of love and marriage to lure women to come to Romania with the aim of recruiting the women into joining their former webcam pornography business.
All four have denied the allegations and have claimed the charges are politically motivated by Andrew Tate’s large influence on social media, where he has millions of followers and espouses anti-establishment and anti-feminist messages.
In a post on X following the raid on his home on Wednesday, Andrew Tate wrote: “9 hours into the house search and an armed police officer looks at me apologetically and shrugs his shoulders. He said ‘You’ve made somebody very angry’.”
Mr Tate also asserted: “The ‘minor’ they are talking about is 24 years old. But because she first followed me years ago, when she was 17. They say I INTENDED TO traffic her. Even though, I literally did nothing to her and we’ve been friends for years. Matrix Attack.”
The Tate brothers also face arrest warrants in the United Kingdom over an alleged sexual aggression case prior to their moving to Romania. The Bucharest Court of Appeal approved the request to extradite the pair, however, the extradition can only take place following the completion of their legal cases in Romania.