A UK court has given police permission to seize over £2m from self-proclaimed misogynist influencer Andrew Tate and his brother, Tristan, in a tax evasion case. Devon and Cornwall police had been seeking to seize money held in seven frozen bank accounts belonging to the Tates and a woman identified as J.
The judge ruled that the brothers’ financial dealings were not complex, but rather a deliberate attempt to evade taxes on £21m of revenue earned from their online businesses between 2014 and 2022. The court heard that Andrew Tate had refused to pay tax, saying he would “ignore” tax authorities.
Police allege that the brothers paid just under $12m into an account in J’s name and opened a second account in her name, without any role in their business. A significant amount of cryptocurrency held in one of these accounts is also being seized.
The case against Tate and his brother is civil, meaning it uses a lower standard of proof than criminal cases. The brothers are currently embroiled in a separate legal battle with authorities in Romania, where they were arrested in 2022 on charges of human trafficking and other crimes. They have denied all allegations.
In response to the ruling, Tate said that the decision was “not justice” and accused authorities of “silencing dissent”. Police stated that they would refrain from further comment until a 28-day appeal period has concluded.
Source: https://www.theguardian.com/news/2024/dec/18/andrew-tate-tristan-lose-court-case-over-unpaid-tax