UK court hears tax evasion case against influencer Andrew Tate

LONDON (AFP) — A U.K. court on Monday heard a civil fraud case alleging that controversial influencer Andrew Tate and his brother are “serial tax evaders,” in the latest legal issue for the U.S.-born Britons.

Tate and his brother Tristan are awaiting criminal trial in Romania, over accusations they formed an organized criminal network in early 2021 there and in the U.K.

The former professional kickboxer and his brother face charges of human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal group to sexually exploit women.

In the new civil case in London, Westminster Magistrates’ Court is weighing claims that the siblings failed to pay any taxes on £21 million ($27 million) of revenue from their online businesses.

Devon and Cornwall Police, in southwest England, have lodged the case against them and a third person — referred to only as J — over the allegedly unpaid tax from earnings between 2014 and 2022.

“Andrew Tate and Tristan Tate are serial tax and VAT evaders,” lawyer Sarah Clarke, representing the police force, told the court hearing Monday.

“They, in particular Andrew Tate, are brazen about it,” she alleged.

Clarke quoted from a video posted online by Andrew Tate in which he said: “When I lived in England I refused to pay tax.”

The court was told that he said his approach was “ignore, ignore, ignore because in the end they go away.”

Clarke claimed the brothers had “a huge number of bank accounts” in the U.K., seven of which have now been frozen, and that money “washed around” them.

“That’s what tax evasion looks like, that’s what money laundering looks like,” she said.

The money came from products they sold online as well as their OnlyFans sites, the court was told.

The U.K. hearing came days after a Bucharest court eased travel restrictions on the brothers allowing them to travel within the European Union while awaiting trial there.

A trial date in Romania has not yet been set.

Andrew Tate moved to the eastern European country years ago after first starting a webcam business in the U.K.

He later turned to social media platforms to promote his divisive views.

Giving tips on how to be successful, along with misogynistic and sometimes violent maxims, his videos have made him one of the world’s best-known influencers.

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By Agence France-Presse