Tate brothers accused of sex crimes in Romania
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Andrew and Tristan Tate are returning to the United States after Romanian prosecutors agreed to lift travel restrictions imposed as part of a sex trafficking case there.
The brothers have denied the charges and are suing at least one of their accusers, a Florida woman who traveled to Romania, for alleged defamation.
The Tates are social media influencers with a following of over 10 million. They describe themselves as entrepreneurs, and Andrew Tate, 38, is a former kickboxer and MMA fighter.
Their homecoming comes after the Financial Times reported that U.S. officials expressed interest in the brothers' case to their Romanian counterparts at least twice in recent days.
ANDREW TATE, BROTHER TRISTAN SUED FOR ALLEGEDLY SEX TRAFFICKING AMERICAN WOMAN TO FOREIGN COUNTRY
Andrew Tate smiles while waiting along with his brother Tristan, left, for a hearing inside the Court of Appeals building in Bucharest, Romania, Wednesday, June 26, 2024. A court in Romania's capital on Friday, July 5, 2024 ruled that the online influencer Andrew Tate can leave Romanian territory providing he remains within the European Union, as he awaits trial on charges of human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda, File)
Along with his 37-year-old brother, he has been accused of luring women to Romania for sexual exploitation in a 2022 case in which prosecutors suffered a major setback after a judge found there were too many problems to bring it to trial.
In a second criminal case opened in August 2024, they are also being investigated for allegedly trafficking underage girls.
They are dual citizens of the United States and United Kingdom but have been living in Romania, where authorities warned they are still required to show up in court as the case proceeds.
ROMANIAN AUTHORITIES TOW VEHICLES FROM ANDREW TATE'S HOME AFTER NEW HUMAN TRAFFICKING ALLEGATIONS
Andrew Tate and Tristan Tate (not pictured) are brought in by police officers to appear in front of a judge at the Bucharest Court of Appeal, in Bucharest, Romania, March 12, 2024. (Inquam Photos/Octav Ganea via REUTERS)
In the U.K., they have also been accused of failure to pay taxes, and Andrew Tate is expected to be extradited there on a charge of sexual aggression after the conclusion of his Romanian case.
They sued one of their accusers in Florida, accusing her of defaming them, and she filed a countersuit earlier this month calling them "self-confessed webcam pimps and pornographers who made their first million dollars from lying and deceiving women."
POLICE RAID ANDREW TATE'S HOME IN ROMANIA AS NEW ALLEGATIONS INVOLVING MINORS SURFACE
Armed gendarmes wearing balaclavas walk outside the residence of Andrew Tate during a police search raid, on the outskirts of Bucharest, Romania, Wednesday, Aug. 21, 2024. (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)
"Jane Doe did the right thing by telling the truth of what she saw and experienced while she was in Romania to Romanian authorities," her lawyer, Dani Pinter, said in a statement. "And for that, Andrew and Tristan Tate have worked to ruin her life by suing her and her parents – an abuse of the legal system and blatant witness intimidation."
In the brothers' 2023 lawsuit, they accused Doe of fabricating evidence against them. It also names her parents and two friends as defendants for their role in a phone call alerting U.S. embassy officials in Romania to Doe's alleged trafficking.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
