Court allows Devon and Cornwall Police to seize more than £2.8m from Andrew and Tristan Tate

Andrew Tate, left, and Tristan Tate, right, in September. Credit: AP
Police to seize more than £2.8m from Andrew Tate and his brother

The influencer described the court ruling as a "co-ordinated attack", as ITV News' Ian Woods reports

Controversial influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan must pay more than £2 million to Devon and Cornwall Police, over claims they owe millions in unpaid tax.

The brothers must forfeit £2.8 million, after a judge ruled they failed to pay any tax on £21 million in revenue from their online businesses, including OnlyFans.

Andrew Tate said the ruling "is not justice" and called it a "co-ordinated attack."

The ruling came on Wednesday morning from the Chief Magistrate at Westminster Magistrates' Court, following a legal bid from Devon and Cornwall Police for the money, held in seven frozen bank accounts.

In his judgement, Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring said what appeared to be a "complex financial matrix" was actually a "straightforward cheat of the revenue."

A lawyer for Devon and Cornwall Police said the Tate brothers were "serial" tax evaders, who failed to pay any tax on the millions of pounds of revenue from their various online businesses between 2014-2022.

At a hearing from July, Sarah Clarke KC 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 heard the brothers paid just under 12 million US dollars into an account under the name of a woman identified as J, and opened a second account in her name even though she had no role in the businesses. J also received a payment of £805,000 into her Revolut account, the court heard.

Andrew and Tristan Tate at the Court of Appeals building in Romania earlier this month. Credit: AP

Andrew and Tristan Tate are facing a series of separate criminal allegations in Romania, and are set to be extradited to the UK once those proceedings are completed, to face further accusations here.

They are accused of human trafficking charges and forming a criminal gang to exploit women in one case in Romania, in which Andrew Tate is also accused of rape.

Bedfordshire Police secured an international arrest warrant for the brothers relating to allegations of rape and human trafficking dating back to 2012-2015, which they deny.

Andrew Tate has been banned from TikTok, YouTube and Facebook, after the platforms accused him of posting hate speech and misogynistic comments. But he remains popular on X, with almost ten million followers.

In July, police in the UK warned that influencers like Andrew Tate could radicalise social media followers into extreme misogyny, in the same way that terrorists draw in their followers.

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