Romanian prosecutors have formally indicted Andrew Tate on charges of trafficking minors, money laundering, sexual acts with a minor, and witness tampering. The official indictment marks a major escalation in the multi-year legal proceedings surrounding the online influencer and former professional kickboxer in Romania.
His brother Tristan Tate has also been charged with complicity in the trafficking of minors. Both men hold dual United States and British citizenship and have been at the centre of ongoing investigations by Romanian law enforcement agencies for several years.
The brothers were arrested in Miami at the end of July following an extradition warrant issued by authorities in the United Kingdom. They remain in the United States while fighting legal attempts to extradite them back to Britain.
New legal charges in Romania
The latest indictment against Andrew Tate follows a decision by the Bucharest Court of Appeal in December 2024. The appellate court returned the original prosecution file to investigators after identifying procedural issues, ordering that parts of the inquiry be reopened and repeated.
Following the court ruling, Romania's anti-organized crime agency, the Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT), expanded the scope of its investigation. DIICOT prosecutors subsequently added new criminal charges against both brothers.
According to judicial sources cited by Romanian online news outlet HotNews, prosecutors opted to sever specific allegations from the main case file. The separation was designed to prevent certain offenses from exceeding statutory time limits and expiring under the statute of limitations.
Andrew Tate and Tristan Tate have remained under formal judicial investigation in Romania since December 2022, when Romanian law enforcement officers first arrested them during raids at their residence near Bucharest.
Allegations of sexual exploitation and money laundering
The accusations assembled against the two brothers encompass severe criminal counts, including human trafficking, rape, trafficking of minors, sexual acts with a minor, and money laundering. Romanian prosecutors expanded their inquiry further in June by investigating allegations that Andrew Tate sexually exploited a woman in 2017.
Investigators allege that Andrew Tate took advantage of the woman's vulnerable position to coerce her into producing explicit sexual content and participating in webcam video operations. Additionally, prosecutors are investigating claims that the brothers laundered nearly 3 million euros between 2018 and 2022.
Authorities state the laundered funds originated directly from human trafficking operations and were funneled through two corporate entities controlled by the brothers. The Tate brothers have categorically denied all the allegations brought against them.
Extradition battle and legal delays
Judicial proceedings in Romania have moved slowly since the initial arrests in 2022. After the Bucharest court rejected the original indictment in late 2024 due to procedural defects, DIICOT granted the brothers permission to leave Romania in February 2025, even though criminal proceedings remained active.
The brothers are currently in the United States attempting to prevent their extradition to the United Kingdom, where British authorities have filed nearly 60 criminal charges against them. The UK charges include rape, human trafficking, and sexual exploitation.
Andrew Tate and Tristan Tate maintain that all legal actions taken against them in both Romania and the United Kingdom are politically motivated and based on entirely unfounded claims.
