The self-styled “misogynist influencer” Andrew Tate and his brother, Tristan, have left Romania on a private jet and are flying to the US after their travel ban was lifted, officials and local media have said.
The pair – who were arrested in Romania three years ago and face trial on charges of rape, people trafficking and money laundering – took off from Băneasa airport in Bucharest at 5.30am (0330 GMT) for Florida, the 24-hour news channel Antena 3 said. Airport sources confirmed their departure.
Romania’s public prosecutor’s office said it had approved the brothers’ request to travel to the US pending investigation, and judicial sources told local media they were due to return for a court hearing in March.
Andrew Tate, 38, a former professional kickboxer, and his brother, 36, have been under a travel ban since their arrest in 2022, along with two Romanian women, on charges of human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women.
Romania’s anti-organised crime unit, Diicot, launched a second inquiry in August for alleged crimes including forming an organised criminal group, human trafficking, trafficking of minors, sexual intercourse with a minor and money laundering.
The brothers were among six people taken into custody then, when authorities ordered them placed under house arrest. The Tates and their suspected accomplices have denied all of the charges against them in both cases.
The brothers, who have joint British and US citizenship, are also wanted by UK authorities over allegations of sexual aggression in a case dating back to 2012. A Romanian court has ruled that proceedings in Romania must first be concluded.
Their flight to the US comes after the Financial Times reported that Trump’s special envoy, Richard Grenell, had spoken to the Romanian foreign minister, Emil Hurezeanu, about the Tate brothers at this month’s Munich Security Conference.
Hurezeanu has confirmed that Grenell had told him that he was “interested in the fate of the Tate brothers” but said there was “was no form of pressure, no threat” from the US side and that “things are perfectly clear as far as we are concerned”.
Romania’s prime minister, Marcel Ciolacu, has also denied the US had made any request to Bucharest regarding “the legal situation of well-known foreign influencers investigated by Romanian authorities” either during the conversation or after it.
Tate has been banned from several social media platforms for misogynistic views and hate speech but has more than 10 million followers on X, where he promotes an ultra-masculine lifestyle that critics say denigrates women.
In its second case against the brothers, Diicot alleges they used the “loverboy” method – convincing people they are in a romantic relationship – to force 34 women into making pornography that was sold online for almost $3m (£2.1m).
Diicot says one of the defendants forced a 17-year-old to produce pornography in Britain and Romania, creating profits of $1.5m, and also alleges that the defendant repeatedly had sexual relations with a 15-year-old.
Article by:Source: Guardian staff
