Andrew Tate’s indictment in Romania: Here’s what you need to know

Andrew Tate, an online influencer known for his male chauvinism and misogynistic views, has been charged in Romania with human trafficking and forming an organized crime group.

Prosecutors formally charged Mr Tate and his younger brother, Tristan, in a court in Bucharest on Tuesday. That means they will likely face trial in Romania, although the timing is unclear and the charges have yet to be examined by a judge.

Flanked by bodyguards and wearing sunglasses, the brothers attended a court hearing in Bucharest on Wednesday. They were met outside by a crowd of photographers, reporters and some fans.

Mr Tate thanked his supporters and accused the news media of lying. They weren’t the first wealthy men to be “unfairly assaulted,” he said after the hearing, where a judge heard arguments over whether the brothers should remain under house arrest.

“I look forward to being found innocent,” said Mr. Tate.

Here’s what you need to know about the case.

Who is Andrew Tate?

Mr Tate, 36, is a British-American former competitive kickboxer who rose to prominence after appearing as a contestant on the British reality TV show Big Brother in 2016. According to the tabloid The Sun, he was kicked off the show after a video surfaced of him beating a woman with a belt, which they both said was consensual.

He amassed a following of millions, many of them young men, through social media and appeared on podcasts boasting about get-rich-quick schemes and making demeaning comments about women. Mr Tate has argued that men are victims of feminism and that women ‘belong’ men and need men’s guidance. He has also described ways in which he would physically attack women and called them partly responsible if they were raped.

He has used ostentatious displays of wealth, such as a fleet of luxury cars, to show his masculinity, and has promised to teach his followers how to live the same lifestyle through an online “academy”, paying them $49.99 per month charges.

He has also said he is a victim of “the matrix” – an umbrella term for what he sees as a conspiracy of business elites, feminists and mainstream politicians to target men.

Educators have expressed concern that Mr Tate’s posts are finding appeal among young boys struggling with their own ideas of masculinity in an era of shifting gender roles. He and his followers say his arrest has only fueled a narrative of men being victimized.

Many social media sites have banned Mr. Tate, but he is still present on Twitter where he has nearly seven million followers.

What is Andrew Tate accused of?

The influencer has been his brother and two Romanian women charged forming an organized crime group in 2021 and committing human trafficking in Romania, Great Britain and the United States. Prosecutors have kept some details of the charges against them confidential, but an official from Romania’s prosecutor’s office confirmed that the former kickboxer is also charged with rape.

Investigators have identified seven women who say they were exploited by the group and coerced into performing sex acts on camera, which were then circulated for financial gain. The brothers first tricked the women, prosecutors said, by seducing them and promising them a relationship, a method known as “the loverboy,” and sheltering them in a compound outside the Romanian capital Bucharest.

One of the women accused a defendant of raping her twice in March 2022 using violence and psychological pressure, prosecutors said. On another occasion, when a woman refused to make more pornographic videos and asked to leave, one of the group used violence against her, they said.

The brothers have denied the allegations against them and maintain they are innocent. Mr Tate has called the case a conspiracy against him and portrayed himself as a martyr to his Twitter followers.

“Today it’s me. It’s you tomorrow. No one is safe from these lies,” he posted on Twitter on Tuesday.

What led to the charges?

Mr Tate has been using Romania as a base since about 2016 and has not concealed from his fans why he is doing this.

“I like to live in a society where my money, my influence and my power means I’m not under or obligated” to any law, he told them.

He began to attract more attention last December after clashing online with climate activist Greta Thunberg and asking for her email in a tweet so he could brag about his collection of cars and their “massive emissions.”

The response from Ms Thunberg, who mocked Mr Tate’s masculinity and suggested he should get a life, went viral.

There was also widespread speculation online whether a signature pizza box in one of Mr Tate’s tweets to Ms Thunberg had alerted Romanian authorities to his presence in the country, but a Romanian official said this was not the case.

Mr Tate, his brother and two others were arrested shortly afterwards and investigated for human trafficking, rape and forming an organized crime group. Initially held in a prison in Bucharest, the two were placed under house arrest three months later.

Mr Tate has since portrayed himself as a philanthropist, promising to donate money to charity and ‘save the world’.

What happens now?

Now that charges have been filed in the Bucharest court, prosecutors say the trial will begin, although it will not be immediately. A judge in an anteroom first reviews the case and determines what conditions the suspect must meet before a date is set.

The judge heard arguments on Wednesday whether the Tate brothers should remain under house arrest, but made no decision. A verdict has been postponed until Friday, a spokeswoman for the court said.

As part of the indictment, authorities have requested the confiscation of the brothers’ assets, including more than $100,000 in various currencies, cryptocurrencies worth approximately $380,000, land and property in Romania, and luxury goods. The defendants will also have to pay the legal costs of the case of approximately $60,000.

Matei Barbulescu contributed reporting.