Andrew Tate should get luxury cars back, a Romanian court rules

BUCHAREST – Internet personality Andrew Tate should recover luxury cars worth around four million euros ($4.43 million) seized by prosecutors pending a second criminal investigation into human trafficking allegations, a Romanian court ruled Tuesday .

Tate was placed under house arrest in August pending a second investigation into allegations of forming an organized criminal group, human trafficking, trafficking in minors, sexual intercourse with minors and money laundering.

Prosecutors are also investigating his brother Tristan and four other suspects who are under judicial control, a milder preventive measure than Tate’s house arrest. All have denied wrongdoing.

Prosecutors also seized cars and other assets as part of the investigation, and the Tates have challenged the seizure.

The cars include two McLarens, four Ferraris, a Maybach, a Maserati and a Lamborghini, his representatives said.

Tates’ defense attorney, Eugen Vidineac, welcomed the verdict, saying in a statement that it “could not have been otherwise given the details of the case.”

The Tate brothers, who have dual US and British citizenship, were charged in a separate human trafficking and sexual exploitation case in mid-2023. The trial is still awaiting a challenge at the Bucharest Court of Appeal.

A self-proclaimed misogynist, social media influencer Tate has gained millions of fans by promoting an ultra-masculine lifestyle that critics say denigrates women. REUTERS