Tate brothers check in at police station after returning to Romania

Influencer brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate checked in at a police station near Romania’s capital on Monday, complying with judicial control requirements in the case in which they are charged with human trafficking and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women.

Outside the police station in Voluntari, self-described misogynist Andrew Tate told reporters “I’m a free person who has not been convicted of anything”. He said he will “comply with all judicial authorities everywhere around the world because I’m completely innocent”.

The Tates, who are dual US and British citizens, were arrested in Romania in late 2022 and formally indicted last year on charges that they had take part in a criminal ring that lured women to Romania, where they were allegedly sexually exploited. Andrew Tate was also charged with rape. They deny all of the allegations against them.

“It doesn’t matter what you’re accused of, it matters what you are proven guilty to have done in a fair court of law,” Andrew Tate said on Monday. “Accusations mean nothing. It doesn’t matter how many times you repeat an accusation on the news. That is garbage.”

Days after they arrived in Florida, on March 4, Florida’s Attorney General James Uthmeier said his office had opened a criminal investigation into Andrew and Tristan Tate. He said in a social media post that he directed his office to work with police to conduct a preliminary inquiry into the brothers.