The trial will not start immediately and is expected to take several years, following a judge’s inspection of the case files.
August 2023: More graphic allegations emerge
The BBC reports that a case file compiled by Romanian prosecutors contains graphic allegations of coercive control, sexual violence, and Tate appearing to claim leadership over the alleged human trafficking ring.
The file contains 300 pages of reported evidence and testimony. The BBC notes, “Some of the messages may originally have been written or recorded in English, then translated into Romanian by prosecutors and re-translated back into English by the BBC.”
It is expected that Tate’s lawyers will challenge the prosecution’s evidence during a pre-trial, meaning some of the material may be inadmissible in the trial itself.
The file reportedly contains testimony from women who lived near the Tates’ house in Bucharest, who allege that income generated from their online pornographic content was controlled by the defendants. Georgiana Naghel, one of the Tates’ co-defendants, is accused of controlling all the money made by the complainants on OnlyFans.
Some witnesses claim they were forced to produce specific content under the threat of verbal and physical abuse, with the case file referring to threats to “break your teeth” or “end up in the morgue,” said to be from Naghel. A lawyer for Naghel denied these allegations to the BBC.
The prosecutors’ file also contains what is claimed to be transcriptions of audio messages from 2020, in which Tristan Tate allegedly says, “Mainly I’m going to slave these bitches […] I’m going to make them work even more hours and hours and hours.. I work these bitches like slaves. […] SLAVE work. Minimum 10 or 12 hours a day.”
The files seen by the BBC also reportedly contain a transcript of what is said to be a text message from one alleged victim to Andrew Tate last year, in which she asks if he’s “the one running the girl business/OnlyFans and TikTok”.
“Tristan and G are,” Andrew appears to respond. “But I lead them.”
A spokeswoman for the Tate brothers said in a statement to the BBC that they vehemently denied the serious allegations against them.
March 2024: Andrew Tate and Tristan Tate detained in Romania
The BBC reports that the brothers have been detained in Romania after European arrest warrants were issued by the UK. This comes after the four British women who had accused Tate wrote to British police fearing he and his brother might attempt to leave Romania where they are currently awaiting trial.
“We wrote to the British police… to urge them to immediately seek a warrant for Tate’s detention in Romania and extradition to the UK,” read a legal statement.
After being detained, the brothers’ legal team issued a statement of their own. “They categorically reject all charges and express profound disappointment that such serious allegations are being resurrected without substantial new evidence,” the statement read. “They are fully committed to challenging these accusations with unwavering determination and resolve.”
This article will be updated as the case unfolds.
For more information about emotional abuse and domestic abuse, you can call The Freephone National Domestic Abuse Helpline, run by Refuge on 0808 2000 247.
For more information about reporting and recovering from rape and sexual abuse, you can contact Rape Crisis on 0808 500 2222.
If you have been sexually assaulted, you can find your nearest Sexual Assault Referral Centre here. You can also find support at your local GP, voluntary organisations such as Rape Crisis, Women’s Aid, and Victim Support, and you can report it to the police (if you choose) here.
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