Andrew Tate and brother Tristan lose £2.8m court case over unpaid tax claims

Published

5 months ago

December 18, 2024

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Controversial social media influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan must forfeit more than £2m after a judge ruled they failed to pay any tax on £21m in revenue from online businesses including OnlyFans.

Devon and Cornwall Police brought the civil case to seize £2.8m held in seven frozen bank accounts from the Tate brothers and a woman who can only be referred to as “J” for legal reasons.

Chief magistrate Paul Goldspring ruled in favour of the force in a judgment handed down at Westminster Magistrates’ Court today.

He said what appeared to be a “complex financial matrix” was actually a “straightforward cheat of the revenue”.

In a statement after the ruling, Andrew Tate said: “This is not justice; it’s a co-ordinated attack on anyone who dares to challenge the system.”

At an earlier hearing in July, Sarah Clarke KC, representing the force, described the Tate brothers, who are former kickboxers, as “serial tax and VAT evaders”.

They were said to have failed to pay a penny in tax on £21m of revenue from their online businesses including War Room, Hustlers’ University, Cobra Tate and OnlyFans between 2014 and 2022.

The court heard 38-year-old Andrew Tate‘s approach was “ignore, ignore, ignore because in the end they go away” and he said in a video posted online: “When I lived in England I refused to pay tax.”

Police said the brothers paid just under $12m (around £9.5m) into an account in J’s name and opened a second account in her name, even though she had no role in their businesses.

She received a payment of £805,000 into her Revolut account, the court heard, with £495,000 of that money paid to Andrew Tate, and £75,000 sent to an account in J’s name that was later converted to cryptocurrency, the court heard.

Martin Evans KC, representing the Tates, previously said the bank transfers made by the brothers were “entirely orthodox” for people who run online businesses and they did “a singularly bad job” if they had wanted to distance themselves from the money.

They spent money on a number of “exotic motor cars” but nothing illegal, he said.

The judge found the “brothers’ entire financial arrangements are consistent with concerted tax evasion and money laundering” in a written ruling.

“I am satisfied on the balance of probabilities that they have engaged in long-standing, deliberate conduct in order to evade their tax/VAT liabilities in both” Romania and the UK, he said.

He found the frozen accounts were used to “launder the undeclared revenues” from the Tates’ businesses as well as “for the purchase of properties, high value items and to fund their extravagant lifestyle”.

The brothers are facing a series of separate, criminal allegations, including human trafficking and forming a criminal gang to exploit women in a case in Romania, while Andrew Tate is also accused of rape.

A fleet of luxury cars was towed away from their home in the capital, Bucharest, earlier this year following more human trafficking charges. They deny all of the charges against them.

The Tates are currently barred from leaving Romania but are set to be extradited to the UK once those proceedings are concluded to face further allegations of rape and human trafficking dating back to 2012 to 2015, which they also deny.

Andrew Tate has been banned from TikTok, YouTube and Facebook after the platforms accused him of posting hate speech and misogynistic comments, including that women should bear responsibility for being sexually assaulted.

But he remains popular on X, with almost 10 million followers, many of them young men and schoolchildren.

In July, senior police officers in the UK warned that influencers like Andrew Tate could radicalise social media followers into extreme misogyny in the same way that terrorists draw in their followers.

UK

Man, 53, charged over Liverpool parade incident

Published

13 hours ago

May 29, 2025

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Man, 53, charged over Liverpool parade incident

A 53-year-old man has been charged after a car was driven into a crowd at Liverpool FC’s trophy parade.

Paul Doyle, from the West Derby area of Liverpool, has been charged with seven offences, Merseyside Police said.

The businessman, who is a father-of-three, is accused of two counts of unlawful and malicious wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and two counts of causing unlawful and malicious grievous bodily harm with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

Doyle is also accused of two counts of attempted unlawful and malicious grievous bodily harm with intent to cause grievous bodily harm, and one count of dangerous driving.

He is due to appear before Liverpool Magistrates Court on Friday.

The charges relate to six people, including two children. A wounding charge and an attempted grievous bodily harm charge relate to a child.

A police car was outside Doyle’s four-bedroom detached family home in the West Derby area on Thursday morning.

According to his social media, he has travelled extensively including Japan, Fiji, India and Australia. Doyle has posted pictures of himself competing in triathlons, and climbing Mount Kilimanjaro.

Thousands of fans were gathered in Liverpool city centre on Monday to celebrate the Premier League champions’ title win when a car struck a crowd on Water Street.

Police said a total of 79 people were injured in the incident, with the youngest aged nine, and the oldest being a 78-year-old.

Seven people remain in hospital in a stable condition.

‘Huge volume of evidence’

Chief crown prosecutor for the CPS Mersey-Cheshire, Sarah Hammond, told a news conference on Thursday that the investigation was at an early stage and a “huge volume of evidence” was being reviewed.

“This includes multiple pieces of video footage and numerous witness statements. It is important to ensure that every victim gets the justice they deserve.

“The charges will be kept under review as the investigation progresses.”

Police ‘working tirelessly’

Also at the briefing where the charges were announced was Assistant Chief Constable of Merseyside Police, Jenny Sims, who said: “I fully understand how this incident has left us all shocked and saddened, and I know many will continue to have concerns and questions.

“Our detectives are working tirelessly, with diligence and professionalism, to seek the answer to all of those questions. When we are able to, we will provide further information.”

UK

Body found in search for missing teenage girl who fell into reservoir

Published

14 hours ago

May 29, 2025

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Body found in search for missing teenage girl who fell into reservoir

A body has been found in the search for a missing teenage girl who fell into a reservoir, police have said.

West Yorkshire Police confirmed they recovered a body from the Baitings Reservoir, near Ripponden, on Thursday afternoon.

A formal identification is yet to take place, but police believe the body to be that of the missing teenage girl.

The girl’s family have been informed.

Emergency services were called to the reservoir at 1.17pm on Wednesday following reports that a teenage girl had fallen into the water from Baitings Dam.

Police, fire and ambulance crews, as well as an underwater search team, were deployed to the scene for the search, which continued on Thursday until a body was found.

Detective Inspector Laura Hall of Calderdale’s Safeguarding Team said: “While formal identification is yet to take place, the girl’s family have been informed and are being supported by specially-trained officers.

“My thoughts go out to her family and friends at this very sad time.

“Our enquiries are continuing into the death in order to establish exactly what happened yesterday, but we do not believe it to be suspicious.”

UK

Ages of youngest and oldest Liverpool crash victims released

Published

15 hours ago

May 29, 2025

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Ages of youngest and oldest Liverpool crash victims released

The youngest victim injured in the Liverpool parade crash on Monday is nine years old, police have said.

They added that the oldest is 78, with all 79 people injured understood to be British. Seven remain in hospital in a stable condition.

Merseyside Police declined to say what drug the 53-year-old man arrested over the incident is alleged to have taken.

“We wouldn’t go into this detail at this stage of the investigation,” the force said.

Police are still questioning the driver and were granted further time to do so on Wednesday.

Officers have until Thursday evening to question the man from West Derby.

He is in custody on suspicion of attempted murder, dangerous driving and drug driving.

Police believe the car which struck pedestrians was able to follow an ambulance crew attending to someone suffering a heart attack after a road block was temporarily lifted.

Hundreds of thousands of Liverpool fans had turned out to celebrate their team’s Premier League title when the incident unfolded on Water Street just after 6pm on Monday.

‘The best day of my life turned into worst’

Sky News interviewed a lifelong Liverpool fan who said his five-month-old son was “bounced” 15ft (4.6m) in his pram after they were hit by the vehicle.

The child was not counted in the police’s injury tally.

Daniel Eveson, 36, also said his partner had been driven over.

“The best day of my life turned into [the] worst,” Mr Eveson said.

He added: “Me and my partner were flat on the roof, on the bonnet… we were just both trying to hold on for dear life with Ted next to us.

“And my partner went under the wheels of the car, of the front of the car, and it rolled over her leg, and I just bounced off to the side, but my boy and his pram got bounced totally in the opposite direction – about 15ft down the road.”

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer travelled to Liverpool to meet with police chiefs and the local metro mayor.

He said he was being kept informed of developments, adding: “The scenes on Monday were just awful, to see how incredible joy at an amazing achievement turned to horror in a moment.”

Messages of support have been sent to the people of Liverpool, including from the King who said: “I know that the strength of community spirit for which your city is renowned will be a comfort and support to those in need.”

The Prince and Princess of Wales said they were “deeply saddened” by the incident.