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Police Can Seize £2 Million From Andrew Tate Accounts, U.K. Court Rules
The online influencer has bragged about refusing to pay taxes. A London court found that he and his brother had not paid taxes on more than £21 million in business revenue.
A London court ruled on Wednesday that the police in Britain can seize more than 2 million pounds, about $2.5 million, from bank accounts associated with Andrew Tate, the misogynistic online influencer who has bragged about evading taxes in the country.
The court found that Mr. Tate and his brother Tristan had failed to pay taxes on more than £21 million in revenue from a slew of business that include sexualized adult entertainment and online payment methods. The brothers, who are facing criminal charges including human trafficking in Romania, have failed to pay taxes there and in Britain, the court ruled.
Judge Paul Goldspring said in his decision that it was clear that the brothers had “engaged in longstanding, deliberate conduct in order to evade” their tax liabilities. He described the matter as “a relatively straightforward case.”
The police in the Devon and Cornwall district of southwestern England had approached the court for an order to seize cash and cryptocurrency from frozen bank accounts belonging to Mr. Tate and his brother, as well as a woman identified only as “J” in court documents.
An American and British former competitive kickboxer, Mr. Tate has flaunted his wealth in ostentatious displays, including a fleet of luxury cars. Now an influencer and conspiracy theorist, he has used his online platform to brag about evading tax and to coach others on how to do so. Those videos were used against him in court as evidence.
“When I lived in England, I refused to pay tax,” Mr. Tate said in one video quoted from in the ruling. In another, he incorrectly advised that setting up an online business in the United Arab Emirates would mean not having to pay tax.
