Romania Seizes Andrew Tate's Fleet

Former kickboxer denies human trafficking in tweet
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jan 14, 2023 5:05 PM CST
Romania Takes 15 Andrew Tate Cars
A man takes pictures backdropped by a UK-registered luxury vehicle on Saturday outside Bucharest, Romania.   (AP Photo/Vadim Ghirda)

Romanian authorities descended on a compound near Bucharest on Saturday to tow away a fleet of luxury cars and other assets worth an estimated $3.9 million in the case investigating Andrew Tate, the divisive social media personality who is detained in the country on charges of human trafficking. Romania's National Agency for the Administration of Unavailable Assets said in a statement that it removed a total of 15 luxury cars, 14 designer watches, and cash in several currencies, the AP reports. The total value of the goods, the agency said, is estimated at $3.9 million.

About a half-dozen masked law enforcement officers and other officials arrived Saturday to take away the goods. The fleet of automobiles included a blue Rolls-Royce, a Ferrari, a Porsche, a BMW, an Aston Martin, and a Mercedes-Benz. Tate, 36, a British-US citizen who has 4.5 million followers on Twitter, was arrested on Dec. 29 in Bucharest along with his brother Tristan and two Romanian women on charges of being part of an organized crime group, human trafficking, and rape. On Tuesday, all four lost an appeal after a court upheld a judge's Dec. 30 move to extend their arrest from 24 hours to 30 days. A day later, Tate lost another appeal that challenged assets seized by prosecutors in the case so far.

Romania's anti-organized crime agency, DIICOT, said it seized 15 luxury vehicles and identified more than 10 properties and land owned by companies registered to the Tate brothers. If prosecutors prove the Tates gained money through illicit activities, the assets could be used to cover the expenses of the investigation and compensation for victims, said Ramona Bolla, an agency spokesperson. Tate, a former professional kickboxer, has reportedly lived in Romania since 2017. After the assets were taken Saturday, per the AP, a post appeared on Tate's Twitter account that read: "Anyone who believes I'm a human trafficker is genuinely a moron" and "anyone smart enough to understand the American System is unfair would be mind blown by the injustice of the Romanian System." (Tate had bragged to Greta Thunberg about his polluting fleet.)

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