Andrew Tate arrested overnight in Romanian home raid

Controversial influencer Andrew Tate has been remanded in custody overnight as part of an investigation into new allegations against him.

He and his brother Tristan were taken for questioning by Romania’s serious crime agency, DIICOT, while police searched their home.

The internet personality was already awaiting trial on rape and human trafficking charges, but could now potentially face additional charges of sex with minors and trafficking of minors, as well as money laundering and attempting to influence witnesses, prosecutors said.

Andrew and Tristan Tate, who enjoy a large following on social media, have denied all accusations against them.

They were first detained in Romania in December 2022, then released from house arrest in August 2023.

According to a DIICOT statement released earlier today, four houses were searched on Wednesday morning in the capital, Bucharest, and in Ilfov County.

The brothers were then taken to the DIICOT in Bucharest for questioning and then placed in police custody, handcuffed and under armed escort.

They were remanded in custody for 24 hours.

According to the brothers’ lawyer, they are being held until prosecutors can ask a judge to keep them in custody longer, place them under house arrest or release them.

Asked by the BBC what he had to say about the new allegations, Andrew Tate shouted over his shoulder that prosecutors were “desperate”.

“Wait and see,” he said. “They say I seduced the mother of my children. We tricked them into having children.”

“Ask them this time what the evidence is.”

He described the case as “more pathetic than the first one.”

Earlier Wednesday, the brothers were greeted by a small crowd of journalists and supporters as they arrived at the DIICOT building in police vans.

Upon entering the building, Andrew Tate greeted a local blogger who asked why he was back at DIICOT. Smiling, Tate replied that he “didn’t know,” before shouting through the closing door that he was in his “favorite place.”

Two police officers, both wearing balaclavas, were seen carrying heavy bags into the same building – believed to contain items stolen during a search of the brothers’ home and other properties.

Asked to comment on the latest developments, their lawyer – Eugen Vidineac – said the latest allegations were not yet clear, as he had not yet seen the file.

He said he did not yet know “what we were dealing with.”

DIICOT agents have 24 hours to question the brothers. After that, if they wish to place them in pretrial detention, they will have to present them before a judge.

The lawyer said he did not expect the brothers to be detained because their movements are already restricted as they await trial on other charges, including forming an organized criminal group and human trafficking.

In apparent response to the raid, Andrew Tate posted on X (formerly Twitter): “The Matrix is ​​real. And they have a tried and true manual.”

“Slander is their number one tool and the process is punishment. But unfortunately for them, good always prevails in the end.”

Andrew Tate describes himself as a misogynist and has previously been banned from social media platforms for expressing misogynistic views.

He has repeatedly claimed that Romanian prosecutors have no evidence against him and that there was a plot to silence him.

The Tate brothers, former kickboxers with dual British and American citizenship, are accused of exploiting women through an adult content business that prosecutors say operated as a criminal group.

Two Romanian female associates were also named alongside the brothers in an indictment released in June last year, and seven alleged victims have been identified.

The internet personalities are also wanted in the UK in connection with separate and unrelated sex offences allegedly committed in that country.