FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — Influencer brothers Andrew and Tristantate, who were charged with human trafficking in Romania, arrived in the United States Thursday after authorities lifted travel restrictions for their brothers with millions of online followers.
Brothers spokesman Matea Petrescu said the two landed in Fort Lauderdale, Florida around noon.
Tates, a dual US citizen, was arrested in late 2022 and formally charged last year with participating in a criminal ring that seduced a woman into a sexually exploited Romania. Andrew Tate was also charged with rape. They deny the allegations.
In December, the court held that the case could not be brought to trial due to multiple legal and procedural irregularities on the part of prosecutors. However, the incident remains open and there are other ongoing investigations into them in Romania.
Romanian anti-organised crime agency DIICOT said in a statement Thursday that prosecutors have approved requests to change Tates’ travel restrictions, but did not say who requested it.
The brothers are still required to appear before the judicial authorities when they are summoned.
“The defendants are warned that judicial governance could be replaced by stricter liberal measures as they could intentionally violate these obligations,” the statement said.
After the brothers arrived in Florida, state Attorney General James Usmieyer said in a social media post that his office would conduct a “preliminary investigation” with them.
“Florida is not resistant to trafficking or violence against women. If any of these suspicious crimes creates Florida’s jurisdiction, we will be accountable to them,” said Usmeyer, appointee to Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis.
In other developments on Thursday, the court ruled in favor of an appeal by Tates to lift the seizure of multiple assets, according to Petrescu. Assets include six luxury cars, land and real estate, and stock in the company. Previously, all frozen bank accounts weren’t frozen, she said.
“While some assets remain under precautions, this control marks an important step towards justice,” she said.
Andrew Tate, 38, is a former professional kickboxer and self-description misogynist who has gained over 10 million followers on X, and Romanian prosecutors have repeatedly argued that there is no evidence against him and that there is a political plot to silence him. He and Tristan Tate, 36, are supporters of US President Donald Trump’s voice.
Just a few weeks ago, Andrew Tate posted to X: “Tate will be free, Trump is president. Good old days are back. And they will be better than ever. It will last.”
Tates’ departure comes after Foreign Minister Emil Houretzanu said this month that Trump administration officials had expressed interest in the brothers’ incident at the recent Munich Security Council. The minister argued that after the Financial Times report on the Romania conference caused a stir, it did not put pressure on Tates to raise restrictions.
The Bucharest Court of Appeals’ decision that the Tate case failed to proceed was a major set-off for DIICOT, but it did not mean that the defendant could walk freely and the lawsuit had not been closed.
Last August, DIICOT launched a second lawsuit against the brothers, affecting human trafficking, minor trafficking, sexual intercourse with minors, and statements, and investigating money laundering sexual intercourse. They also denies these accusations.
After the Tate brothers were arrested in 2022, they were detained for three months before being moved to house arrest. They were later confined to the city of Bucharest and nearby Ilfof county, and Romania. Andrew Tate was redirected to house arrest in the second incident last year, but the measures were lifted last month.
The Tate Brothers’ legal battle is not limited to Romania.
Four British women have accused Andrew Tate of sexual violence and physical abuse of him in the UK after the Crown Prosecutor’s Office decided not to indict him.
The woman said Thursday in a joint statement that the news that travel restrictions have been lifted is “distrust and re-sprayed.”
Matthew Jury, a lawyer for McCue Jury & Partners, is a partner representing women and has decided to lift the travel ban from “disgust and disappointment.”
In March, the Tate brothers appeared at Bucharest Court of Appeals in another case after British authorities issued an arrest warrant for alleged sexual assault in a case dating back to the 2012-2015 period.
The Court of Appeal granted the UK’s request to hand over the UK’s Tates, but only after the legal process in Romania has been completed.
Late last year, a UK court ruled that police could seize more than £2.6 million ($3.3 million) to cover years of unpaid taxes from the pair and freeze some of their accounts. Andrew Tate called it “complete theft,” calling it a “cooperative attack on anyone who dares to challenge the system.”
