Romanian prosecutors indict Andrew Tate for trafficking minors, money laundering

Romanian prosecutors formally indicted social media influencer Andrew Tate on charges including trafficking minors, money laundering, sex with a minor and witness tampering, with his brother Tristan charged as an accomplice. The indictment, reported by CNN, is the latest stage of an investigation that began in December 2022.

Prosecutors at DIICOT, Romania's anti-organized-crime unit, allege the brothers recruited victims by pretending to seek relationships, then forced them to produce pornographic content for a webcam business. In one case, they say, a British victim was 15 when Andrew Tate met her in 2012 before moving her to Bucharest; the brothers are accused of keeping about $1.25 million — roughly 80 percent of what she earned — and laundering it through four luxury cars.

The Tates, who deny wrongdoing, are currently held in the United States on a British extradition request tied to rape charges. Romanian law allows the trial to proceed in absentia, and the case now goes to a preliminary chamber judge. An earlier trafficking indictment was sent back to prosecutors in late 2024 after an appeals court deemed some evidence inadmissible — background that makes the timetable hard to predict.