Andrew Tate, and brother Tristan Tate, both social media influencers, were at the centre of the civil case brought by the police who were trying to confiscate millions in earnings made by the pair from their base in Romania, after they failed to pay any UK tax.

The £21m was generated through sales on various websites, including porn site OnlyFans, their own online services and even a university they ran for their followers.

A third defendant, who was only known as ‘J’ at the Westminster Magistrates Court, and had been given anonymity at an earlier hearing, was also involved in the case, having moved the money between accounts, according to the Devon and Cornwall Police

The Tate brothers and ‘J’ have now been ordered to pay £2.8m in unpaid tax and VAT.

Andrew Tate said on X (formerly Twitter) after the hearing: ‘The UK government is stealing my money saying that I owe them taxes. What will they spend my money on?’

Six of the accounts are now subject to asset forfeit orders, while one has had an application submitted to forfeit cryptocurrency. This crypto wallet was holding nearly 89,922 in USDCoin (approximately £70,000 at the time of writing) when it was frozen.

The brothers are also under investigation by Romanian authorities for tax evasion, money laundering and human trafficking, along with other charges, and are not allowed to leave Romania.

Devon and Cornwall Police won the appeal and can go ahead and recover £2.8m on £21m of revenue made through selling products online and on OnlyFans between 2014 and 2022.

The £21m accumulated in these seven accounts is thought to have been made through adult work, Only Fans content, Stripe (a payment processing platform), Dek-Co (also a payment processing platform), and Global Account, which accepts credit and debit payments.

Additionally, the police accused the Tate brothers of not paying tax or VAT in any jurisdiction since 2013, personally, or though companies controlled by them.

Despite claiming to have earnt below Romanian tax thresholds the pair were able to spend €857,000 (£708,139) over four years on land and property in Romania. As well as properties and land, the brothers also purchased a string of luxury sports cars, including a Lamborghini, Bugatti and Maclaren.

Even though the brothers have not lived in the UK since 2017 numerous companies have been opened buy them, as well as financial accounts from addresses in Luton, which Devon and Cornwall Police believe is to launder their money through.

No evidence was brought forward by the Tate brothers for this hearing.

Evidence was provided by detective constable Hughes about six accounts still under a freezing order, with $12m passing through the first account between 2019 and 2022, then transferred to Tristan and Andrew’s personal accounts.

The second account was frozen with £35,035 in the account. However, £5.9m was received into this account between 2020 and 2022, and was personally ran by Emory Andrew Tate (Andrew Tate). The source of this is believed to have come from Stripe accounts from customer purchases of the brothers online services.

The third, frozen with £22,659 in the account, was a personal savings account of Andrew Tate. However, there were transfers of £73,000 to it from the previous account over some time through separate transactions, labelled as ‘Rev Only Fans’.

Millions of pounds have been transferred in and out of the final accounts owned personally by either Tristan or Andrew (Emory). These accounts were either opened with Global, Revolut or Metro bank.

Judge Goldspring said: ‘It is a fair and reasonable inference to draw, which I do, that this account is funded by business activities carried out by the Respondent brothers. None of the revenue has been declared to tax authorities in the UK or Romania; no tax or VAT has been paid.’

Goldspring granted freezing orders on account 1 and accounts 3 to 7. The second account, which is the crypto current wallet has also been frozen. ‘I am satsfed the intended use of the asset in account 2 was exactly the same as the other 6 accounts, indeed it is part of the overall criminality of deliberate and dishonest cheat of the revenue. I therefore order forfeiture of account 2 Gemini Crypto asset, as contained in Annex A atached,’ said Goldspring.

Money from these accounts will also be confiscated ‘even if they have been acquired through legitimate means where it can be shown that they are indirectly derived or intended for use in criminal activity’, Goldspring said.

Tate brothers chased for £2.8m tax bill | 9 July 2024