Andrew Tate gets luxury cars back, Romanian court rules

BUCHAREST (Reuters) -Internet personality Andrew Tate should get back luxury cars worth about four million euros ($4.43 million) seized by prosecutors ahead of a second criminal investigation into human trafficking allegations, a Romanian court ruled Tuesday.

Tate was placed under house arrest in August pending a second investigation into charges of forming an organized criminal group, human trafficking, trafficking in minors, sexual intercourse with a minor and money laundering.

Prosecutors are also investigating his brother Tristan and four other suspects, who are under judicial supervision, a lighter preventative measure than Tate’s house arrest. All have denied wrongdoing.

As part of the investigation, prosecutors also seized cars and other property, and the Tates have challenged the seizure.

The cars include two McLarens, four Ferraris, a Maybach, a Maserati and a Lamborghini, his representatives said.

The Tates’ attorney, Eugen Vidineac, welcomed the ruling, saying in a statement that it “could not have been different, given the details of the case.”

The Tate brothers, who have dual American and British nationality, were already charged in a separate human trafficking and sexual exploitation case in mid-2023. The lawsuit is pending a challenge at the Bucharest Court of Appeal.

Tate, a self-described misogynist, has gained millions of fans by promoting an ultra-masculine lifestyle that critics say denigrates women.

($1 = 0.9026 euros)

(Reporting by Luiza Ilie and Alan Charlish; Editing by William Maclean)