By FREIDA FRISARO and CURT ANDERSON
Updated [hour]:[minute] [AMPM] [timezone], [monthFull] [day], [year]
FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — A travel ban was lifted on influencer brothers Andrew and Tristan Tate, who are both charged with human trafficking in Romania, and they are headed to the United States, officials said Thursday.
The brothers are avid supporters of President Donald Trump and have millions of online followers. It wasn’t clear under what conditions the Tates were allowed to leave Romania, or where in the United States they were headed.
Here are some things to know about the Tate Brothers:
Who are the Tate Brothers?Andrew Tate, 38, and Tristan Tate, 36 are dual U.S.-British citizens.
Andrew Tate is a former professional kickboxer and self-described misogynist who has amassed more than 10 million followers on X. He also runs an online academy where he says he teaches young men how to get rich and attract women. Tristan Tate is also a former kickboxer.
What are they charged with in Romania?The Tate brothers and two Romanian women were arrested in Bucharest in late 2022.
The Directorate for Investigating Organized Crime and Terrorism alleged the four defendants formed a criminal group in 2021 “in order to commit the crime of human trafficking” in Romania as well as the United States and Britain.
They were initially formally indicted last year. In April, the Bucharest Tribunal ruled that a trial could start but didn’t set a date.
In December, a court in Bucharest ruled that the case against the Tates and the two Romanian women couldn’t go to trial because of multiple legal and procedural irregularities on the part of the prosecutors.
The case hasn’t been closed, and there is also a separate legal case against the brothers in Romania.
Andrew Tate has repeatedly claimed that prosecutors in Romania have no evidence against him and that there is a political conspiracy to silence him. But they were charged with forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women, among other charges.
What led to the travel ban being lifted?DIICOT, Romania’s anti-organized crime agency, said in a statement Thursday that prosecutors approved a “request to modify the obligation preventing the defendants from leaving Romania,” but that judicial control measures remained in place. The agency didn’t say who had made the request.
The control measures include the requirement to “appear before judicial authorities whenever summoned,” the statement read.
The agency said the Tates were “warned that deliberately violating these obligations may result in judicial control being replaced with a stricter deprivation of liberty measure.”
Their departure came after Foreign Minister Emil Hurezeanu said this month that a U.S. official in the current Trump administration had expressed interest in the brothers’ legal case in Romania at the Munich Security Conference. The minister insisted it didn’t amount to pressure.
Why were the Tates allowed to leave Romania?Criminal cases in Romania can often drag on for 5 to 10 years and the accused can, in some cases, leave the country during that time unless judicial restrictions stipulate otherwise, said former Romanian Judge Cristi Danilet.
But it’s unclear whether it is rare that someone accused of serious allegations such as human trafficking or rape is allowed to leave the country while a case is still ongoing.
What about Tate brothers’ defamation case in Florida?A hearing was held Thursday in West Palm Beach, Florida, in a defamation lawsuit brought by the Tate brothers in July 2023 against a woman who accused them of imprisoning her in Romania.
The hearing in Palm Beach County Circuit Court concerns a motion by the woman, identified as Jane Doe, seeking an indefinite delay in the lawsuit so that proceedings in Romania can continue.
The Tates’ lawyers say there is no reason to delay the defamation case. “The Romanian process is expected to take several more years,” their lawyer said in a court filing. There was no immediate ruling.
Meanwhile, the Tate brothers claimed in a court filing they fear “imminent harm” from a defendant in their lawsuit, known only as Jane Doe. They asked a judge Thursday for a temporary restraining order preventing her from coming within 500 feet (152 meters) of them and that she be prevented from “contacting, threatening, stalking, harming or harassing” either Tate brother.
The motion asks for a hearing before a judge “at the earliest possible date.”
_____Anderson reported from St. Petersburg, Florida. Associated Press reporter Stephen McGrath contributed to this story from Sighisoara, Romania.
