UK court says police can seize millions in unpaid taxes from misogynistic influencer Andrew Tate

London – A UK court ruled on Wednesday that police could seize the equivalent of $3.3 million in frozen financial assets from misogynistic social media influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan to cover years of unpaid taxes.

The money has been held in seven bank accounts, frozen by British authorities, belonging to Tate, who used to live in the UK, his brother Tristan and a woman identified by British authorities only as J.

Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring of Westminster Magistrates’ Court said in his sentencing on Wednesday that the transactions carried out by the brothers, including transfers of almost $12 million to J, had been a “simple trap” for evade the tax authorities.

Lawyers for Devon and Cornwall Police had argued that Tate and his brother were serial tax evaders who failed to pay tax on about $26.5 million in income from their online businesses.

According to French news agency AFP, lawyer Sarah Clarke, representing the police force, quoted during the proceedings from a video posted online by Tate, in which she said: “When I lived in England I refused to pay taxes”.

Tate criticized the ruling, accusing the government of “total theft”.

“This is not justice; it is a coordinated attack on anyone who dares to challenge the system,” he said in a statement, saying the confiscation of his assets raised “serious questions about how far the authorities will go to silence dissent”.

The Associated Press quoted a lawyer for the men, Martin Evans, as defending the wire transfers in question as “entirely orthodox” for online business owners.

Tate gained millions of followers online before being banned from TikTok, Facebook and YouTube when the platforms accused him of posting misogynistic hate speech.

Tate and his brother are currently under house arrest in Romania, where they they face criminal charges of human trafficking. When that case concludes, the brothers will be extradited to the UK, where they face additional charges of human trafficking and rape.

The Tate brothers have denied all charges of sexual violence and human trafficking.