Controversial social media influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan have been accused of failing to pay tax in any country on £21m of revenue from their online businesses earned between 2014 and 2022.
Devon and Cornwall Police are bringing a civil claim against the pair – and a third person referred to only as J – over unpaid tax, Westminster Magistrates’ Court was told on Monday.
The court was also told the brothers had “a huge number of bank accounts” in the UK, seven of which have been frozen.
The police force is seeking around £2.8m in seven frozen bank accounts.
Sarah Clarke KC, for Devon and Cornwall Police, said that money “washed around UK bank accounts” that were used “as a mechanism for moving revenues from their business activities through a wide number of accounts”.
“That’s what tax evasion looks like, that’s what money laundering looks like,” she told the court.
The money came from products they sold online as well as their OnlyFans sites, the court heard.
“Andrew Tate and Tristan Tate are serial tax and VAT evaders,” Ms Clarke said.
“They, in particular Andrew Tate, are brazen about it.”
She quoted from a video posted online by Andrew Tate in which he said: “When I lived in England I refused to pay tax.”
The court heard he said his approach was “ignore, ignore, ignore because in the end they go away”.
The brothers, who have dual US and British citizenship, are accused of failing to pay tax and money laundering in both the UK and Romania, the court heard.
It is claimed they paid just under $12m into an account in J’s name, and opened a second account in her name, even though she had no role in their businesses.
Devon and Cornwall Police allege this was fraud by false misrepresentation.
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J also moved money through her own account – including one payment of £805,000 that was made to her Revolut account – the court heard.
Of this, £495,000 was paid to Andrew Tate and £75,000 to an account in J’s name that was later converted to cryptocurrency, it is alleged.
Gary Pons, for J, argued that the funds in the Gemini account were in cryptocurrency and therefore could not be frozen at that time.
The case was adjourned until Tuesday.
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The proceedings are civil, which uses a lower standard of proof than criminal cases.
Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring will decide on the balance of probabilities whether what the police claim is true.
Andrew Tate, 37, is a self-described misogynist who has gained millions of fans by promoting an ultra-masculine lifestyle that critics say denigrates women.
Tristan Tate, 35, is also a former kickboxer turned social media influencer like his brother.
