Police can seize more than £2 million from controversial influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan after they failed to pay a penny in tax on £21 million of revenue from their online businesses, the chief magistrate has ruled.

The force made a legal bid to seize the money, held in seven frozen bank accounts, from the Tates and a woman identified only as J. In his judgment handed down at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, chief magistrate Paul Goldspring said what appeared to be a “complex financial matrix” was actually a “straightforward cheat of the revenue”.

The court previously heard the brothers paid just under 12 million US dollars into an account in the name of J, and opened a second account in her name, even though she had no role in their businesses. Part of the money the force applied to seize was cryptocurrency held in an account in J’s name.

Andrew Tate is a controversial influencer and self-proclaimed ‘misogynist’ ( 
Image:
AFP via Getty Images)
J received a payment of £805,000 into her Revolut account, the court previously heard. The proceedings are civil, which carries a lower standard of proof than criminal cases.

Andrew and Tristan Tate were earlier accused of paying no tax in any country on their online business revenue between 2014 and 2022. Devon and Cornwall Police were looking to recover around £2.8 million in seven frozen bank accounts, an application that a;; three defendants had contested.

“Andrew Tate and Tristan Tate are serial tax and VAT evaders,” Sarah Clarke KC for Devon and Cornwall Police told Westminster Magistrates’ Court in July. “They, in particular Andrew Tate, are brazen about it.”

Ms Clarke quoted from a video posted to social media by Andrew Tate, where he said: “When I lived in England I refused to pay tax.” The court heard that the brothers had “a huge number of bank accounts” in the UK, seven of which have been frozen, and that Andrew’s approach was to “ignore, ignore, ignore because in the end they go away”.

The Tates are facing a series of separate, criminal allegations in Romania ( 
Image:
AFP via Getty Images)
Andrew Tate first rose to fame as a kickboxer before gaining notoriety during a 2016 stint on reality TV show Big Brother, and now controversial influencer and self-proclaimed ‘misogynist’. He has been banned from TikTok, YouTube and Facebook after the platforms accused him of posting hate speech and misogynistic comments, including that women should bear responsibility for being sexually assaulted.

But he remains popular on X, with almost 10 million followers, many of them young men and schoolchildren. He and Tristan, aged 38 and 36, currently face charges in Romania of human trafficking and forming an organised group to sexually exploit women. Andrew is also charged with rape.

Andrew and Tristan face more than 10 years in jail if found guilty. Both have strongly denied the charges against them. The two men are set to be extradited to the UK once those proceedings are concluded to face further accusations here.