The Romanian authorities have confiscated £3.5 million worth of sports cars, luxury watches and other valuables from Andrew Tate, the British “toxic masculinity” influencer arrested on suspicion of rape and sex trafficking.
Tate, 36, has been held in custody since he, his brother and two women were detained at his compound on the outskirts of Bucharest.
He and his alleged accomplices are accused of luring at least six women to the property under false pretences and then subjecting them to “acts of physical violence and mental coercion” so that they would perform for a network of pornography websites.
Andrew Tate has been arrested on suspicion of rape and sex trafficking, which he denies
ALEXANDRU DOBRE/AP
Over the weekend Tate appeared to deny wrongdoing in a post on his Twitter account, which said: “Anyone who believes I’m a human trafficker is a moron.”
However, a Romanian government agency sent police to impound 15 cars from ten properties associated with Tate, as well as 14 watches and various other belongings.
The vehicles included a blue and black Rolls-Royce Wraith, whose value was estimated at £310,000, and a McLaren 765LT worth up to £410,000. The officers were also photographed taking a Mercedes Benz and a BMW.
Diicot, Romania’s anti-organized crime agency, has previously said it will seize assets from Tate to prevent him from hiding them later, as well as helping to fund the investigation and potentially supplying compensation to his alleged victims.
Police were seen taking vehicles such as a Rolls-Royce Wraith, a McLaren 765LT, a Mercedes Benz and a BMW
ALEXANDRU DOBRE/AP
Traffic police officers watched the operation
VADIM GHIRDA/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Tate, a former professional kickboxer, has built a lucrative second career as a social media personality with videos preaching a doctrine of unapologetic male dominance over women and a set of online money-making courses known as “Hustlers University”.
His self-avowedly “misogynist” message has led to his exclusion from several of the larger social networks, including YouTube, Facebook and Instagram, but his Twitter account was restored last year and has 4.5 million followers.
Last month he used it to taunt Greta Thunberg, the Swedish climate campaigner, with a boast about his 33 cars and the “enormous emissions” from their engines.
Since then the account has alternated between braggadocio, self-promotion, inspirational quotes and complaints about the Romanian justice system, which it has likened to the enslavement of the human race in the Matrix films.