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Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan have been branded “serial tax evaders” who have “not paid a penny” in tax or VAT on £21m in revenues from their online businesses and OnlyFans accounts, a court heard.
Devon and Cornwall Police are bringing a civil claim against the brothers and a third person referred to only as J over unpaid tax, Westminster Magistrates’ Court heard on Monday.
The force is seeking to claw back approximately £2.8m in unpaid taxes from seven frozen bank accounts linked to the brothers.
Sarah Clarke KC for Devon and Cornwall Police said: “Andrew Tate and Tristan Tate are serial tax and VAT evaders. They, in particular Andrew Tate, are brazen about it.”
It is claimed that they paid no tax in any country on £21m revenue from businesses online earned between 2014 and 2022.
Ms Clarke 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 former kickboxer and social media influencer is awaiting trial in Romania on separate criminal charges of human trafficking, rape and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women.
She told the hearing on Monday: “The evidence is that between 2014 and 2022 they have made approximately £21m in revenue from customers of their e-products or digital services – various products that are sold on websites conducted with their business and in addition OnlyFans entities as well.
“And out of that £21m in revenues they have not paid a penny in tax in any jurisdiction in the world, or VAT. And that includes either in a personal or corporate capacity.”
She told the court they had never registered for tax or VAT, save for one declaration in Romania for a company called Talisman Enterprises, for which no tax was paid.
The disclosures for that company were a “work of fiction”, Ms Clarke told the court.
She said Andrew Tate, 37, spends “a lot of time bragging” in web interviews about his money and the brothers are known to enjoy “all the accoutrements of extraordinary wealth”, including property and vehicles.
“And one of the reasons that they have all of those things is, unlike everybody else, they believe that they don’t have to pay tax,” she added.
The court also heard that the brothers had “a huge number of bank accounts” in the UK, seven of which have been frozen.
Ms Clarke said that money was “washed around UK bank accounts” to create a “spaghetti trail” to make it impossible to disentangle what’s owed to the tax man and what isn’t.
“That’s what tax evasion looks like, that’s what money laundering looks like,” she told the court.
Almost $12m was paid into one account in just over three years. That account was opened in J’s name in 2019 using an incorrect date of birth despite them having no role in the Tate’s businesses, the court heard.
“It was a device,” Ms Clarke added. “And one of the reasons of course that you use one account in someone else’s name is in order to put distance between you and the money you are intending to deal with in a criminal way.”
Revenues were said to have been generated from their schemes Cobratate, Hustlers University and The War Room, the court heard.
J also moved money through their own account, including one payment of £805,000 that was made to their 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 Tates are accused of failing to pay taxes due in both the UK and Romania, the court heard.
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.
Martin Evans KC, representing the brothers, is expected to set out their case during a two-day hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court.
The hearing continues.
