Controversial influencer Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan have been arrested in the United States after British authorities issued 38 new charges against the two men.
The UK’s Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said Andrew was charged with seven other counts of rape, as well as charges relating to sex trafficking and making indecent images of a child.
The charges against Tristan include two counts of rape and three counts of organizing or facilitating trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation.
The total number of charges against the brothers now stands at 59, Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Police said.
The alleged offense allegedly took place between July 2010 and August 2017. The Tates have previously denied any wrongdoing.
Following their arrest, prosecutors will begin legal proceedings to extradite the brothers, who have dual British-American nationality, to the UK, the CPS said.
“These charging decisions follow the receipt of a new file of evidence from Bedfordshire Police and bring the total number of alleged victims in this case to seven,” said Malcolm McHaffie, head of the Special Crimes Division at the CPS.
Bedfordshire and Hertfordshire Police investigated a number of offenses in what they described as a “complex investigation”.
As a result, 38 new charges were authorized against the brothers, meaning Andrew, 39, faces a total of 42 charges in the UK and Tristan, 37, 17.
US Marshals confirmed to the BBC that the Tates had been taken into custody, while a US Department of Justice spokesperson said the arrests were “pursuant to extradition proceedings”.
A lawyer representing the Tates, Joseph McBride, said “the world knows that Andrew and Tristan are innocent” in a statement released after their arrest Saturday evening.
“Their enemies know this better than anyone. This is exactly why they were attacked,” McBride continued, calling the new British accusations a “political stunt.”
He said the new accusations were aimed at countering a defamation suit brought by the brothers in the United States.
“We are confident that once a competent judge finds the facts and once the Justice Department confronts this blatant abuse of its own authority, Andrew and Tristan Tate will go free. America does not do Britain’s political dirty work,” he continued.
In 2024, Bedfordshire Police obtained European Arrest Warrants for the two men to return them from Romania, where they are based and are under criminal investigation.
In June, the brothers lost a legal attempt to obtain the names of their British accusersafter the CPS decided it was necessary to withhold the names of their alleged victims until legal proceedings were formally initiated.
Lawyer Matt Jury, who represents several of Andrew’s alleged British victims, welcomed the charges and said: “Andrew and Tristan Tate are charged with some of the most serious offenses, including multiple counts of rape and human trafficking. It is time they were brought to justice.”
