Headlines
Prosecutors lift travel ban, allow Andrew Tate to leave Romania, source says
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on February 27, 2025
Editorial & Advertiser disclosure
Global Banking and Finance Review is an online platform offering news, analysis, and opinion on the latest trends, developments, and innovations in the banking and finance industry worldwide. The platform covers a diverse range of topics, including banking, insurance, investment, wealth management, fintech, and regulatory issues. The website publishes news, press releases, opinion and advertorials on various financial organizations, products and services which are commissioned from various Companies, Organizations, PR agencies, Bloggers etc. These commissioned articles are commercial in nature. This is not to be considered as financial advice and should be considered only for information purposes. It does not reflect the views or opinion of our website and is not to be considered an endorsement or a recommendation. We cannot guarantee the accuracy or applicability of any information provided with respect to your individual or personal circumstances. Please seek Professional advice from a qualified professional before making any financial decisions. We link to various third-party websites, affiliate sales networks, and to our advertising partners websites. When you view or click on certain links available on our articles, our partners may compensate us for displaying the content to you or make a purchase or fill a form. This will not incur any additional charges to you. To make things simpler for you to identity or distinguish advertised or sponsored articles or links, you may consider all articles or links hosted on our site as a commercial article placement. We will not be responsible for any loss you may suffer as a result of any omission or inaccuracy on the website.
By Luiza Ilie
BUCHAREST (Reuters) - Internet personality Andrew Tate and his brother Tristan left Romania on a private flight headed to Florida in the United States, a source with knowledge of the matter said on Thursday, after prosecutors lifted a travel ban.
The source said that the brothers would return towards the end of March to fulfil legal obligations related to their criminal case in Romania, which require them to check in with police at regular intervals.
The Tate brothers are under investigation in Romania on accusations of forming an organised criminal group, human trafficking, trafficking of minors, sexual intercourse with a minor and money laundering. They have denied all wrongdoing.
The Financial Times reported last week, citing sources, that members of U.S. President Donald Trump's administration had pressured Romanian authorities to lift travel restrictions on the Tates, former kickboxers with dual U.S. and British citizenship.
Romania's Foreign Minister Emil Hurezeanu denied he had faced pressure, but said the Tates were mentioned during his brief hallway meeting with Trump’s special envoy Richard Grenell at the Munich Security Conference earlier this month.
Pending the criminal investigation, the Tates are under judicial control, a light preventative measure under which they are required to check in with the police regularly. They were first detained in 2022.
A self-described misogynist, social media influencer Andrew Tate has gained millions of fans by promoting an ultra-masculine lifestyle that critics say denigrates women.
Until this week, the brothers were also banned from leaving Romania, a measure that has now been lifted.
"The request to change the obligation of not leaving Romania was approved," prosecutors said.
"All the other obligations have been maintained, including the requirement to check in with judicial authorities every time they are called."
The Romanian network to prevent violence against women, which groups 24 non-governmental organisations, sent prosecutors an open letter on Thursday asking them to publicly communicate why the travel ban had been lifted, "so that any kind of doubt regarding the independence and impartiality of the Romanian judicial system be dispelled."
A first criminal case against Tate and his brother failed in December when a Bucharest court decided not to start the trial and sent the files back to prosecutors citing flaws in the indictment.
A British arrest warrant has also been issued for the Tates and they will be extradited after Romanian trial proceedings are completed. The allegations in Britain - denied by them - relate to sexual aggression between 2012 and 2015.
(Reporting by Luiza Ilie; Editing by Alexandra Hudson and Sharon Singleton)