Remember Andrew Tate?
It’s been awhile since the notorious misogynist was all that relevant, but just a few years back, he was enjoying the height of his fame. Tate, a staple of the so-called “manosphere” community, first found fame via his kickboxing career, but he soon leveraged that into a spot at the head of the incel movement. Now dubbed the “king of toxic masculinity,” Tate has largely left his period of popularity in the past, particularly as he faces a mounting lineup of legal woes.
It started in 2015, when Tate was first arrested on suspicion of rape. He was accused by several women, nearly a decade back, but the investigation into his alleged crimes never yielded any charges. That seems to have emboldened the 38-year-old, because he soon ramped up his illegal activity.
Now Tate is facing down consequences years in the making. His assets, along with those of his brother, Tristan Tate, were seized by authorities, and they’ve been embroiled in a protracted legal case ever since. The brothers currently face charges of “human trafficking in continued form,” a massively serious charge that was prompted by the discovery of several women claiming to have been held against their will.
The Tates are finally facing up to some of their widely-circulated crimes, it seems, despite the continued legal rigamarole surrounding the sex trafficking case. In mid-December, Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring granted police the authority to seize upwards of £2 million (more than $2.5 million) held in frozen bank accounts, following years of tax evasion.
Tate continues to deny all wrongdoing, and has maintained his arrogant and belittling demeanor even through his time behind bars. He called the magistrate’s ruling a “coordinated attack,” and slammed the legal system for its investigations into his wrongdoing.
“First, they labelled me a human trafficker, yet they couldn’t find a single woman to stand against me. When that narrative crumbled, they turned to outright theft, freezing my accounts for more than two years and now seizing everything they could.
“This is not justice; it’s a coordinated attack on anyone who dares to challenge the system,” he said. “Speak against the Matrix and they’ll come for your freedom, your reputation and your livelihood. This raises serious questions about the lengths authorities will go to silence dissent.”
Meanwhile, the court and police are standing by the decision, noting that “both individuals are alleged to have concealed the origins of their income by channelling money through ‘front’ accounts, constituting criminal activity and rendering those earnings proceeds of crime.“
Up until the investigation froze their accounts and rendered them incapable of continuing their various businesses, it seems the Tate approach to taxes was sheer dismissal. For years, while living in England, Tate refused to pay his taxes — even admitting as much on social media — and the court claims his approach was, for years, “ignore, ignore, ignore because in the end they go away.”
Tate and his brother failed to pay a single penny in taxes on their more than £21 million in revenue, and they’re now facing the music for their arrogance. Legal minds from across their numerous cases slammed the brothers for engaging in a “straightforward cheat of the revenue,” and offered little pity for the outraged influencers.