Andrew Tate indicted in Romania for sex with minor and money laundering

Romanian prosecutors said the Tates recruited their victims by seducing them and falsely claiming to want a relationship or marriage, before forcing them to produce pornographic content for a webcam business.

"We will examine every aspect of (the indictment) with the same level of scrutiny and we will challenge any evidential, procedural or legal deficiencies through the appropriate judicial process," a Romanian lawyer for the Tates, Eugen Vidineac, said in a statement.

He added: "Our clients continue to reject the allegations against them."

The Tate brothers remain in jail in the US while a judge decides on the request for their extradition to Britain, where they are wanted on rape charges.

The spokesman for the Romanian anti-organised crime prosecuting unit DIICOT, which is investigating the Tates, said it was not immediately clear whether the unit will seek their extradition from the United States.

The Tates can be tried in absentia in Romania, but the trial will not start immediately.

Under Romanian law, the indictment is sent to a preliminary court chamber, where a judge will review the case files to ensure their legality.

While the law states that the preliminary chamber judge has 60 days to finalise the report, indictments routinely take significantly longer.

The brothers, who have dual US and British citizenship.

They have denied any wrongdoing.

The brothers were arrested in Miami on July 18 after the UK requested their extradition.

Emory Andrew Tate, born in December 1986, is named after his father, an American who worked for the US Air Force in Britain and was also a chess master.

Tate moved to Luton from America with his mother following his parents' divorce.

Both brothers found success in kickboxing, with Andrew achieving world champion status four times.

At a hearing in Miami federal court, both Tate brothers testified that they were playing characters online when they made crude posts.

"Top G is a caricature," Andrew Tate said, referring to an online moniker that he called a "hyperbolic character."

"I do this to shake men out of apathy," he said.

Tristan Tate, 38, said: "He’s the only person in the world who is judged by a character that he plays."

He argued that his brother's outlandish comedy "makes him go viral."

Last week, Magistrate Judge Lauren Louis declined to rule immediately on the Tate brothers' request for bail.

Federal prosecutors argued they would pose a danger to the community if released.

The legal process for determining whether the Tate brothers may be extradited could take months.

The latest development comes years after Romanian prosecutors began investigating them.

Mainly based in Romania since 2017, they have been under criminal investigation in the country on charges including human trafficking since December 2022.