Self-proclaimed misogynist Andrew Tate is back in Romania along with his brother Tristan to report to the police, following a trip to Florida that triggered a state-level criminal probe.
The online celebrity, who has amassed a massive following peddling sexist content about male dominance, is facing charges over human trafficking and forming an organized criminal group with his brother in Romania. They have denied all wrongdoing.
The pair, both dual British and American citizens, left Romania late last month after prosecutors lifted a travel ban on them. They flew to Florida, only to find themselves subject to a new criminal investigation by state authorities there.
They spoke to reporters Saturday after returning to Romania.
“We’re here to clear our names and exonerate ourselves,” Andrew Tate said, speaking outside his house in Bucharest.
“After all we’ve been through, we truly deserve the day in court where it is stated that we’ve done nothing wrong and that we should never be in court in the first place.”
He referred to allegations against them as “garbage.”
The Tates are required to regularly check in with police. Their next check-in is due on March 24, according to Reuters.
Earlier Friday, Andrew Tate posted a picture of the pair on the flight, saying: “Innocent men don’t run. THEY CLEAR THEIR NAME IN COURT.”
“Spending 185,000 dollars on a private jet across the Atlantic to sign one single piece of paper in Romania,” he wrote.
Romanian authorities arrested the brothers in December 2022 and placed them under police custody. They were later placed under house arrest.
Prosecutors in Romania accused them of forming an organized criminal group that stretched across the country, as well as the United Kingdom and the US, trafficking women and sexually exploiting them with physical violence and coercion.
Andrew Tate is also accused of raping one of the alleged victims. Separately, the two faced an investigation into allegations of human trafficking of minors and sex with a minor lodged against the brothers.
Andrew and Tristan Tate have denied all allegations of wrongdoing, with Andrew writing on X that the brothers “have always been innocent.”
Days after they arrived in Florida late last month, Florida Attorney General James Uthmeier announced an active criminal investigation into the brothers, led by the Office of Statewide Prosecution. Florida has “zero tolerance for people who abuse women and girls,” he added.
The brothers’ defense attorney accused Uthmeier of throwing “ethics law out of the window.”
The brothers are also being investigated for allegations of rape and human trafficking in the UK, where they have also denied wrongdoing.
Andrew Tate also faces a civil suit there by four women, accusing him of rape and coercive control.