Andrew Tate: Romanian police upgrade human trafficking charge against controversial social media influencer

Controversial social media influencer Andrew Tate has had his human trafficking charge changed to a more serious one, Romanian prosecutors have confirmed.

Police in the country are currently investigating Tate, 36, his brother Tristan, and two women, Naghel Georgiana Manuela and Radu Alexandra Luana, in connection to human trafficking and organised crime allegations. However, the human trafficking allegations have been updated to human trafficking in continued form, a more serious charge.

Tate and the others accused are currently under house arrest in Romania while the investigation continues. Charges have been filed against the group, however a trial date has not yet been set as the case is still under investigation. It is expected to be set later this month.

The four accused were notified about the change in charges by the Directorate for Investigating Organised Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT) on Tuesday (13 June). Under Romanian law, the maximum sentence for the new charge is 10 years in jail.

The controversial internet personality recently told the BBC that he was "absolutely and utterly sure" that both he and his brother would be found innocent on all charges. He said: “I know the case better than you, I know it intimately and you don’t, I have seen all the criminal files and the evidence against me and you haven’t, I know the truth of what happened and you don’t.

"And I’m telling you absolutely and utterly, I’ve never hurt anybody, that the case that’s been put against me is completely and utterly fabricated and I’m never gonna be found guilty of anything.”

Tate also defended his online influences, amid worries that young boys and men were being heavily influenced by his self-proclaimed misogynistic views. A recent survey showed that 24% of young British men agreed with Tate's controversial views on women.

However, Tate said in the BBC interview: “I preach hard work, discipline, I’m an athlete, I preach anti-drug, I preach religion, I preach no alcohol, I preach no knife crime, every single problem with modern society I’m against. I’m teaching young men to be disciplined, to be diligent, to listen, to train, to work hard, to be exactly like me.

He added: "I’m saying that if men grew up like me which are hardworking and diligent, with emotional control and stoic, we’re gonna have a better society, not a worse society. To sit here and say that schools in England, which is a failing nation, which has knife crime going through the roof, violence going through the roof, men’s mental health going through the roof, and they’re going to all blame me because I appeared on the internet is disingenuous.”

Prosecutors also confirmed that they had opened a separate criminal investigation into Vlad Obuzic, a Romanian man with close connections to the Tate brothers. Police are currently investigating allegations of human trafficking and forming an organised crime group against Obuzic, relating to seven women who have allegedly been sexually exploited.

According to prosecutors, the victims would be coerced into producing pornographic content for social media sites after Obuzic and two other suspects falsely claimed that they wanted a relationship or marriage. The prosecutors added: “To ensure the victims’ loyalty and that they will perform only to the benefit of the members of the group, they were forced to tattoo the name or face of the group member exploiting them."