Reported by Matei Rosca

Documents obtained as part of a new case against social media influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate, who have been charged with human trafficking, money laundering and organized crime, deepen questions over their opaque webcam finances.

On Aug. 21, Romanian police raided the homes of the brothers and some of their associates and arrested the pair. The recent allegations list 35 victims and accuse Andrew Tate of trafficking a minor for sexual exploitation and having sexual relations with another minor.

The brothers are also accused of seeking to intimidate and corrupt witnesses to stop them from giving evidence to prosecutors or to pressure them to give false evidence. Two other accomplices are also accused of interfering with the investigation. The prosecutors seized 16 cars and a motorcycle from the Tates, according to a press release.

The day after the raid, a judge placed Tristan Tate on bail and Andrew Tate on house arrest pending further pre-trial hearings. The same judge also warned that the evidence of money laundering was insufficient in the prosecutors’ case, according to local media. A spokesperson for DIICOT, Romania’s law enforcement unit dedicated to investigating organized crime, declined to comment.

The Tate brothers and two of their associates are currently awaiting trial on separate  charges of human trafficking from 2023; in that case, Andrew Tate was also charged with rape.

The brothers and their alleged accomplices have denied wrongdoing in both cases. A spokesperson for the Tates declined to comment for this article.

ICIJ and Romanian partner Context previously reported on Tristan Tate’s account with Paxum, a Canadian company that catered to the adult entertainment industry later purchased by Paxum Bank, a small Caribbean financial institution. The firms shared the name Paxum and similar website branding.  The mother of Paxum Bank’s owner, Anton Postolnikov, was also one of the owners of Paxum Inc, according to Romanian media reports.

Using Tristan Tate’s leaked banking records, ICIJ found that an adult webcam platform deposited a total of $2.6 million into Tate’s Paxum account until shortly before he and his brother were charged with human trafficking. Andrew was also charged with raping one of the women he allegedly trafficked.

As part of the most recent investigation, prosecutors obtained transcripts of text messages and phone conversations that shed further light on the pair’s use of their Paxum account in what was allegedly a complex online webcam business running since at least 2015. 

Read full report: https://www.icij.org/news/2024/09/wiretaps-suggest-tate-brothers-used-offshore-account-to-conceal-webcam-profits-as-fresh-allegations-emerge-involving-minors/