Romanian prosecutors charge Andrew and Tristan Tate with additional sex crimes

Romanian prosecutors have charged social media influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate with further sex crimes.

They are accused of making more than $1.2m (£888,000) by coercing a girl to do sex acts on video chats, according to the Romanian Directorate for Investigating Crime and Terrorism (DIICOT).

Andrew, 39, is charged with trafficking minors, money laundering and sex with a minor. Tristan, 38, is charged with complicity in trafficking in minors and money laundering.

The Tates - currently in a Miami jail fighting extradition to the UK over separate charges - deny all the allegations.

The brothers - former kickboxers with dual US and British citizenship - have been under criminal investigation in Romania since December 2022.

They have been mainly based there since 2017, drawing a large social media audience - many of them young men - through misogynistic messages and images of a luxury lifestyle.

Many of the new charges centre on a vulnerable woman investigators allege was recruited by Tristan when she was 15.

She is alleged to have been sheltered in a building in Luton, Bedfordshire, for sexual exploitation by Andrew.

DIICOT investigators allege Andrew controlled her through surveillance and physical aggression and coerced her to perform sex acts on video chats for his financial gain.

He is also accused of moving her to Romania to carry on exploiting her in two of his homes.

Andrew is separately charged with having sex with a minor, who was 15, in Romania.

Prosecutors have also requested four of the brothers' luxury cars worth £710,000 are confiscated. They believe money was laundered through their purchase.

It is not yet clear if DIICOT will seek their extradition from the US, and the indictment has to be examined by a judge before any trial can open.

The Tates have denied all the allegations and say their online personas are not their real personalities.

Their lawyer Eugen Constantin Vidineac said: "Today's decision by DIICOT does not determine guilt and it should not be presented as though it does. It represents the prosecution's latest attempt to bring this case before a court following the failure of its previous indictment to proceed to trial.

"The history of these proceedings matters. The previous indictment was subjected to judicial scrutiny and the court identified significant irregularities which prevented the case from moving forward to trial.

"DIICOT has now chosen to file a new indictment. We will examine every aspect of it with the same level of scrutiny and we will challenge any evidential, procedural or legal deficiencies through the appropriate judicial process.

"Our clients continue to reject the allegations against them. They have the right to the presumption of innocence, the right to properly examine the evidence relied upon against them and the right to mount an effective defence."