Andrew Tate threatens $300M lawsuit against rape, trafficking accuser

Controversial influencer Andrew Tate, who is being held with his brother in Romania, has threatened legal action against at least one woman who accused him of rape and human trafficking.

A US law firm representing Tate and his brother Tristan sent a “cease and desist” letter to the unnamed woman’s American lawyer in December, the BBC reported Saturday.

The letter included a threat to sue the woman and her family for $300 million if she didn’t take back her accusations.

“In April 2022,” the letter reads, “you falsely stated to a third party that our client human trafficked you, abused you and held you against your will […] You have repeated false and defamatory statements to the police, the media, and another United States citizen about the Tate brothers.”

The brothers are currently in preventative custody in Romania as police investigate the allegations of trafficking and rape. Both deny the claims.

They lost their bid to get bailed out of jail earlier this month, with a judge ordering them to remain behind bars until at least Feb. 27 because of the “particular dangerousness of the defendants.”

Court documents in the case detail how the Tates are accused of heading a brutal crime gang that tricked women into the sex trade, allowing the brothers to earn the riches they bragged about in their widely banned social media posts.

The lawyer for the woman threatened with being sued, Benjamin Bull, told the BBC that his client is a key witness in the Romanian investigation and that the letter was meant to silence her.

“[It] was intended to shut down the witness; stop the witness from bringing testimony forward in any proceedings,” he said.

Lawyers for the Tates told the BBC that the cease-and-desist letter was sent in December, as a civil matter for defamation and slander in the US, but deny any intimidation.

The investigation into rape and trafficking allegations is believed to rest, at least partly, on the testimony of six women. No charges have yet been brought.

The Tates’ legal team has now also said that the brothers filed criminal complaints in Romania last April against two women, including the witness who received the cease-and-desist letter in December.

Bull, who represents more than one of the witnesses in the current Tate investigation says his clients have been upset and felt intimidated as a result of the legal action.