A criminal investigation has been launched in Florida into controversial influencers Andrew and Tristan Tate.
The brothers flew to the US from Romania on Thursday after travel restrictions imposed on the pair were lifted.
They are already subject to an ongoing investigation into alleged people trafficking in Romania, and are due to be extradited to the UK following that inquiry to face separate accusations of rape and trafficking dating back to between 2012 and 2015.
On Tuesday, Florida attorney general James Uthmeier said on social media that he had ordered a criminal inquiry.
He said: “Based on a thorough review of the evidence, I’ve directed the Office of Statewide Prosecution to execute search warrants and issue subpoenas in the now-active criminal investigation into the Tate brothers.”
Tate hit back, claiming that US authorities are “trying to find crimes on an innocent man”.
In Romania, the Tate brothers are facing allegations of trafficking minors, sexual intercourse with a minor and money laundering.
A separate case against them, in which they are accused of human trafficking and forming a criminal gang to sexually exploit women, has been sent back to prosecutors.
In the UK, as well as the allegations being investigated by Bedfordshire Police, a civil action is being brought against Andrew Tate by four women after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) decided not to prosecute in 2019.
Three of the British accusers were the subject of an investigation by Hertfordshire Constabulary which was closed in 2019.
In a separate case in December, Devon and Cornwall Police was given permission to seize more than £2 million from the siblings after a magistrate ruled they had failed to pay a penny in tax on £21 million of revenue from their online businesses.
The Trump administration reportedly pressed the Romanian government to lift travel restrictions on the brothers earlier this month, although Donald Trump denied any knowledge of the case.
In a statement issued on Thursday, a spokesperson for the brothers said six cars and five properties had been returned, but some assets remained under “precautionary seizure”.
Romania’s anti-organised crime agency, DIICOT, said prosecutors had approved a “request to modify the obligation preventing the defendants from leaving Romania”.
DIICOT’s statement said: “The defendants have been warned that deliberately violating these obligations may result in judicial control being replaced with a stricter deprivation of liberty measure.”
