Lawyers for controversial internet star Andrew Tate have told a London court that payment methods for his online business are “completely orthodox”.
Police are trying to recover £2.8m in unpaid tax on the income of Mr Tate, his brother Tristan and a third man, J.
The court heard the brothers were “serial” and “brazen” tax evaders and had made £21m from online businesses including Only Fans, a website famous for its pornographic content.
They were accused of setting up “spaghetti-style” bank accounts.
The Tate’s Martin Evans KC said on Tuesday their approach to transferring funds was “totally orthodox”.
“There were transfers to Tates’ account. That was the beginning, middle and end of it. There was no separation,” he told the court.
He said the pair did not obtain the money through “deception” and therefore should be allowed to keep it.
Andrew Tate, 37, and Tristan, 35, did not appear in court for the two-day hearing.
They were arrested in December on charges of rape, human trafficking and forming a criminal gang, which they deny and will face trial in Romania.
Their bail conditions currently do not allow them to leave the EU.
Sarah Clarke KC, of Devon and Cornwall Police, said they paid no tax in any country on their income.
She said the money had been “laundered” from several bank accounts in the UK.
Mr Evans told the court: “Purge is not a banking term. The banking term is transfer. What happened was completely orthodox. A large number of transfers from the payment platform to the Tate.
On Monday, Ms Clark cited a video posted online by Andrew Tait in which he said: “When I lived in the UK I refused to pay tax.”
He said his approach was to “ignore, ignore, ignore because eventually they would disappear”, the court heard.
The court also heard the brothers had “a large number of bank accounts” in the UK, seven of which have been frozen.
The lawsuit is a civil one and has a lower standard of proof than a criminal case.
Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring will weigh the possibilities and decide whether police have the power to freeze bank accounts and assets worth £2.8m belonging to Mr and Mrs Tates.
He said he would reserve judgment until a future date.
