“Tinder Swindler” Simon Leviev Arrested in Georgia on Interpol Red Notice

“Tinder Swindler” Simon Leviev was arrested in Georgia.

Simon Leviev, the notorious conman known as the “Tinder Swindler,” has been arrested by authorities in the former Soviet republic of Georgia after years of evading justice.

Leviev, whose real name is Shimon Yehuda Hayut, was detained Sunday morning upon arrival at Batumi International Airport on the Black Sea, according to Georgian officials. The Interior Ministry confirmed that Leviev was picked up on an Interpol Red Notice as soon as he crossed into the country.

It remains unclear why the Israeli national was taken into custody at this time, as his attorney claimed he had been “traveling freely around the world.”

“Tinder Swindler” Simon Leviev was detained by police in Greece in 2019

Leviev became infamous as the subject of the 2022 Netflix documentary The Tinder Swindler, which revealed how he posed as the wealthy son of Russian diamond tycoon Lev Leviev. Using dating apps, he lured women with a fabricated lifestyle of private jets and luxury hotels before conning them into handing over vast sums of money.

The documentary alleged that Leviev scammed more than $10 million from at least a dozen women worldwide by convincing them he was in danger and needed urgent financial help. Following its release, he was banned from all major dating platforms.

Leviev has a long criminal history. He fled Israel in 2011 before sentencing on charges of fraud, theft, and forgery. Between 2015 and 2017, he served two years in a Finnish prison for defrauding several women, before being extradited to Israel in 2017. He later fled again using a fake passport and was eventually caught by Interpol in Greece in 2019. Convicted of fraud in Israel, he was sentenced to 15 months but released after just five months in May 2020 due to COVID-19 prison concerns.

His latest arrest in Georgia marks another chapter in the international pursuit of one of the world’s most notorious fraudsters.