Simon Leviev, an Israeli conman who gained worldwide notoriety after being profiled in the 2022 Netflix documentary The Tinder Swindler, has been arrested in Georgia, local media reported Monday.
Leviev, whose real name is Shimon Yehuda Hayut, was detained immediately after landing at Batumi International Airport, according to the Georgian outlet Georgia Today. The reasons for his arrest remain unclear.
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Shimon Yehuda Hayut, AKA Simon Leviev or the Tinder Swindler, in Tel Aviv court
(Photo: Yair Sagi)
His lawyer told reporters that morning, “I spoke with him this morning after he was detained, but we don’t yet understand the reason. He has been traveling freely around the world.”
This is not Leviev’s first encounter with law enforcement. In 2019, he was arrested in Greece and extradited to Israel, where he was convicted of fraud, document forgery and theft. He was sentenced to 15 months in prison but served only five due to the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Leviev has also faced multiple civil lawsuits. In July 2024, two of his alleged victims — Pernilla Sjöholm and Cecilie Fjellhøy, who appeared in the Netflix documentary — traveled to Israel to testify in court against him.
According to the film’s producers, Leviev posed as the heir to a diamond empire owned by Israeli businessman Lev Leviev to deceive women he met on popular dating app Tinder. He flaunted a lavish lifestyle of private jets, luxury hotels and high-end cars, then persuaded victims to transfer large sums of money, often claiming he was in danger and urgently needed cash.
Members of Lev Leviev’s family also filed complaints, alleging that Simon Leviev falsely presented himself as the diamond magnate’s son, damaging their reputation and private lives. Several of Lev Leviev’s children joined the lawsuit.
In November 2024, another woman, Iren Tranov, filed a lawsuit seeking 414,000 shekels (about $124,200), saying she had lent Leviev more than 144,000 shekels that were never repaid.
Leviev has denied wrongdoing. In a CNN interview, he described the accusations as baseless.