The convicted con artist at the centre of the 2022 documentary ‘The Tinder Swindler’ has been arrested in Georgia, following a warrant issued by the International Criminal Police Organisation (Interpol).
Shimon Yehuda Hayut, also known as Simon Leviev, was detained by local authorities at an airport in the country’s south-west on Sunday (local time)
The 34-year-old was convicted of fraud in 2019 after scamming women across Europe through the dating app Tinder.
Tinder swindler
A 2022 documentary released on Netflix detailed the investigation into Israeli-born Shimon Yehuda Hayut, who allegedly carried out a love scam under a fake identity.
Pretending to be the son of diamond tycoon Lev Leviev, Hayut would match with women on Tinder and shower them with expensive gifts.
It’s alleged he lured women into romantic relationships before emotionally manipulating them into loaning him as much as $AU15 million.
Hayut has previously denied the allegations and insisted he made his money through cryptocurrency.
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Hayut was arrested in Greece in 2019 and extradited to Israel, where he was convicted on four fraud-related charges.
The charges related to some of the women who have accused him of fraud.
He served five months in prison after being released early from a 15-month sentence. He was also ordered to pay more than $AU71,000 in compensation to his victims, as well as around $AU9,000 for carrying a fake passport.
Arrest
On Sunday local time, Hayut was taken into police custody after Georgian authorities confirmed they had received an arrest warrant from Interpol.
It’s not yet clear which country filed the warrant.
Hayut’s lawyers told Israeli media they have not been told why he was detained.
Hayut has an outstanding legal claim against him, lodged in Israel last year by another one of his alleged victims.
