Simon Leviev, the Israeli fraudster made infamous by Netflix’s hit documentary The Tinder Swindler, has been arrested once again — this time in Georgia.
Leviev, born Shimon Yehuda Hayut, was detained on Sunday morning at Batumi International Airport near the Black Sea, according to Georgia’s Interior Ministry. The arrest followed an Interpol Red Notice, an international alert issued at the request of a member country.
Officials have not revealed which jurisdiction sought his detention or the specific charges he faces.
Lawyer Claims Detention is Unclear
Leviev’s lawyer told Israeli outlet Walla that he too was unaware of the grounds for the arrest. He insisted the 33-year-old had been “travelling freely around the world” in recent months.
Netflix Stardom and Fraudulent Past
Leviev first gained global notoriety in 2022 when Netflix released The Tinder Swindler, a documentary exposing how he posed as the son of a wealthy Russian-Israeli diamond mogul to scam women he met on Tinder.
The film alleged that Leviev defrauded victims of hundreds of thousands of dollars, using funds from one woman to finance his extravagant lifestyle and woo the next.
However, his criminal record stretches back over a decade:
- In 2011, he fled Israel to avoid sentencing for fraud and forgery charges.
- He later served time in Finland for defrauding several women.
- In 2019, he was arrested in Greece on another Interpol notice. He was extradited to Israel, and sentenced to 15 months in prison. He served only five after early release during the Covid-19 pandemic.
From Fraudster to Public Figure
Despite his criminal past, Leviev attempted to reinvent himself as a public personality after the documentary’s release. He even began charging fans for personalized video messages online.
His latest arrest has once again thrust him into the global spotlight.
