After 7 Months of Boasting About Freedom.. The Arrest of the Israeli "Tinder Swindler" in Georgia
Georgian authorities have arrested the infamous Israeli conman, Shimon Yehuda Hayut, known as the "Tinder Swindler," at Batumi International Airport, just seven months after he boasted in a video from Dubai that he "would never be seen in prison."
The Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs confirmed Hayut's detention on Sunday. The ministry's spokesperson, Tato Kutchava, told AFP: "He was arrested at Batumi Airport at the request of Interpol," without disclosing the country that requested the arrest. Meanwhile, Hayut's lawyer told Israeli media that the reasons for the arrest "remain unclear," saying: "I spoke with him this morning after his arrest, but we do not understand the reason yet. He travels freely around the world."
Victim Cecilie Fjellhoy (29) from Norway, who appeared in the Netflix documentary about the case, was not surprised by the news of his arrest. Fjellhoy, who is currently starring in the new Netflix series "Love Con Revenge," told the Gulf Times: "I think I expressed what I think and feel on social media. But I am very happy that he is in prison now, and I am very excited to see what will happen next." Fjellhoy had shared a clip of his boasting in Dubai on Instagram along with the news of his arrest.
This arrest comes to prove the false promises made by Hayut from Dubai earlier this year, where he attempted to reinvent himself as an influential entrepreneur. He launched a cryptocurrency called "Tind" and promoted it as a "meme coin" inspired by the Tinder app, claiming that 5% of its revenue would support women's charities. However, victims, including Fjellhoy, Pernilla Sjoholm, and Eileen Charlotte, criticized the project and accused him of "exploiting their plight for financial gain again." Charlotte said: "Simon Leviev is a conman who has been convicted twice, destroying people's lives. This will not change." The value of the currency quickly collapsed to nearly zero amid accusations that it was another scam.
This arrest adds to Hayut's long record of convictions. In 2019, he was arrested in Greece and extradited to Israel, where he was convicted of fraud, forgery, and theft, and sentenced to 15 months in prison, of which he only served 5 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to that, he spent two and a half years in a Finnish prison for fraud.
Despite the extensive evidence and allegations documented in the Netflix film "Tinder Swindler" (2022), which claimed he defrauded women and banks of nearly a billion dollars, Leviev continually denies committing any wrongdoing. He told CNN after the documentary aired: "I am not the person they portrayed me as. I have made mistakes in my life, and I have repaid my debt to society."
While Hayut's fate remains uncertain regarding whether Georgia will extradite him to the requesting country, his promises made from the balcony in Dubai have shattered, proving once again that his statement "You will never see me in prison" was just an empty promise.
