Remember Simon Leviev? A bit of a blast from the past, I know. But the infamous Tinder Swindler has been arrested once again. He was first flung into our lives in the Netflix documentary in 2022, but is now back once again. And of course, it wasn’t for good reasons.
The Tinder Swindler has been arrested in Georgia, local officials have said. On Monday, it was said Simon Leviev was taken into custody “at Interpol’s request” after arriving at Batumi airport.
Simon Leviev, real name Shimon Hayut, told women he met on Tinder he was the son of a billionaire, and used this to scam them out of thousands, when they believed they were in a relationship. It was estimated he scammed women out of around $10million.
As per the Times of Israel, Leviev was convicted of fraud, theft and forgery in December 2019. He was sentenced to 15 months in prison, but was released after serving only five months. As of 2020, he was free.
via Netflix
‘I was shocked because it’s been such a long time’
It’s not completely clear what his current arrest is over. But, the victims of his previous crimes have spoken out about what it might mean. “I was shocked because it’s been such a long time,” Cecilie Fjellhoy, who featured in the Netflix doc, told AFP. She added she had a “little celebration” when she heard the news.
Another victim, Pernilla Sjoholm, said she also celebrated the news. “Thank you to the country that issued the international arrest warrant,” she said. She added she would be ready to testify against him.
This comes as Cecilie is now the front of a new Netflix documentary about romance fraud. Love Con Revenge is a six-part series, and follows missions to track down romance scammers and uncover them. For it, Cecilie has teamed up with a female private investigator.
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