Infamous “Tinder Swindler” Simon Leviev, who was convicted of conning girls out of hundreds of thousands of {dollars} whereas posing as a rich diamond inheritor, has been arrested by authorities within the former Soviet republic of Georgia.
Leviev was detained upon arrival at Batumi Worldwide Airport on the Black Sea on Sunday morning, based on his lawyer and Georgian officers.
The Georgian Inside Ministry stated Leviev was picked up on a Crimson Discover from Interpol as soon as he crossed into the nation. It’s not instantly clear why the conman, an Israeli nationwide, was taken into custody.
“I spoke with him this morning after he was detained, however we don’t but perceive the explanation. He has been touring freely around the globe,” Leviev’s lawyer informed Israeli outlet Walla.
Leviev, whose actual title is Shimon Yehuda Hayut, was the topic of the 2022 Netflix documentary “Tinder Swindler,” detailing his elaborate schemes on the favored courting app.
Leviev lured girls on the app pretending to be the son of Russian diamond tycoon Lev Leviev and flexing a lavish way of life, flying on non-public jets and staying in ritzy motels.
He would later persuade his victims to fork over big sums of cash on varied pretenses, together with claiming he was in peril and urgently wanted money.
The documentary alleged that he swindled $10 million from at the very least a dozen girls from across the globe. He was banned from courting apps after the documentary’s launch.
Leviev fled Israel in 2011 earlier than he may very well be sentenced on convictions of fraud, theft and forgery. He served two years in a Finnish jail from 2015 to 2017 for defrauding a number of girls earlier than he was despatched again to Israel in 2017.
He then fled Israel once more utilizing a faux passport till Interpol caught him in Greece in 2019. He was sentenced to fifteen months for the fraud he dedicated in Israel. Leviev was launched early, in Might 2020, after serving simply 5 months amid COVID-19 jail considerations.
