The Tinder Swindler Arrested: Interpol Fugitive Nabbed at Batumi Airport
In a dramatic development at Batumi International Airport in Georgia, a 35-year-old man long hunted by Interpol was finally captured. He had been moving across Europe under forged documents, hopping from country to country while evading authorities. The man, known worldwide as Simon Leviev, born Shimon Yehuda Hayut, was arrested after years on the run. Interpol had charged him with a string of crimes, including theft, forgery, and fraud. Georgian authorities confirmed the arrest, and reporting linked the case to the Netflix-era notoriety of the Tinder Swindler. The exact reason for his detention has not been publicly disclosed, even to his lawyers. Estimates suggest his victims across Europe were defrauded of more than $10 million between 2017 and 2019. The case has resurfaced public interest in the wider phenomenon of romance scams, especially after the Netflix documentary The Tinder Swindler brought global attention to his story.
In This Article:
Who Is Simon Leviev? The Man Behind the Tinder Fraud
Shimon Yehuda Hayut, born in 1990 near Tel Aviv, Israel, left for the United States at age 15. In New York, he was taken in by family friends who, according to reports, were later robbed by him. As a teenager, he began forging checks. He later adopted the name Simon Leviev, presenting himself as the son of a diamond magnate, Lev Leviev, to bolster his claimed wealth and influence.
How the Scam Worked: Gifts, Glamour, and Deceit
Leviev lured single women through Tinder, sometimes charming them with expensive gifts and private jet dinners. He projected an image of affluence and privilege, cultivating trust through lavish displays on social media. Behind the glamour, he allegedly manipulated victims into handing over money, selling assets, borrowing from friends and relatives, and taking multi-million loans. Between 2017 and 2019, prosecutors say he collected more than $10 million from victims across Europe.
A Trail of Legal Troubles and Global Fame
His run with the law began in Finland in 2015, when he was sentenced to three years in prison. In 2019, he was arrested in Greece for using a forged passport, and the same year he received a 15-month prison sentence in Israel. Public interest exploded after Netflix released The Tinder Swindler in 2022, and Interpol continued to list him as a wanted person in multiple jurisdictions.
Arrest in Georgia: What Happens Next
Georgian authorities confirmed the arrest at Batumi airport; the precise grounds for detention were not disclosed, even to his lawyers. Simon Leviev remains wanted by several countries on charges including theft, forgery, and fraud.
