The Tinder Swindler has found himself in more legal trouble.
Nearly three years after Shimon Yehuda Hayut was the center of Netflix’s eponymous documentary, the convicted con artist was arrested on Sept. 14 over accusations of fraud, his attorney Sagiv Rotenberg told The New York Times.
Hayut, who also went by the name Simon Leviev, was detained in Georgia after a German woman alleged that he had defrauded her of nearly 44,000 euros ($52,000) from 2017 to 2019, according to Interpol documents seen by the outlet.
Among the alleged charges, per the docs, were thousands of dollars using a credit card and phone contract in the woman’s name, including 9,000 euros ($10,600) in hotel and flights for him in the Cayman Islands after he allegedly told her that his credit card was blocked.
Although the German government requested Hayut’s arrest in Georgia, Rotenberg told The NYT that his client hasn’t been charged with any crime in Germany. The 34-year-old—who denied the allegations—has seven days to appeal the court’s ruling, according to Batumi City Court documents.
E! News has reached out to Hayut’s attorney for additional comment and has not yet heard back.
The conman’s arrest comes five years after he was sentenced to 15 months in prison on four counts of fraud in Israel. However, Hayut—who was accused of stealing over $10 million from Tinder dates after whirlwind romances with unsuspecting women in the 2022 doc—only served five months due to the country’s efforts to decrease the prison population at the beginning of the Covid pandemic, according to Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang.
Two years after his release, one of his alleged victims, Cecilie Fjellhøy told her story of meeting and falling in love with Hayut, whom she knew as Leviev.
The Netflix documentary dove into Hayut’s romances with multiple women on Tinder, which, according to the project, included him impersonating an oligarch’s son and opening numerous credit accounts in his dates’ names.
Although he later confirmed that he used fake passports and lived his life “on a fake identity,” which led to his legal troubles, he disputed Netflix’s portrayal of his situation in the documentary.
As Hayut navigates his latest legal battle, keep reading for more of his insight into being dubbed “The Tinder Swindler.”
He Maintains His Innocence
Leviev insisted that he never swindled anybody and, thanks to The Tinder Swinder, he’s rolling in cash.
“I did not swindle nobody,” he argued. “I am making s–tloads of money every day thanks to Netflix…hell of a lot of money thanks to that.”
We guess all publicity is good publicity?
Leviev said his enemies are on his tail and they are “crazy motherf–kers.” When asked if he was concerned about going to jail, Leviev balked and said “maybe those girls will go to jail for defamation.”
Creative Projects in the Works
Leviev said he’s working on his own documentary, which is in the final stages. He said it will tell his side of the story. “You won’t believe what you’re going to see,” he said. He argued that if viewers thought The Tindler Swindler was jaw-dropping, “you have really no idea what’s coming up…you’re going to be shocked of your life seriously.”
In addition, he said he’s currently waiting on his U.S. visa—he currently lives in Tel Aviv—so he can record a song with French Montana, and maybe Snoop Dogg and 50 Cent. “I have great things coming up very, very soon,” he assured.
Don’t Look For Him on the Apps
Leviev insisted that he’s no longer on Tinder. He said he hasn’t been on the dating app since 2018 and any profile using his photo is fake, adding that is “nothing to do with me.”
He said he filed a police report against all of the fake accounts.
He Makes All of His Own Money
Despite the charges and claims against him, Leviev said he supports himself financially. He credits getting in on the ground floor of Bitcoin for much of it.
“This is how you make the money in places that people don’t want to touch,” he noted. “If I believe in it I’m going for it.”
He even went so far as to flaunt his wealth, saying that his clothes and watches are worth thousands of dollars. “My security for a month cost more than they say what I took allegedly,” he claimed.
He’s Not Scared of Prison
Despite the fury of activity and allegations surrounding him, Leviev insisted he’s not worried. “I’m not in prison and I’m not going to be in prison,” he said bluntly.
He alleged that the police are actively “helping him” along the way and the women featured in The Tinder Swindler are “lame” and “got millions from Netflix.” Leviev said over 100 million people watched the documentary, which seemed to make him very proud.
