Simon Leviev, the ‘Tinder Swindler’, Arrested in Georgia After Arriving in Batumi
Israeli national Simon Leviev, widely known as the ‘Tinder Swindler’, has been detained upon arrival at Batumi airport in Georgia.
Leviev, born Shimon Yehuda Hayut, rose to notoriety after being featured in the 2022 Netflix documentary The Tinder Swindler, which detailed how he tricked victims through elaborate scams. Over several years, he is believed to have defrauded individuals and banks of up to one billion US dollars through a ponzi scheme. Posing as a relative of diamond magnate Lev Leviev, he also used Tinder to lure women.
Following the release of the documentary, Leviev denied wrongdoing in an interview with CNN, claiming he «just wanted to meet some girls». His lawyer told Israeli outlet Walla that the grounds for his latest arrest are not yet known.
«I spoke with him this morning after he was detained, but we don’t yet understand the reason. He has been travelling freely around the world,» the lawyer said.
Leviev was previously arrested in Greece in 2019 and extradited to Israel, where he was convicted of fraud, forgery and theft. He was sentenced to 15 months but served only five due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kursiv also reports that Do Kwon, the former head of Terraform Labs, has pleaded guilty in a New York court to two counts of fraud linked to the 2022 collapse of cryptocurrencies TerraUSD and Luna.
