Notorious “Tinder Swindler” Simon Leviev has been arrested in Georgia, according to reports.
The 35-year-old was the subject of a Red Notice from Interpol, prompting his detention as he attempted to cross borders at the country’s Batumi Airport on Monday, Georgia’s Interior Ministry told OC Media.
While the details of his arrest remain unclear, he is accused of having scammed several people – most notably single women – out of funds of up to £7.6m, after posing as the heir to a diamond fortune.
He was thrust into the spotlight following the release of the Netflix documentary The Tinder Swindler in 2022. The film followed three women who were duped into believing Leviev was a wealthy man who was in love with them.
He would later exploit the relationships for his financial benefit, asking the women for hundreds of thousands of dollars in support. Leviev has called the documentary a “made-up movie” and has denied he is the titular Swindler.
Lawyers for Leviev said they had not been informed of the reasons behind his arrest in Georgia.
“I spoke with him this morning after he was detained, but we don’t yet understand the reason,” Sagiv Rotenberg told Israeli publication, Walla. “He has been travelling freely around the world.”
Interpol describes a Red Notice as “a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action”.
Born in Israel, he changed his name from Shimon Yehuda Hayut to Simon Leviev to “prove his credibility”, according to Israeli news outlet Haaretz.
The Netflix movie portrayed Leviev as a “professional” con man.
Several reports suggested he had been arrested and charged with a series of crimes, including charges for theft, forgery, fraud and cashing stolen cheques in Israel in 2011, according to Times of Israel.
He was later arrested for defrauding three women in Finland in 2015, after which he was sent to prison in 2017 and then returned to Israel.
He was then sentenced to 15 months in prison for crimes he initially evaded in 2011 after being located in Munich, Germany, in 2019 following an investigation by Norwegian newspaper Verdens Gang and a joint operation by Israeli police and Interpol. He was released after five months for good behaviour.
Leviev has since attempted to pursue a career in the entertainment industry and charged fans up to £146 for personalised messages on Cameo following the release of the 2022 documentary.