Shimon Yehuda Hayut, the Israeli man made famous by the 2022 Netflix documentary "Tinder Swindler," was detained by Georgian authorities after arriving at Batumi International Airport, Israeli media reported Sunday.
Hayut, who has used aliases including Simon Leviev, was taken into custody after landing in the Black Sea resort city, according to reports citing his attorney. "I spoke with him this morning after he was detained, but we don't yet understand the reason," the lawyer told Walla, adding that Hayut had been traveling freely around the world.
Hayut rose to international attention after the 2022 Netflix series alleged he conned multiple women he met on the dating app Tinder out of millions of pounds by posing as the heir to a diamond fortune. The documentary presented accounts from several women who said Hayut wooed them with lavish dates and gifts before asking for money by claiming he was in danger and needed funds to protect his identity.
One accuser, identified in media reports as a Norwegian graduate student, said she gave Hayut more than $270,000 during their relationship. The documentary estimated total losses to victims at about £7.4 million. Hayut has repeatedly denied the allegations. In statements to U.S. media when the documentary was released, he said the program had "twisted the story" and described himself as a "legitimate businessman" who made money investing in Bitcoin.
Hayut has a prior criminal record in Israel. In 2019 he was convicted on four counts of fraud and received a 15-month prison sentence, of which he served five months. He was also ordered to pay roughly £35,000 in compensation to victims and fined about £4,600 for possession of a false passport. That conviction followed an arrest after a victim who had become suspicious reported him to Interpol for using a forged passport in Greece.
Authorities in Greece and Israel have also accused Hayut of other misleading conduct. Israeli news outlets reported in 2020 that he had been accused of impersonating a medical worker to obtain a COVID-19 vaccination ahead of eligibility guidelines; a health organization said the individual in that incident had been vaccinated after claiming to be medical staff and condemned the act.
Hayut's impersonation of a diamond family member prompted legal action from members of the Leviev family. In 2022 Ephraim and Ruthy Leviev Yelizarov filed a criminal complaint saying Hayut's conduct had damaged the family's reputation. Additional civil claims have followed: in November 2024, Israeli media reported that a former acquaintance filed suit claiming she lent Hayut 144,000 shekels (about £32,000) in 2022 and sought 414,000 shekels in total.
Georgian authorities had not released an official statement about the detention as of Sunday evening, and it was not immediately clear whether the arrest followed a local complaint, an international request, or was related to any pending extradition process. Hayut's lawyer said they were still awaiting information about the legal basis for the detention.
Hayut has publicly contested the portrayals in the Netflix series. He told Inside Edition after the documentary's release, "They presented it as a documentary but in truth it's a completely made-up movie. I'm the biggest gentleman in the world. I am not this monster that everybody has created. I was just a single guy that wanted to meet some girls on Tinder." He has asserted that he is not a fraud and has sought to clear his name.
The latest detention comes more than three years after the documentary made the accusations widely known and follows a series of criminal and civil proceedings in several countries. Authorities in Israel and other jurisdictions previously pursued cases related to Hayut's activities; the new development in Georgia could prompt further cross-border inquiries depending on whether formal charges are filed or extradition requests are lodged.
Representatives for Georgian law enforcement did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The unfolding situation may involve inquiries by multiple authorities given Hayut's movements and the international scope of allegations against him.