'Tinder Swindler' Busted Again in Mysterious International Arrest

A man known as the Tinder Swindler is. back in the headlines while a new. documentary following one of his. apparent victims premieres on Netflix. The alleged con artist has been. arrested. We are digging into what we. know so far about his detention and what. he's been up to since his rise to. international notoriety and we're going. to break it down with international law. attorney David Defury. Welcome to. Sidebar presented by Law and Crime. I'm. Jesse Weber. Well, it is more bad news for 34year-old. Simon Levive, who was born in Israel,

has the birth name Shimon Hayut. This is. the guy better known worldwide as the. Tinder Swindler, right? You probably. have heard that moniker before because. he gained that name thanks to a 2022. Netflix documentary with the same title. Three women, they shared their stories. of how they were conned into thinking. Levive was this rich playboy jet setting. around the world, according to the. publication The Sun. And this was all. thanks to his family's diamond fortune. In reality, that wasn't the case. In. reality, he has no connection to Israeli.

diamond tycoon Lev Levive. But according. to the BBC, he legally changed his name. to make himself seem more credible. He. then apparently conned his way into the. lives of multiple women across Europe. using the dating app Tinder, scamming. them out of a reported $10 million. According to the documentary, Levive. would take the women on these incredibly. lavish dates. For example, he flew one. woman on a private jet from London to. Bulgaria for their first date. But after.

lovebombing them and showering them with. expensive gifts, he then reportedly. would claim he couldn't use his credit. cards anymore because of threats against. him. So, the allegation was he would. have them open up accounts and loan him. money. Then, when he did pay the women. back, it kind of worked like a Ponzi. scheme. He would take money from one. alleged victim to pay off another and. another and so on, right? This cycle. while continuing to live his lavish. lifestyle. So, when this documentary.

premiered in 2022, it absolutely blew. up. You probably watched it. According. to the BBC, it was Netflix's most. watched documentary in 90 countries when. it was released. And by the way, during. that time, it was reported Levive was. apparently still active on Tinder. However, in a statement to Variety, the. company said, "We have conducted. internal investigations and can confirm. Simon Levive is no longer active on. Tinder under any of his known aliases.". At the time, Levive told Inside Edition.

that he was a quote legitimate. businessman who made his fortune. investing in cryptocurrency and that he. was just trying to meet girls on Tinder. He told the outlet, quote, I was. surprised how many girls wanted me and. how many girls offered to travel to meet. me without them knowing me. I'm not this. monster that everybody has created. He. also defended his decision to change his. last name, telling Israel's Channel 12. News, I have the right to choose. whatever name I want. I never presented. myself as the son of anyone, but people. use their imaginations. But now we got.

to talk about what just happened because. it appears that Simon Levive is once. again in trouble with international law. enforcement. So to talk about this, to. talk about the latest details on Leviv's. detainment, what this means, what is. going on, by the way, as well as his. past infamous behavior, I want to bring. in international attorney David Tafuri. David, thank you so much for coming on, not a lot of information, right? But. based on what we can see on Levive's. social media pages, he has leaned into.

his notoriety. He has apparently. launched a Bitcoin based on his Tinder. exploits. Not all that attention is. going to be positive. It can put you in. the crosshairs of law enforcement as. well. But what is going on here? Are. international agencies going to be. keeping an eye on him? I mean, what is. happening in your opinion? So, like you. said, there's not a lot of information. The way that the Interpol red notice. works is part of why we don't yet know. what he's been charged with. Because the.

way Interpol works is if you're a. country and you're a member of Interpol. and almost all countries around the. world are members of Interpol. Your your. law enforcement can make an application. to Interpol. Normally you have to it has. to be supported with an indictment or. what would be an indictment in a. particular country's criminal system or. analogous to an indictment. And if that. indictment demonstrates to Interpol that. there is sufficient evidence to suggest. that a person has committed a crime, then Interpol will issue a red notice.

And all countries around the world that. are part of Interpol are then supposed. to flag the fact that a person is coming. to that country as a result of the red. notice. and they're supposed to arrest. that person and hold that person until. the country that has made the. application for the red notice can then. extradite that person or make a a a. filing in the criminal court of the. country where the person is being held. to prove that they have sufficient. charges to extradite him or her back to.

their country to stand trial. >> Yeah, let me emphasize that because this. happened on Sunday. Leviv was detained. at the Batumi International Airport in. the country of Georgia. There was. apparently at least one red notice from. Interpol. He was detained. According to. Interpol's website, there are currently. more than 6,000 red notices in. circulation right now. Couple of things. with this. Does that mean that this is a. severe crime? Does that mean if you're. going to involve Interpol and you're. going to issue a red notice, this is a. severe crime? And does give you an. indication of what potential crime this.

is? I can't remember exactly what level of. crime it has to be to be to qualify for. a red notice under Interpol. I I think. it may be like something equivalent to a. felony in our US system, but I'm not. totally certain about that. But the most. important part about this for why we. don't know more about what is going on. here is because that process of getting. a red notice is confidential. It's not. made public. Interpol doesn't make it. public normally that there's a red.

notice for someone. That's in order to. surprise that person so the person feels. comfortable traveling and it's easier to. apprehend that person in a foreign. country that is cooperating with. Interpol. >> By the way, talking videos like this, you may know this, but we here at. Sidebar, we produce so many video clips. a day. And we use a platform called Opus. Clips. This may be of interest to you. It's an all-in-one AI editor that makes. it easier and faster to cut, create, and. upload videos across all social media. platforms through the power of AI. Opus. Clip automatically generates B-roll. It.

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look at our content here at Long Crime. Our producers have used Opus to help us. cut and share clips of some of our. biggest trials, and we get them to you. very fast at Sidebar. Look, we know our. listeners have a lot of opinions and. ideas to share. And this is the most. powerful tool there is to help you edit. like a pro and grow your own audience. So, give it a try for yourself. Go to. opus.pro/sidebar. to start creating your own videos today. This is a really fresh story. Does that. mean that it's going to change? Maybe, you know, by the end of the week, we'll. get an understanding of what's going on.

here. >> Yes. As soon as he is presented to a. judge in the country of Georgia, it is. likely that the charges against him will. be made public or at least some. information about the charges will be. made public. And that could include the. country that has made those charges. against him. >> How long can they keep somebody detained. on a red notice? >> That's going to depend on the particular. country where he is. And that's going to. depend upon Georgia's laws. Therefore, and I'm not sure exactly what Georgia's. laws say with respect to criminal. procedure, how long you can be kept.

before you're presented to a judge. But. most countries, in order to show that. they're cooperating with Interpol, will. bring the person before a judge very. quickly because they want to demonstrate. due process. Now, Leviv's attorney told. the Israeli outlet Walla on Sunday that. it wasn't clear exactly why his client. was detained, saying, "I spoke to him. this morning after he was detained, but. we don't know what the cause is. He. travels freely around the world. Is that. unusual? If that's true, is that unusual. that his attorney wouldn't be told what. he's being detained for?

>> Well, his attorney needs to be told at. some point. It may not be unusual that, you know, a day or two later, he still. hasn't been told, but he certainly has. to be told before that person is. presented to a judge. um he's in. obviously entitled to have legal counsel. and he need his legal counsel needs to. at least understand the basis of the. charges against him to provide him with. good legal advice and a proper defense. >> By the way, according to reporting from. the Daily Mail, Leviv has been wanted by. German authorities for a string of fraud.

and theft cases under multiple aliases. The Daily Mail reports that Germany. issued an international arrest warrant. against Levive on suspicion of money. laundering, tax evasion, crypto fraud. back in 2022. And I do want to take a. look at some of Lviv's past crimes. Okay, so The Independent reports that. Lviv was arrested for defrauding three. women in Finland back in 2015. He. reportedly spent some time in prison. before being sent back to his home. country. Two years later, 2017, according to the Times of Israel, Levive.

fled Israel to try to avoid trial on. fraud related charges. For two years, he. traveled around Europe as a wanted. fugitive, but he was arrested in Greece. in 2019 for using a fake passport. So, he was extradited back to Israel. He was. convicted of four charges of fraud, sentenced to 15 months in prison, and he. only served five before getting out. Some outlets report this was because of. good behavior. Others say it was because. of the CO 19 pandemic, but he was. ordered to pay victims around £35,000 in. compensation. He had to pay a fine of.

more than £4,000 for having a fake. passport. David, this gives us insight. into his background, but also if it's. true based on what his attorney said, how was he able to freely travel around. the world? Well, what that demonstrates. is there are a lot of different possible. bases for charges against him in. countries around the world. It very well. could be that this is Germany, that. Germany finally made an application to. Interpol and ask for a red notice, and. that Germany now wants to bring him back. for those charges that you mentioned. or.

it could be any of the other countries. It could relate to past crimes, crimes. before the Tinder Swindler um film came. out or it could be new crimes because, you know, this is a person who's. demonstrated an intent to to defraud. people. He has a, you know, very. expensive taste. So, he's likely still. on the edge of what is legal in order to. earn money. >> And when you look at those past cases. and past allegations, that can sometimes. start a new investigation. It could. bring people forward. It could alert.

foreign authorities, right? >> Yeah, absolutely. And the crimes that he. was involved in involved in or I should. say the schemes he was involved in bring. in so many different crimes because. he's, you know, laundering money. He's. it's credit card fraud, it's bank fraud, as well as, you know, fraud, defrauding. the the women who were involved. And so. there are a lot of different potential. charges. Now, some of them would be. subject to statute of limitations, but. statute of limitations periods vary.

across the world. >> By the way, if you have so many red. notices that are issued, is it difficult. for them to actually lead to someone. being arrested, someone being detained? Um, is this one of those special cases. where it actually a red notice was. issued and Leviv was detained? I mean, how how many times have they been issued. or in your experience, you see them. issued and you know, they're still. looking for the person? Well, the red notice process obviously. is now very electronic with computers,

you know, uh, you know, being able to. communicate with each other. So, ideally, especially in your if you're in. a first world country with. state-of-the-art systems at the airport. and other ports of entry and departure, because of the red notice, a person. should be flagged when they're entering. or departing, and so they should be. arrested. Now, that doesn't always work. It doesn't always work smoothly, especially if you're in the developing. world. they may not have real time. access to the new red notices that are. put out. >> By the way, uh Levive is also part of.

ongoing litigation in Israel. It was. brought by the real Levive family. They. claimed that he unjustly enriched. himself by using their last name, hurt. the family's reputation with his bad. behavior. I mentioned before how he went. on record and basically said, "Hey, I'm. allowed to change my name to whoever I. want. People can make whatever. connections they want." I don't know if. you've had a chance to look at that. case. Um, but do you think they have a. case? >> I think they do. I mean, if you watch. the Tinder Swindler film, he certainly. profited off the name and he certainly.

was portraying himself as a relative of. them, which he was not, and made all. sorts of other schemes that were based. on his relationship to the family, which. he did not. It looked like he doctorred. pictures of himself with the family. So, I think there would be a number of bases. for the family to make such a case. against him. >> Yeah. Let let me talk about that a. little bit more about the Tindler. Swindler. So when the Tindler Swindler. documentary came out, Levive was dating. a model named Kate Conlin. At first, she. stood by him, right? Supporting him in.

the onslaught of accusations that were. leveled against him. However, in a 2023. interview with the BBC, Conland said she. felt she had no choice because she was. under his emotional control. She says. eventually the online abuse against her. became too much. when she tried to end. the relationship and leave. She claims. Levive pushed her and she cut her foot. on a step with a rough edge. The BBC. reports that she filed a complaint. against Levive with the police and he. denied ever hurting her. But now.

Levive's story is back on Netflix. There. is a brand new series called Love Con. Revenge. And one of the women featured. in the Tindler Swindler documentary, Cecilia Felhoy, apologies if I. mispronounced the last name, apparently. fell for Levive after moving from Norway. to London. She claims he stole $250,000. from her through an intricate web of. lies. And as part of Love Con revenge, she teams up with a private investigator. to help catch scammers preying on women. online. She told the Cosmopolitan UK,

"Romance fraud should be called. manipulation abuse. The laws aren't fit. for today where huge amounts of money. can be transferred instantly. Perpetrators aren't getting harsh enough. punishments where they get a few years. and then go out and offend again. We. need to have this crime taken more. seriously. Why should perpetrators get. off scot-free while the victims are left. with all the responsibility? We need to. see a major societal shift. David, do. you agree? >> I do agree. The woman you're talking. about is, you know, one of the key.

characters in the Tindler Swindler film. And she's the one that I think you get. have the most sympathy for because she. seems like such a nice person. She truly. fell in love with the Tinder Swindler. and she's very genuine about how that. happened. And so she makes a very good. point. I mean, she was completely. deceived and there was the law was. broken in her case. there was certainly. credit card fraud and he induced her to. engage in credit card fraud. So, um I.

can imagine that that she, you know, she. has a very personal experience and. that's why she's now going forward with. this new show to try to help other. people who have also been defrauded. >> And when you see something being. amplified by a movie, by a documentary, by a series, I mean by media reporting. or newspaper articles, that can really. create change. that can create. awareness. I mean Harvey Weinstein, R. Kelly, this is something you're seeing even.

again on an international stage. >> Absolutely. I mean, you know better than. anyone criminals now because there's. such a a you know, a a huge interest and. curiosity about true crime. criminals. now become infamous and as a result of. that infamy, law enforcement officials. are prodded to go after them when maybe. they wouldn't have gone after them. otherwise. >> And here's something else to think. about. Okay, so despite his prior. convictions, the serious ethical. questions surrounding his alleged.

behavior, Levi still has a substantial. following on social media. He has. 256,000 followers on Instagram, another. 36,000 on his Tik Tok. But this. Instagram appears to be just the latest. in a string of accounts. On November. 8th, 2024, the account Simon Levive 8. posted a photo with the caption, "My old. account, Simon Levive 7, got blocked. This is my new one." The so-called. Swindler also announced just 10 days ago. that he has a book coming out. It's.

apparently called, "The story behind the. man." There's an accompanying caption. that reads, "I never asked to be famous. I never chose the spotlight. One day I. woke up and the whole world thought they. knew who I was. They watched a movie. They binged a TV series. They read. sensational headlines. And just like. that, my name, my face, my life became. public property. But nobody ever stopped. to ask me what really happened. For. years, I stayed silent too long. But. silence is a luxury I no longer have. I. became a celebrity against my will. And.

if that's my reality, then at least I'll. use it to finally tell the truth. And at. the end of the lengthy post, he. encourages his fans, read it, then. decide what you believe. David, do you. think that was a uh a good decision to. come out with a publication, a way maybe. not even a legal defense, but more of a. PR defense um to say, "Hey, I'm going to. reverse the narrative here. >> I mean, to me, I it is just an. extenduation of the fraud, right? This.

is a person who thrived on fraud, who. had expensive tastes and through fraud. was able to feed those expensive tastes. He's lost his his earlier way of. defrauding people. No one's going to. fall for that with him on, you know, social media, on dating apps anymore. So, this is a new way to do fraud. He. has a story. He's going to spin what. happened. I'm sure he's innocent in his. story, in his book. And there's enough. interest around the world that people. are going to probably buy things from. him. And that's how he's now going to.

continue to make money. He has to. continue, you know, perpetuate the myth. that he's innocent in order to continue. to get attract viewers and supporters. and have an audience that will pay for. his things. >> Well, I am curious to see what this red. notice is about. I'm curious to see what. potential charges he may be facing and. the response from him and his legal team. as this advances. So, we'll keep a. careful eye on this one as well. Uh. David Tfury, thank you so much for. taking the time. Good to see you.

>> Thanks, Jesse. >> And that is all we have for you right. now here on Sidebar. Everybody, thank. you so much for joining us. And as. always, please subscribe on YouTube, Apple Podcast, Spotify, wherever you. should get your podcasts. You can follow. me on X or Instagram. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll see you next time. [Music].