Simon Leviev, real name Shimon Hayut, has admitted that the Netflix documentary about him conning women is the best thing that ever happened to him.
The 35-year-old reportedly took $10million from victims over a two-year period, but stated that he is now laughing all the way to the bank after turning global notoriety into profit.
In an interview with The Times newspaper, Hayut showed no remorse for the actions detailed in the hit streaming show. Netflix is a global online video streaming platform, while Tinder is a popular location-based mobile dating application where Hayut met several of his victims.
When asked about the women he swindled, Hayut said he was happy to see them doing well and cashing out, adding that he is cashing out as well.
Doubling down on his comments, Hayut said: "The Tinder Swindler was the best thing that ever happened to me. Call me swindler, call me what you want. I don't care. At the end of the day, I'm laughing all the way to the bank."
Hayut is currently a free man for the first time in 15 years after a German fraud investigation against him was dropped due to insufficient evidence. He has previously served prison terms in Finland, Greece, and Israel.
Before his release, Hayut had been held in Georgia, a country located at the intersection of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. He was arrested there in September over an alleged £38,000 fraud committed against a woman in Berlin, Germany.
He faced up to ten years in prison and spent two months awaiting extradition in Kutaisi Penitentiary, a high-security detention facility in Georgia. Hayut described the prison conditions as inhumane, stating that he was locked in a cell with six other men for 23 hours a day and lost 20kg in two months.
Prison release in Georgia
Hayut walked free from prison after German authorities cancelled their arrest warrant. His Georgian lawyer, Mariam Kublashvila, said he reached a fair and appropriate plea agreement that resulted in a one-year suspended sentence instead of extradition.
Hours before his release from the penitentiary, Hayut boasted in an exclusive behind-bars interview with the Daily Mail that he was unstoppable and would change nothing.
Following his release, Hayut declared that it marked the end of years of people calling him a swindler and a bad man, noting he had been used to such claims since boyhood and did not mind them.
Legal action brought by the wealthy Leviev diamond family has also concluded. His lawyer stated the case was withdrawn this month because the alleged offences occurred outside Israel, meaning Israeli courts lacked legal jurisdiction.
However, one criminal investigation remains active in Israel. Authorities in the Middle Eastern nation are investigating allegations of coercive control made by Hayut's former girlfriend Kate Konlin, who featured at the end of the Netflix documentary.
Victim reaction from Pernilla Sjoholm
Pernilla Sjoholm, a 39-year-old Swedish businesswoman who claims Hayut swindled her out of £39,000, described his release from prison last week as a shock and disappointing. Sjoholm currently lives in Stockholm, the capital of Sweden, with her partner and young twins.
Speaking to The Mail on Sunday, Sjoholm explained that she was notified of his release only after he walked free because her allegations were not part of the German court case.
Sjoholm said: "I wasn't told because my case was not part of the German case, so of course this is a bit of a shock."
Expressing her frustration with the sentence, she added: "I'm disappointed that he's not going to spend more years in prison - but he has done two months, and it's a plea deal, so he is convicted and that means he has admitted to his crimes."
She disputed claims that the evidence against him was weak, noting: "It's not what the attorneys made it sound like at first - that he has been let free because the evidence was so weak. That is not really the case. He had a plea deal, so I still see it as a win."
Ongoing legal battles
Sjoholm pointed out that Hayut still faces active legal challenges in his native country of Israel, including a civil lawsuit filed by the prominent Leviev family over his fraudulent use of their surname.
Highlighting her own participation in the ongoing legal proceedings, Sjoholm said: "This is now his third conviction. And he still has an ongoing case in Israel that I have been providing testimony for."
She urged international law enforcement to pursue outstanding claims against Hayut, saying: "I hope more legal action will come his way, and I hope those countries where others have been filing reports will move forward."
Sjoholm specifically referenced potential investigations in Great Britain, adding: "This case was just centred on the German file, but from what I know there are still open cases from the UK as well, so I would hope the Met police would step forward and act a little bit faster."
The Metropolitan Police Service, commonly known as the Met Police, is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement across Greater London. Sjoholm noted that Hayut's deceptive practices extended beyond dating applications.
Sjoholm explained: "What a lot of people don't know is that he also stands accused of committing not just romance fraud but crimes against companies and men."
Reflecting on Hayut's past and future prospects, Sjoholm concluded: "This is what he's been living on since he was a teenager, this is his nature, he's not going to change. Only the law can change that."
