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The Tinder Swindler Director Claims There’s Many More Victims Out There
Simon Leviev has denied all allegations.
Netflix’s The Tindler Swindler details how Shimon Hayut allegedly scammed women out of thousands of dollars by purporting to be the wealthy international businessman, Simon Leviev. By using the popular dating app Tinder to target women including Cecilie Fjellhoy, Pernilla Sjoholm and Ayleen Charlotte, each of whom shared their experiences in the true crime doc. In a new interview, The Tinder Swindler director, Felicity Morris, there’s a lot more to the story.
Speaking in an interview with CBS broadcast on Feb. 21, Morris explained how the film includes “universal themes about love,” before moving on to allege that Hayut has at least 25 more victims.
During the CBS sit-down, Morris, who was speaking alongside Fjellhoy, went onto say that she’s been “really blown away” by all the “support and by the sympathy.” She added, “The outrage of these women should not be blamed for what happened to them.”
Although Hayut was previously sentenced to two years in a Finnish prison for fraud, and also convicted on fraud charges in Israel back in 2019, the so-called “Tinder Swindler” has never been charged with anything relating to the allegations made in Morris’ Netflix documentary. Additionally, Hayut has denied the claims being made against him by Fjellhoy, Sjoholm, and Charlotte.
In an interview with Inside Edition, Hayut claimed the three women at the centre of The Tinder Swindler “weren’t conned” or threatened, adding that he wants to “clear” his name.
“I want to say to the world, ‘This is not true,’” he said. “I’m not a fraud. I’m not a fake. People don’t know me, so they cannot judge me.” Hayut went on to claim that he never presented himself as the son of a millionaire diamond mogul. “I’m a legit businessman. I bought bitcoin in 2011, which [was then worth] nothing ... I don’t need to say how much it’s worth now.”
As for the Netflix film, Hayut accused the streaming giant of presenting the story “as a documentary, but in truth it’s a completely made-up movie,” and described himself as the “biggest gentleman in the world.” However, Netflix has yet to issue an official statement on the matter. This piece will be updated as and when that changes.
