It’s understood that Hayut stole an estimated $10 million by conning women he met on Tinder.
Shimon Hayut, who was at the centre of the Netflix documentary The Tinder Swindler, has said that he will share his “side of the story”, before deleting his Instagram account.
As the film documents, Hayut tricked numerous women – Cecilie Fjellhøy, Pernilla Sjöholm, and Ayleen Charlotte – into giving him money after he pretended to be a millionaire living a lavish lifestyle.
Hayut convinced them of his wealth by showering them with expensive gifts, but he then conned them out of money by claiming that he was in danger and that security threats prevented him from accessing his own funds.
Hayut told the women – whom he met on Tinder – that he was the son of the Israeli diamond merchant Lev Leviev. While Mr Leviev is a real person, Shimon is of no relation to him, and, according to the Times of Israel, the diamond merchant has “filed a complaint against him with police for falsely presenting himself as his son.”
It’s understood that Hayut stole an estimated $10 million over the years.
According to The Daily Mail, he was convicted for fraud, theft and forgery, but was released from prison after five months for “good behaviour”. He was also ordered to pay his victims $43,289 and a $5,771 fine.
Since the film dropped on Netflix, Shimon has said that he plans on sharing his own perspective on his crimes.
Before deleting his account, he took to his Instagram stories to say: “‘I will share my side of the story in the next few days when I have sorted out the best and most respectful way to tell it, both to the involved parties and myself. Until then, please keep an open mind and heart.”
Shortly after, his account was deleted.
