An Arrest Warrant Has Been Issued In Spain For The Tinder Swindler
The Tinder Swindler, aka Simon Leviev, aka a whole bunch of other alias, is currently face-to-face with a warrant. Simon is in big trouble all around the globe for his swindling antics, despite his claims otherwise, and we all know he’s a persona non grata on a bunch of dating apps. But one could assume all that shady activity would make it pretty difficult for Simon to show his face in any number of countries, considering his scamming was a worldwide effort. At the very least we know that Simon will have a bad time, should he swindle his ass into Spain. Spanish police have issued a warrant for Simon’s arrest, for an incident that happened back in 2019. And yes, it involved – what else – alleged fraud activity.
TMZ is saying that Spanish authorities currently have Simon Leviev on their Very Much Wanted list and they’ve issued a warrant for his arrest. Simon reportedly gave police a fake ID back in 2019 when the $100,000 Maserati he was renting got stuck on a beach. The name on the ID was Michael Bilton, which absolutely sounds like the name a frustrated Michael Bolton finds carelessly scribbled on his venti latte at Starbucks. Police didn’t really do anything at the time, because they couldn’t prove the phony license wasn’t real. All that happened was that the Maserati was towed away, and Simon and his date at the time were free to leave. An investigation was to be conducted, but it’s not like Spanish police could get a hold of “Michael Bilton” – Simon allegedly gave them an address in Costa del Sol. So when it came time for “Michael Bilton” to respond to a summons that was sent to him, “Michael Bilton” never materialized.
Police thought that was that until Netflix released a little documentary called The Tinder Swindler, and everything started to make sense. Spanish police discovered that one of Simon’s aliases was Michael Bilton, and the realization finally set in that back in 2019, the dummy who got a rented Maserati stuck on a beach was in fact the Tinder Swindler himself. And that’s how the arrest warrant was issued for Simon Leviev.
According to TMZ, the warrant is specifically for the use of a fake ID, and the case was re-opened specifically because of the evidence presented in the Netflix documentary. Simon reached out to TMZ to let them know he’s basically Ashley Judd in Double Jeopardy here. via TMZ:
Simon Leviev tells TMZ … he’s already served time for using a fake passport in 2019 – he believes he can’t be sentenced for the same crime twice.
Simon has served several stints for his not-legal choices. In 2011, he was charged in Israel with theft, forgery, fraud, and phony check-writing. In 2012, arrested again in Israel for theft and check forgery. In 2015, he was arrested and sentenced in Finland for defrauding several women, and was also caught using fake passports. After being released from prison early, he was caught in 2019 using fake passports in Greece. He is currently wanted for various acts of fraud in Norway, Sweden, the UK, and now Spain. So technically double jeopardy doesn’t apply when you get caught with a fake ID in other countries, so yeah, he can face the same sentence two times. But based on that rap sheet, it seems like Simon’s fakery hasn’t really landed him in any long-term prison situations. Plus, he could just scam his way out of this one too. All he has to tell the police is that he’s a distant cousin of the Spanish-American diplomat Hilaria Baldwin, and that they might want to turn him loose to avoid an embarrassing international situation.
Pic: YouTube