More than four years have passed since Cecilie Fjellhøy was scammed by Israeli Simon Leviev. In the Netflix documentary «the Tinder Swinder”, Fjellhøy and two other women shared how Leviev had swindled large sums of money from the women. The money was used to finance a life of luxury and the subsequent scam.
Fjellhøy is over three million kroner in debt after taking out several consumer loans and transferring the money to Leviev, who was her boyfriend at the time. In autumn 2022 he participated in The luxury trap.
– Out of another world
Now starring in a new Israeli documentary ‘the woman who brought down the Tinder scammer’ – and here he faces Simon Leviev.
The documentary is produced by the television network Keshet Media Group and presenter Haim Etgar.
This is the first time Cecilie Fjellhøy has seen Leviev since he scammed her in 2018. Since then, Simon Leviev has become known worldwide as the ‘Tinder scammer’.
In the dramatic meeting, Fjellhøy asks Leviev, Fjellhøy goes for a frontal attack on Leviev. Leviev accuses Fjellhøy of being a liar and making millions from the Netflix documentary.
Watch the dramatic reunion here:
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– I was the only one who hadn’t spoken to him since it all happened. I blocked it everywhere, Fjellhøy tells Nettavisen.
The meeting, which took place in the summer of 2022, was quite dramatic, says Fjellhøy.
– I had such an adrenaline rush. She was out of another world, she points out.
– I was going to be in the background
The Israeli documentary tells about the fraud and Leviev’s presenter Among other things, Haim Etgar interviewed Simon’s ex-girlfriend Kate Konlin and one of Leviev’s former business partners. Konlin was with Leviev when the Netflix documentary was released.
– She cheated too, says Fjellhøy.
Fjellhøy says he was in Israel to give a lecture and it would have been appropriate to contribute to the documentary at the same time.
The plan was really for Fjellhøy to keep a low profile, he says.
– I’m in at first and then had to withdraw. I intended to be in the background, but I couldn’t. You get so angry when you see the person who ruined your life, says Fjellhøy.
The presenter Etgar also enters the conversation:
– She takes over and asks Simon to apologize. This was part of the plan and they were trying to get drama so that the police would put more effort into the case. Let’s hope this is what gets him jailed in Israel, says Fjellhøy.
Thus was born the meeting
Nettavisen is in contact with Etgar, who says he has been working to expose the scammers for seven years.
– We received new information about Simon Leviev which made it clear that we had a story that we needed to tell the public and the authorities. We hope our work makes a difference here, Etgar tells Nettavisen.
– How did you manage to get a meeting with Simon?
– We show it in the documentary, but he had done it “unfinished business” with Kate and he wanted to keep her quiet. They met and then we came along, says Etgar.
Fjellhøy says it was nice in many ways to see Leviev again:
– Because it didn’t seem like things were going so well with him. He should have been in jail since 2019. It’s sad to see that other people’s lives were also ruined when you did everything possible to stop him. It’s shocking that he still goes around with bodyguards, he concludes.
