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The 24-year-old girlfriend of convicted Tinder Swindler con artist spoke out for the first time this week to furiously defended her beau, accusing his victims of ‘lying’ about his scams, while vowing to remain devoted to the scammer despite his past crimes.
Israeli-born con artist Shimon Heyada Hayut – whose scams were the focus of an explosive new Netflix documentary – broke his silence in his first interview since the movie dropped on February 2, while also making his first on-air appearance with his stunning Ukrainian model partner, Kate Konlin.
Hayut, 31, and Konlin, 24, recently sat down with Inside Edition for a shocking two-part interview, during which they both discussed the documentary and the claims of his victims, several of whom spoke out about his during the film.
The first part aired on Monday, and Konlin made it clear that she supported her boyfriend, who claimed he was the victim of a witch hunt and that his dating exploits were exaggerated to make for good television.
Konlin insisted that she did not believe the women who claimed to have been scammed by Hayut – calling it all a ‘fake story’ – and insisted that he never borrowed any money from her.
Prepare to meet the ‘Tinder Swindler’s girlfriend – a Ukraine-born Israeli model who is sticking by the convicted felon, despite him allegedly scamming women out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. They are pictured together in July 2021
Israeli-born con artist Shimon Heyada Hayut (pictured with his girlfriend) – whose tricks were the focus of an explosive new Netflix documentary – broke his silence during a two-part interview with Inside Edition
The first part aired on Monday, and Hayut was accompanied by his devoted girlfriend, Kate Konlin, 24, who made it clear that she supported her boyfriend. They are pictured during the interview
Konlin insisted that she did not believe the women who claimed to have been scammed by Hayut – calling it all a ‘fake story’ – and insisted that he never borrowed any money from her. He is pictured during the interview
‘My God, it is like, how someone can build such a fake story?’ she asked during the interview, before giving Hayut a big smooch.
But who exactly is Hayut’s blonde bombshell girlfriend? The model, who is signed to Metropolitan Models and IMG Models, has appeared in numerous fashion magazines over the years, including Harper’s Bazaar Hong Kong and Vogue Japan.
According to Konlin, their relationship began after Hayut messaged her on Instagram in November 2020. He then pursued her for four months before she finally agreed to meet up with him.
She spoke out about their romance for the first time during an interview with Mako in July 2021, and she insisted to the outlet that Hayut told her ‘everything’ about himself on their first date.
‘He did not hide anything from me, it was important to him that I know everything about him from the beginning,’ she said at the time, claiming that he even showed her documents allegedly proving his innocence.
She added: ‘Listen, the sums they said he stung were equal to the gifts he buys me on Saturday. It’s absurd, why should he take a girl for tens of thousands when he spends such a sum as a matter of routine? It does not make sense.’
According to Konlin, their relationship began after Hayut messaged her on Instagram in November 2020. They are pictured together in July 2021
He then pursued her for four months before she finally agreed to meet up with him. Konlin is pictured in September 2021
She spoke out about their romance for the first time during an interview with Mako in July 2021. Konlin is pictured in the Louvre in January
She insisted to the outlet that Hayut told her ‘everything’ about himself on their first date
‘He did not hide anything from me, it was important to him that I know everything about him from the beginning,’ Konlin (pictured on a private jet in February 2021) said
When asked how Hayut had so much money, she claimed that he was a successful property tycoon and businessman. Konlin also revealed that they were living together in Tel Aviv at the time.
Their relationship has been kept mostly private since then, however Hayut did share a one pic with her to his Instagram last year, which showed her sitting with him in his Rolls-Royce.
Amid the immense media backlash and public scrutiny from the Netflix doc, he has since deleted his social media accounts.
Konlin originally kept her Instagram account private but recently made it public, and she has since gained more than 125,000 followers.
She has posted a few snaps with Hayut, and often shares pictures of herself living a lavish lifestyle – which includes taking private jet rides, attending yacht parties, eating in luxury restaurants, and traveling the world.
It appears that they briefly broke up earlier this month, since Konlin told RadarOnline in an interview published on February 4 that they were no longer together, adding that she still believed the accusations against him were ‘lies.’
She reiterated that Hayut was ‘doing very big business in real estate in Israel,’ and claimed the people who spoke out in the Netflix doc ‘wanted to bring him down.’ She also called him ‘the greatest man she ever knew.’
However, it appears that they are going strong again now, since she stood by his side during the Inside Edition interview.
Konlin (pictured in Paris, France, in January) said the accusations against Hayut did not ‘make sense’ since he was flooding her with expensive and lavish gifts
When asked how Hayut had so much money, she claimed he was a successful property tycoon and businessman. She is pictured in July 2020
Konlin (pictured on a yacht in February 2021) also revealed at the time that they were living together in Tel Aviv
Konlin posed with a giant teddy bear, surrounded by pink balloons and roses in July 2021 – writing, ‘Happy valentines Day .. still,’ and some of her followers wondered if Hayut had sent them to her
Konlin (pictured in Paris, France, February 2022) originally kept her Instagram account private but recently made it public, and has since gained more than 125,000 followers
Throughout 2018 and 2019, Hayut allegedly tricked multiple single women – who he met through the dating app Tinder – into giving him hundreds of thousands of dollars while pretending to be a billionaire named Simon Leviev.
Hayut – who was ultimately arrested and charged with fraud, theft, and forgery – spent five months in prison before he was released on ‘good behavior’ in May 2020.
In the Netflix documentary, which came out on February 2, three of his victims – Cecilie Fjellhøy, Pernilla Sjöholm, and Ayleen Charlotte – revealed how Hayut convinced them to hand over hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Hayut – who stole an estimated $10 million over the years, according to People Magazine – told them he was the son of Israeli diamond merchant Lev Leviev.
The Times of Isreal reported that although Lev and his diamond business LLD Diamonds is real, he has no relation to Hayut and has ‘filed a complaint against him with police for falsely presenting himself as his son.’
She often shares pictures of herself living a lavish lifestyle – which includes taking private jet rides, attending yacht parties, eating in luxury restaurants, and traveling the world. She is pictured getting onto a private plane in April 2021
It appears that the couple briefly broke up earlier this month, since Konlin told RadarOnline in an interview published on February 4 that they were no longer together
She told the outlet that she still believed the accusations against him were ‘lies’ and said the people who spoke out in the Netflix doc ‘wanted to bring him down.’ Konlin is pictured in Tel Aviv, Israel, in June 2021
She also called Hayut ‘the greatest man she ever knew.’ Konlin is pictured in May 2020
However, it appears that they are going strong again now, since she stood by his side during the Inside Edition interview. Konlin is pictured at her birthday celebration in December 2021, which included a drawn portrait of her and Hayut
Norwegian graduate student Fjellhøy, who was 29 when she dated Hayut, claimed she gave him more than $270,000 over the course of their relationship, after they connected via Tinder in January 2018.
She explained in the doc that she was completely wooed by Hayut after he flew them from Bulgaria from London via a private plane for their first date.
He would shower the women he met on the dating app with expensive trips and opulent gifts, using the money he had taken from his other victims.
He would then ask them for funds – claiming he was in danger and needed money to protect his identity from people who were out to kill him due to his dangerous diamond business.
Hayut was eventually arrested – after he was caught with a fake passport – and was convicted in December 2019. He was released the following May, after serving five months of his 15-month sentence.
He was also ordered to pay his victims $43,289, and to pay a fine of $5,771 under the terms of a plea deal.
Now, he denied all of their claims and insisted that Netflix twisted the story to make him look bad.
Throughout 2018 and 2019, Hayut (pictured in 2021) allegedly tricked multiple single women – who he met through the dating app Tinder – into giving him hundreds of thousands of dollars while pretending to be a billionaire named Simon Leviev
Hayut (pictured in July 2019) was ultimately arrested and charged with fraud, theft, and forgery. He spent five months in prison before he was released on ‘good behavior’ in May 2020
In the Netflix documentary, which came out on February 2, three of his victims – Cecilie Fjellhøy (right), Pernilla Sjöholm (left), and Ayleen Charlotte (center) – revealed how Hayut convinced them to hand over their money
They said he would then ask them for funds – claiming he was in danger and needed money to protect his identity from people who were out to kill him due to his dangerous diamond business. Hayut is pictured with Fjellhøy
‘They presented it as a documentary but in truth it’s a completely made-up movie,’ Hayut told Inside Edition. ‘I’m the biggest gentleman in the world.
‘I am not this monster that everybody has created. I was just a single guy that wanted to meet some girls on Tinder.
‘They weren’t conned and they weren’t threatened. No, I am not, and I never presented myself the son of a billionaire diamond mogul.
‘I’m a legit businessman. I got into Bitcoin in 2011, it was nothing. I don’t need to say how much it is worth now.
‘I feel bad for something that I didn’t do? No, I feel bad for whatever happened to myself. I want to clear my name. I want to say to the world, this is not true.
‘I am not a fraud and I’m not a fake. People don’t know me, so they cannot judge me.’
Shimon had previously served two years in a Finnish prison back in 2015, after being charged for defrauding three different women.
He was also reportedly forced to flee his home country of Israel in 2011 to avoid fraud-related offenses that he had committed in his early 20s.
