It turns out the story gets even more interesting, heroic, and ironic. All in one.

According to TOI, Moshe Margaretten, an Ultra-Orthodox "fixer" from Williamsburg, who has a hobby of getting Jews out of danger, funded the efforts through Moti Kahana by raising $80,000.

When Simantov refused to leave, Margaretten put together an alternate plan. Realizing that with the Taliban taking over control of Afghanistan, many women would be in danger, along with other people who had ties to the previous government. When Simantov refused to be extracted, Margaretten moved forward with the extraction plan of 23 other people, including women, judges and prosecutors, and among the women were members of the Afghan national women's soccer team. And he plans on raising more money to rescue more people and get them out of Afghanistan.

You can get more of the interesting story of Margaretten, and Kahana's heroic rescue efforts, from the TOI article (linked above). The irony is noted by Margaretten himself in noting that he failed in rescuing a recalcitrant husband and that resulted in rescuing a group of women from a repressive society.

This was totally unexpected. As much as you know there are all types of people everywhere and in every group, you read a story like this and it is still a surprise to see it in action.