Netflix’s hit true crime documentary The Tinder Swindler quickly became the ultimate reason for people to stop finding love on dating apps this Valentines.
While in a surprising turn of events, the conman behind the incident, Shimon Hayut, started gaining notoriety, brand deals and offers – it looks like the very thing that made him famous has come to bite back hard.
Hayut, who conned women on Tinder using the alias of Simon Leviev, is now being sued by the real diamond moguls, the Leviev family, for millions of dollars.
The case comes within weeks of Hayut claiming that the Netflix film itself wasn’t real and that he “was just a single guy that wanted to meet some girls on Tinder.”
In court documents obtained by E! News, Lev Leviev and his family filed suit against Hayut for allegedly impersonating them.
The lawsuit filed in Tel Aviv, Israel, claims that Hayut “has been making false representations as being the son of Lev Leviev and receiving numerous benefits (including material ones).”
The document adds that he has been “cunningly using false words, claiming to be a member of the Leviev Family, and that his family will pay and bear the costs of his benefits,” and has also “defrauded, cheated, conned, falsified, and hurt women, men and businesses” around the world.
The family also claimed that Hayut’s photoshopped image where he edited himself into a family shot was done “without permission” and used to con people as a “proof of being a Leviev family member, thereby making a misrepresentation that he is a part of the family, and did so to generate personal profit and mislead the public.”
Attorney Guy Ophir, who represents the Leviev family, told E! News in a statement that this lawsuit isn’t the end of the legal actions the family intends to take against the Tinder Swindler.
In the next faze we will file a monetary suit against Hayut and any other affiliate that will work with him, including some websites that have Joint ventures with Hayut and/or have offered to buy cameos from him. Anyone that will try to capitalize from this scheme will be sued.
Chagit Leviev, the daughter of Lev Leviev and the real heiress to the fortune, said that the lawsuit wants Hayut to “face justice and get the sentence he deserves.”
He has no relation to the Leviev family and has no affiliation with our company LLD Diamonds. I am relieved that his real identity and actions have been globally exposed, and hopefully this will bring an end to his unscrupulous actions.
Although Hayut was convicted of fraud, theft, and forgery in December 2019, he only served five months out of his 15 months sentence.
A rep for Hayut responded to the filing and told E! News, “Simon believes the family is just trying to insert themselves in the narrative for publicity after the show’s success.”
P.S. If there’s anything we’ve learnt from endlessly binding TV shows, it’s that you make up a whole fake family tree, and not half-heart it by impersonating an already existing powerful family who can very well ruin your life. (see: Lorenzo Von Matterhorn.)
About The Tinder Swindler
The Tinder Swindler is a British true-crime documentary film directed by Felicity Morris for Netflix.
The film follows an Israeli man, born Shimon Hayut, who traveled around Europe, presenting himself as the son of Russian-Israeli diamond mogul Lev Leviev.
He then used the dating app Tinder to contact women as Simon Leviev and tricked them into lending him money that he never repaid. He would then use the money gained through the deception to lure new victims.
Source: Eonline
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