Family of an Israeli diamond magnate, ‘Leviev family’ is suing Simon Leviev, the subject of Netflix’s documentary “The Tinder Swindler,” for using the family’s name to scam several women of millions.
Simon Leviev, whose real name is Shimon Hayut, is the focus of The Tinder Swindler, the popular documentary which dropped on the streaming platform in February.
In the documentary ‘Tinder Swindler’, Simon Leviev who claimed he was the son of a Israeli Russian diamond tycoon Lev Leviev, took women out on extravagant dates and started relationships with them before he eventually scammed them out of large sums of money.
Three women in the documentary particularly claim to have been swindled out hundreds of thousands of pounds from Leviev after matching with him on a dating app.
The women say Hayut uses his alias and claims to be the son of Israelian diamond mogul, Lev Leviev. The documentary later proved Hayut was not Leviev’s son and revealed his real name as Shimon Hayut.
The real Leviev family is now accusing Shimon Hayut of “making false representations as being the son of Lev Leviev and receiving numerous benefits (including material ones) claiming to be a member of the Leviev Family.”
In the lawsuit, which was filed in Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court in Israel, the family is suing Hayut for millions after he allegedly impersonated them and used their last name to enrich himself.
Hayut 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,” the family added.
“Shimon Hayut is a fraud who stole our family’s identity and has tried to exploit our good name to con victims out of millions of dollars,” Leviev’s daughter, Chagit Leviev, also told E! News in a statement.
She continued;
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.
The multi-million dollar lawsuit sees members of the Leviev family listed as plaintiffs alongside LLD Diamonds USA, LLC.
“The Tinder Swindler” documentary, which premiered on Netflix on February 2, alleges that Hayut changed his name and claimed to be the son of Leviev on the dating app Tinder, where he persuaded women to loan him money.
Many have speculated that Hayut has allegedly swindled over $10 million from people around the globe.
In December 2019, Hayut was convicted of fraud, theft, and forgery and sentenced to 15 months in prison, but he was released early after serving a mere five months.
Per a statement, obtained by People, from the Leviev family’s attorney Guy Ophir, more legal action may be on the way.
Ophir’s statement reads;
This legal action is only the beginning of a number of lawsuits that my firm is currently working on. 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.
Last week, during Hayut’s first interview since the documentary aired, he told Inside Edition that he’s not the son of Leviev and “never presented himself to be”.
Hayut also declared that he was a “legit businessman” who made his money through bitcoin.
He also pushed back on accusations that he is the Tinder Swindler by saying that he is “not the monster that everyone else has created”.
When asked about the women in the documentary, Hayut said the women “weren’t conned” and “weren’t threatened” and that he didn’t feel bad for what happened to them.
Hayut added;
I feel bad for something I didn’t do? No. I feel bad for whatever happened to myself. I want to clear my name, I want to tell the world this isn’t true.
Shimon has also been banned from dating apps like Tinder and Hinge after the release of “The Tinder Swindler.”
