The family of an Israeli diamond magnate is suing Simon Leviev, the subject of viral Netflix’s documentary “The Tinder Swindler,” for claiming to be a member of the family as he allegedly scammed several women he met on the dating app out of several millions.
The real Leviev family accused Simon Leviev — whose real name is Shimon Hayut — of “making false representations as being the son of Lev Leviev and receiving numerous benefits (including material ones), cunningly and using false words, claiming to be a member of the Leviev Family, and that his family (Leviev) will pay and bear the costs of his benefits,” according to a lawsuit filed in Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court in Israel.
Guy Ophir, the Leviev family’s attorney, said in a statement that the lawsuit was “only the beginning of a number of lawsuits.”
“In the next phase, we will file a monetary suit against Simon and any other affiliate that will work with him, including some websites that have joint ventures with Simon and/or have offered to buy cameos from him,” the attorney said in a statement. “Anyone that will try to capitalize from this scheme will be sued.”
In a statement, Chagit Leviev, the daughter of Lev Leviev, said the lawsuit was the “first step” to ensure that Hayut “face[s] justice and get[s] the sentence he deserves.”
She continued: “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. 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,” Chagit added.
Last month, Hayut was banned from dating apps like Tinder and Hinge after the Feb. 2 release of “The Tinder Swindler,” which follows three women who said they were conned by Leviev, an Israeli man they all met separately on Tinder sometime between 2018 and 2019.
