Shimon Hayut—a.k.a. The Tinder Swindler—used the fake name Simon Leviev and somehow managed to trick tons of clueless women into giving him millions by pretending to be the son of Israeli diamond mogul Lev Leviev. Following the premiere of the much-discussed Netflix documentary, which details Hayut’s major scam, the real Leviev family wasn’t too happy this guy pretended to be one of them. So, the Levievs are suing Hayut, as reported by People.
The suit was filed at the end of February in Tel Aviv, Israel.
According to court documents obtained by People, the family accuses 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.”
Guy Ophir, the attorney representing the Leviev family, gave a statement in which he details the Levievs’ intentions for the suit. “In the next faze [sic] 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.”
Lev Leviev’s daughter Chagit Leviev also gave a statement to the outlet, saying 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” and has no relation to her family or their company, LLD Diamonds.
She adds, “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 lawsuit we filed today is just the first step out of many we will be taking to have him face justice and get the sentence he deserves.”
Hayut has not yet responded to the lawsuit.
