'Tinder Swindler' Simon Leviev sued for millions by diamond tycoon family
The subject of the Netflix documentary The Tinder Swindler, Simon Leviev, real name Shimon Hayut, has been sued for millions of dollars by the family whose name he took.
Court documents obtained by the American magazine People show that along with his family, the Israeli Russian diamond tycoon Lev Leviev has filed a suit against Shimon Hayut for impersonating the family and unjustly enriching himself using their name.
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Although born into an ultra-orthodox Jewish family headed by a rabbi father from Bnei Brak in Israel, Hayut pretended to be the son of billionaire Lev Leviev in order to seduce his victims through his apparent wealth and status.
The lawsuit, filed in Israel, claims that “for a long time, he has been making false representations as being the son of Lev Leviev and receiving numerous benefits (including material ones)."
The lawsuit goes on to say that Hayut, "cunningly using false words", claimed to be "a member of the Leviev Family, and that his family will pay and bear the costs of his benefits."
The court documents claim that Hayut "defrauded, cheated, conned, falsified, and hurt women, men and businesses around the world.”
The Netflix documentary, which aired this month, catapulted Hayut's story into mainstream media and revealed to the masses how the Israeli fraudster had pretended to be wealthy and powerful in order to manipulate women into wiring him huge sums of money, often obtained by credit, to fund his lavish lifestyle.
According to People, lawyer Guy Ophir, who represents the Leviev family, has suggested that more legal action against Hayut may be on the way.
“This legal action is only the beginning of a number of lawsuits that my firm is currently working on," Ophir told People.
"In the next phase, 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 capitalise from this scheme will be sued."
The Tinder Swindler takes to Cameo
Late last month, it was reported that Hayut had joined the website Cameo, where people can pay celebrities to film and send personalised videos.
Hayut’s account charges $200 for a personal message and $1600 for business inquiries. Although unconfirmed, he allegedly made tens of thousands of dollars in his first three days.
Hayut is yet to respond to the lawsuit.
Last month, social media was bubbling with talk about the Netflix documentary, with countless memes posted online ridiculing the absurdity of Hayut’s scheme.
Previously, Hayut served just five months in jail, despite being handed down a 15-month sentence by Israeli authorities.
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