The real Leviev family is suing Simon Leviev in ‘all out war’ with The Tinder Swindler

Simon has snapped back saying it’s them using him for publicity

2 years ago

Simon Leviev is now being sued by the real Leviev family for pretending to be the son of billionaire diamond mogul, Lev Leviev. In the Netflix documentary, The Tinder Swindler, it was revealed that Simon, real name Shimon Hayut, had pretended to be part of the family in order to con women he met on Tinder out of millions.

The Leviev family has threatened “all out war” with Simon Leviev, starting with a malice defemation lawsuit which was filed this week. The lawsuit lists Simon Leviev as a defendant, after he allegedly pretended to be Lev Leviev’s son to dupe multiple women across the world out of nearly $10million.

Accusations in the lawsuit, which is reportedly in the multi-millions, include defamation, invasion of privacy and breach of trademarks. The Leviev family said Simon’s “despicable actions” have defamed and “humiliated” them.

The Tinder Swindler Simon Leviev is being sued by the real Leviev family in multi million dollar lawsuit

via Netflix

The lawsuit, filed in Tel Aviv, Israel, states Simon “has been making false representations as being the son of Lev Leviev and receiving numerous benefits (including material ones)”. The documents also say he “defrauded, cheated, conned, falsified, and hurt women, men and businesses” whilst “impersonating” as a member of the Leviev family and using its “wealthy” reputation. Lev Leviev is dubbed the “King of Diamonds” because of the family business, LLD Diamonds. He has an estimated net worth of $1.5billion (£1.1billion).

The family also alleges Simon took “without permission” a family photo and used Photoshop to edit himself into it. The lawsuit adds: “He presented the ‘fixed’ photo to women and men as 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.”

via Netflix

The real Leviev’s lawyer, Guy Ophir, told TMZ filing the lawsuit is the first step in an “all out war” against the so-called Tinder Swindler, as well as anyone else involved in the scheming. It begins “a series of legal proceedings that the Leviev family has instructed me to take against this crook and his accomplices,” he said. “In the coming days a monetary claim will also be filed against the crook and anyone who has been involved in his past and present actions.” Ophir has said the Leviev family intends to donate the money received from the lawsuit to all the victims of the crimes.

In a statement to E! News, Chagit Leviev, the daughter of Lev Leviev and an heiress to the family’s fortune, said the lawsuit aims to get Simon to “face justice and get the sentence he deserves.”

“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,” she said. “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.”

A rep for Simon has since told TMZ: “Simon believes the family is just trying to insert themselves in the narrative for publicity after the show’s success. Simon also legally changed his name in 2015 and looks forward to this getting thrown out in court.”

via Netflix

Speaking to Newsweek after the Netflix film was released, LLD Diamonds confirmed Simon Leviev, or Shimon Hayut, is nothing to do with the family or the business. A spokesperson said: “LLD Diamonds has been a well-regarded leader in the diamond industry for three decades. Our company has no connection whatsoever with Shimon Hayut. He is a fraud who has tried to exploit our good name to con victims out of millions of dollars. Our sympathies go out to his victims. His fraud has also caused ongoing confusion about our company. Nothing he has said, about LLD or anything else, should be believed. As soon as we learned of the fraud, we filed a complaint with the Israeli police, and we hope that Mr. Hayut faces the justice he deserves.”

The Tinder Swindler is available on Netflix now. For all the latest Netflix news, drops, quizzes and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook.