‘Tinder Swindler’ Simon Leviev Faces Legal Drama With Family He Profited From

Simon Leviev, dubbed the “Tinder Swindler,” is being sued by the real diamond empire that claims he pretended to be a part of their family in order to profit off of their name. The Leviev family, headed by Lev Leviev, is suing Simon (born Shimon Hayut), claiming in legal documents filed in Tel Aviv’s Magistrate Court that his “maliciousness” and extent of his “shameful actions” has created false ties to the real Leviev family.

In documents obtained by Entertainment Tonight, the family alleges Simon falsely claimed to be Lev’s son, using the family name and the name of LLD Diamonds to make his victims believe he was a part of the diamond empire, including but not limited to claiming he was the company’s CEO in signatures. 

The family alleges Simon “defrauded, cheated, conned, falsified, and hurt women, men, and businesses, both in Israel and worldwide,” using Tinder “to locate women who he then emotionally manipulated, cunningly bamboozled of funds, and eventually convinced to transfer large sums of money to him under the guise of being on the run from individuals intending on hurting him.”

The family alleges Simon presented himself at times as the patriarch of the Leviev family, and in contact with businesses, hotels, private flight rental companies, yacht companies, he “received numerous benefits as a result while guaranteeing that ‘his father’” would guarantee payment. Simon is also accused of presenting “falsified references for payments made by companies controlled by the Levievs to repay his debts.”

In order to prove he was a member of the Leviev family, Simon is even accused of Photoshopping himself into a picture of Lev and his daughter, Ayelet Leviev, which the family says he did to “generate personal profit and mislead the public.” In doing so, the family says Simon “invaded the privacy of the Leviev Family by publishing their photo in public, under circumstances in which such publication might humiliate or defame them; and also used the Leviev Family’s name and photo to generate profit.”

To ET, Chagit Leviev, CEO of Leviev Group and LLD Diamonds, said she hopes the lawsuit “brings an end to his unscrupulous actions,” calling Simon 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 continued, “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.”