Simon Leviev has swiped his way to a lawsuit.
The subject of the mega-popular Netflix true-crime documentary The Tinder Swindler is being sued by the Leviev family, according to the document obtained by E! News on Feb. 28. In the documentary, he was accused of pretending to be a member of the Leviev family to attract women on the dating app Tinder, before allegedly taking hundreds of thousands of dollars from his victims.
In a statement to E! News, Chagit Leviev, the daughter of Israeli diamond magnate Lev Leviev and an heiress to the family's fortune, said the multi-million dollar lawsuit aims to get Simon (born Shimon Hayut) 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 in a statement to E! News on Feb 28. "He has no relation to the Leviev family and has no affiliation with our company LLD Diamonds."
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Chagit 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."
While she is not listed as a plaintiff in the suit, her relatives Zevulun Leviev, Ayelet Leviev Jacobson, Ruthy Leviev Yelizerov and Hagit Sofiev Leviev are, along with company LLD Diamonds USA, LLC, according to the filing.
The lawsuit filed in Tel Aviv, Israel, states that Simon "has been making false representations as being the son of Lev Leviev and receiving numerous benefits (including material ones)," per the suit. The documents also state that Simon "defrauded, cheated, conned, falsified, and hurt women, men and businesses" around the world while "impersonating" as a member of their family and using their "wealthy" reputation.
The family alleges that Simon took "without permission" a photo of Lev and Ayelet and used Photoshop to edit himself into the family shot. Per the suit, "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."
Accusations in the lawsuit include defamation, invasion of privacy and breach of trademarks. The Leviev family said that Simon's "despicable actions" defame and "humiliate" them.
According to the Netflix doc, which premiered Feb. 2, Simon, 31, changed his name and claimed to be the son of the diamond tycoon on the dating app Tinder. He then allegedly swindled multiple women into opening credit cards for him, under the guise he was in danger of enemies within the diamond business. Authorities have estimated he may have scammed $10 million from alleged victims around the world, according to The Times of Israel.
Simon has not been charged with any crimes related to the accusations in the documentary. The news outlet reports in May 2020, Simon was released from an Israeli prison after serving five months of a 15-month sentence for four unrelated fraud charges.
Attorney Guy Ophir, who represents the Leviev family, told E! News this legal action is 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 lawyer said. "Anyone that will try to capitalize from this scheme will be sued."
In response to the filing, a rep for Simon told E! News, "Simon believes the family is just trying to insert themselves in the narrative for publicity after the show's success."
They added, "Simon also legally changed his name in 2015 and looks forward to this getting thrown out in court."
In an interview with Inside Edition earlier this month, Simon defended himself from the Netflix allegations, saying he "was just a single guy that wanted to meet some girls on Tinder."
"I was surprised how many girls wanted me and how many girls offered to travel to meet me without them knowing me," he said. "I'm not this monster that everybody has created."
The alleged con-man is currently dating Israeli model Kate Konlin and is reportedly working on a dating show, with Gina Rodriguez signed on as his talent manager.
"I'm not a fraud and I'm not a fake," he told Inside Edition. "People don't know me so they cannot judge me. I'm the biggest gentleman in the world."
— Reporting by Alli Rosenbloom
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