Simon Leviev has been sued by the real diamond family whose name he took.
In Netflix’s Tinder Swindler documentary, the alleged fraudster, whose real name is believed to be Shimon Hayut, was accused of conning millions from women he met on Tinder by posing as the son of Russian-Israeli diamond mogul Lev Leviev.
In court documents obtained by PEOPLE, Lev and his family filed suit against Simon for allegedly impersonating them and unjustly enriching himself using their last name.
The lawsuit, filed in Tel Aviv, Israel, claims that “for a long time, he [Simon Leviev] has been making false representations as being the son of Lev Leviev and receiving numerous benefits (including material ones).”
The family alleges that Hayut has been “cunningly using false words, claiming to be a member of the Leviev Family, and that his family will pay and bear the costs of his benefits.”
The Tinder Swindler film exposed how Simon allegedly ran a Ponzi scheme by wooing women he met on Tinder with lavish gifts and trips, which he paid for with money he’d stolen from previous women.
After dazzling each victim enough, Simon would ask to borrow money from them because for security reasons he couldn’t use his own money, but promised to pay them back.
He would then start the cycle all over again with a different woman.
The new court documents claim that Simon “defrauded, cheated, conned, falsified, and hurt women, men and businesses” around the world.
The lawsuit states: “The defendant used the dating application ‘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.”
Attorney Guy Ophir, who represents the Leviev family, told PEOPLE: “This legal action is only the beginning of a number of lawsuits that my firm is currently working on.”
“In the next faze 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.”
In a statement, Chagit Leviev, the daughter of Lev Leviev and an heiress to the family’s fortune, said 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 added: “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.”
“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.”
The Tinder Swindler documentary featured three of Simon’s alleged victims – Cecilie Fjellhoy, Ayleen Charlotte and Pernilla Sjoholm.
The women shared their extraordinary and often terrifying experiences with ‘Simon’, and revealed how they eventually teamed up to get him arrested for his crimes.
Simon was subsequently convicted of fraud, theft, and forgery and sentenced to 15 months in prison in December 2019, but was released just five months later.
Soon after he got out of prison, Simon began sharing photos of himself enjoying a life of luxury once again on Instagram.
Following the release of the documentary, he took to the app and wrote: “Thank you for all your support.”
“I will share my side of the story in the next few days when I have sorted out the best and most respectful way to tell it, both to the involved parties and myself. Until then, please keep an open mind and heart.”
