Tinder Swindler Simon Leviev Claimed To Be The Son Of A Diamond Billionaire. Meet The Very Real (And Very Rich) Lev Leviev.
Private jets, priceless diamonds, running from the law—it’s all a day in the life of Simon Leviev, a.k.a. the “Tinder Swindler” at the heart of Netflix’s new true-crime hit, who allegedly conned scores of women out of an estimated $10 million by pretending to be the son of Israeli diamond mogul Lev Leviev.
Simon Leviev, whose real name is Shimon Hayut, served 5 months of a 15-month sentence in Israel for earlier fraud charges (he was supposedly released early, in 2020, for good behavior). As recently as last week, his Instagram profile showed him enjoying a high-flying lifestyle yet again. He was banned from Tinder and other dating apps this week.
In many ways, the Tinder Swindler’s jet-set persona mirrors the former billionaire he pretended was his father. In 2003, Forbes joined Lev Leviev and his cadre of bodyguards on a tour of Ukraine for a cover story that chronicled how he rose to become the “King of Diamonds.” Key to his success? Close connections to the likes of Vladimir Putin and Angolan president José Eduardo dos Santos that helped him acquire gems, snap up mines and undercut De Beers’ stranglehold on the market.
In other words, the Leviev fortune—last estimated by Forbes to be a bit under $1 billion in 2020—is very real, even if “Simon Leviev” is not. Last week, Lev Leviev’s LLD Diamonds released a statement saying, in part, “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."
Here is Forbes’ September 15, 2003 cover story on Lev Leviev, “the billionaire who cracked De Beers,” republished in full.