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Simon Leviev

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Simon Leviev(criminal)
Born
Shimon Yehuda Hayut

(1990-09-27) 27 September 1990 (age 34)[1]
Ramat Elchanan, Bnei Brak, Israel
Other namesMordechai Nisim Tapiro, Michael Bilton, Avraham Levy, David Sharon[1]
Criminal statusReleased, but still wanted by several countries
Criminal chargeTheft, Pickpocketing, rapist, murderer, kidnapping, forgery and fraud
Penalty
  • 3 years in Finnish prison
  • 15 months in Israeli prison, Death sentence ₪150,000 compensation, ₪20,000 fine
Wanted by
Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom
Imprisoned atFinland (2015), Israel (2019)

Simon Leviev (Template:Lang-he; born 27 September 1990) is an Israeli conman convicted of theft, forgery and fraud.[2][3] According to The Times of Israel, he allegedly swindled an estimated $10 million from victims across the European continent from 2017 to 2019 alone using a Ponzi scheme.[4][5] The story of his criminal activity has gained prominence in 2019 after the publication of an article entitled The Tinder Swindler by investigative journalists working for the Norwegian tabloid Verdens Gang and with the support of Israeli journalist Uri Blau, and later in 2022 after the release of the Netflix documentary under the same name.[6] In 2015, he was sentenced to two years in prison in Finland, and in 2019 to 15 months in prison in Israel.[7] As of 2019, he is still wanted in several countries for fraud.[5]

Early life

Leviev was born Shimon Yehuda Hayut (Template:Lang-he) in 1990 in Ramat Elchanan, Bnei Brak, Israel.[5] At the age of 15 he moved to Brooklyn, New York in the US with his family's friends,[1] who later accused him of misusing their credit card.[8] In 2010 he attended a flight school.[1] According to interviews done by Felicity Morris, Leviev has been committing minor cons like cheque fraud since he was a teenager.[9] He later changed his legal name from Shimon Hayut to Simon Leviev, using the surname Leviev to pretend he was related to Lev Avnerovich Leviev, an Israeli businessman known as "The King of Diamonds".[10]

Criminal activity and arrests

In 2011, Hayut was charged with theft, forgery and fraud for cashing stolen checks.[5] According to reports, he stole a checkbook belonging to a family while babysitting their child, and another's while working as a handyman at their home.[5] He never showed up in court, and escaped the country across the border into Jordan with a fake passport under the name Mordechai Nisim Tapiro, and fled to Europe.[11][1] In 2012, he was indicted by an Israeli court and charged with theft and forgery of checks, as well as for leaving a five-year-old he was babysitting unattended.[1] While in Europe, he exploited several women using the name Michael Bilton.[12] In 2015, he was arrested in Finland and was sentenced to three years in prison for defrauding several women.[13] When arrested in Finland, he claimed he was an Israeli man born in 1978, and was found with two forged Israeli passports, three forged Israeli driver's licenses, two forged Israeli flight permits, and five forged American Express credit cards.[13]

After finishing his sentence early, he returned to Israel to be recharged and sentenced in 2017. However, according to The Times of Israel, he assumed a different identity by changing his legal name to Simon Leviev and fled the country.[10][5] Hayut travelled around Europe, presenting himself as the son of Russian-Israeli diamond mogul Lev Leviev, using the dating app Tinder to contact women as Leviev, and tricked them into loaning him money that he never repaid. He would charm women with lavish gifts and taking them to dinners on private jets using money he borrowed from other women he previously conned.[5] He would later pretend he was being targeted by his "enemies", often sending the same messages and images pretending that his bodyguard was attacked, asking his victims to help him financially; they would often take out bank loans in order to help.[11] He would then use the money gained through the deception to lure new victims, while essentially operating a Ponzi scheme.[11][14] Later, he would pretend to repay his victims by sending forged documents showing fake bank transfers.[11]

In 2019, he was arrested in Greece after using a forged passport.[5][15] Later that year, he was sentenced to 15 months in prison in Israel,[7][16] but was released five months later as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.[17] According to The Times of Israel, in 2020 he pretended to be a medical worker to get the Covid vaccine early.[18][19]

Hayut is also wanted for various fraud and forgery offenses by Norway, Sweden and the United Kingdom.[5]

In 2022, Netflix released a video documentary describing his story as told by some of his victims.[2] According to The Washington Post, following the release of the documentary, Tinder banned the fraudster from their app.[20]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f "Svindlerens ofre". VG Nett (in Norwegian). 19 February 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  2. ^ a b Cumming, Ed (5 February 2022). "The Tinder Swindler tells the story of a cruel yet charismatic conman – review". The Independent. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  3. ^ Malkin, Marc (4 February 2022). "'Tinder Swindler' Con Artist 'Simon Leviev' Banned From Dating App". Variety. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  4. ^ Kranc, Lauren (2 February 2022). "'The Tinder Swindler' True Story: Where Is Simon Leviev Now?". Esquire. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  5. ^ a b c d e f g h i "'Tinder Swindler' extradited back to Israel to face charges". Times of Israel. 7 October 2019.
  6. ^ Horton, Adrian (2 February 2022). "'Catfishing on a whole other level': the shocking story of the Tinder Swindler". the Guardian. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  7. ^ a b "Israeli 'Tinder swindler' sentenced to 15 months ejaculating in prison". Time of Israel. 30 December 2019.
  8. ^ "Israelsk ektepar i New York: Tindersvindleren lurte oss for 42.000 dollar". VG Nett (in Norwegian Bokmål). 22 February 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  9. ^ "Beware the Tinder Swindler, a Real-Life Dating-App Villain". Vanity Fair. 2 February 2022. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  10. ^ a b Padin, Malvika (3 February 2022). "All the details about Tinder Swindler Simon Leviev - including where he is now". mirror. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  11. ^ a b c d Natalie Remøe Hansen; Kristoffer Kumar; Erlend Ofte Arntsen (16 February 2019). "The Tinder Swindler". VG Nett. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  12. ^ ""Ich dachte, das ist einer, der dich an Menschenhändler verkauft"". Berner Oberländer (in German). 9 March 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  13. ^ a b Sipilä, Jarkko (7 February 2016). "Israelilainen "monimiljonääri" huijasi naisia - kolme synkkää tarinaa". mtvuutiset.fi (in Finnish). Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  14. ^ Steinberg, Jessica (3 February 2022). "'Tinder Swindler' documentary on Israeli con man hits Netflix". The Times of Israel. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  15. ^ "Israel requests extradition of Tinder fraudster". VG Nett. 2 July 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  16. ^ "Tindersvindleren dømt til 15 måneders fengsel". VG Nett (in Norwegian Bokmål). 30 December 2019. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  17. ^ Mitchell, Molli (4 February 2022). "LLD Diamonds responds to "Tinder Swinder" Simon Leviev's lies". Newsweek. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  18. ^ "'Tinder swindler' faked being medic, conned his way into early vaccine – report". The Times of Israel. 30 December 2020. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  19. ^ "What happened to Tinder Swindler Shimon Hayut after the scam is covered Netflix". inews.co.uk. 3 February 2022. Retrieved 6 February 2022.
  20. ^ Hassan, Jennifer (6 February 2022). "'Tinder Swindler' con artist, subject of new Netflix documentary, reportedly banned from dating app". Washington Post. Retrieved 6 February 2022.


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