A “tinder scammer” appears to have finally escaped a legal battle stemming from his online dating adventures.
An Israeli man, Shimon Hayut, changed his name to Shimon Leviev and claimed to be part of a billionaire diamond-trading family, but several women claimed he used that pretence to seduce women and swindle them out of buckets of cash.
In 2022, the real Leviev family sued Simon in their native Israel, claiming that Simon had used their name to defraud women and various businesses, causing significant damage to the family’s company.
Now, Page Six has learned on Thursday that Simon and the Levievs have agreed to settle their dispute.
According to translated court documents seen by Page Six, the terms of the agreement are that Simon “promises not to present himself, directly or indirectly, as (a member of) the Leviev family or as affiliated with the Leviev family or its companies, including LLD Diamonds USA, LLC.” In return, the Levievs will drop the rest of their lawsuit.
The matter was resolved without a conviction.
This is the last legal challenge Simon will face.
He was convicted of defrauding women and served two and a half years in a Finnish prison. He served 15 months in an Israeli prison after being convicted of four counts of fraud, but was released after five months.
TMZ first reported on the settlement.
The story was featured in Netflix’s hit documentary “Tinder Scam” in 2022. It depicts him flaunting a lavish jet-setting lifestyle to convince women he was the heir to a super-wealthy family, but then faced a dire emergency and claimed he needed loans from the women to escape.
Chagit Leviev, CEO of Leviev Group USA and daughter of Israeli diamond billionaire Lev Leviev, previously told Page Six that her family has spent years trying to stop him.
“We have been plagued by the ‘tinder scammer’ for years. We knew he was scamming businesses and other women he contacted. We tried hard to stop him, fought him and called the police,” she said in 2022.
On Friday, Leviev argued that the settlement was justified.
“If they had evidence like that, I would be sitting behind bars right now,” he told Page Six. “Not really. I’m sitting in the most expensive hotel in Brazil.”
His lawyer, Sharon Nahari, also said the extradition process in Germany had been completed and there were no remaining criminal cases against him in Europe.
He also claimed that public opinion demonized him before the facts were fully investigated.
“The world wants to find this villain, this villain that everyone hates,” he said. “But I’m not that kind of guy. I’m sorry for letting you all down.”
Leviev says the Netflix documentary changed his life, bringing him worldwide fame and new business opportunities.
