Subject of Netflix’s ‘Tinder Swindler’ documentary Simon Leviev went on Instagram Live on Monday where he revealed that he will soon be releasing his own documentary on the matter, entertainment news media E! News reported on Monday.
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During the livestream, he interacted with people online by answering their questions about the documentary, his current lifestyle, future plans and accusations against him where he again insisted he was innocent.
Leviev said that he never swindled anybody and that his life has changed since the Tinder Swindler documentary was released, claiming that he now has a “hell of a lot of money,” adding that his enemies were still after him, one of his most iconic statements since he rose to fame.
The Netflix documentary debuted on the streaming service on February 2 and quickly rose to the top 10 most-watched movies of the week on the streaming service in several countries.
The ‘swindler’ posed as the son of a wealthy diamond tycoon Lev Leviev and went by the name of Simon Leviev.
Resorting to psychological tactics to lure women, he set up a profile on the world-famous dating app Tinder, where he picked up women and scammed them into lending him large sums of money, which he then spent on other women and never paid them back.
Future plans
According to E! News, Leviev announced on Instagram Live that he has been working on his own documentary, which is now in the final stages of production, where he will tell his side of the story.
“You won’t believe what you’re going to see,” he said, arguing that it would be much more jaw-dropping than the Tinder Swindler documentary on Netflix.
“…You really have no idea what’s coming up… you’re going to be shocked of your life seriously.”
He said that he’s also been working on obtaining a US Visa so that he can record a song with Moroccan-American rapper French Montana and possibly 50 Cent and Snoop Dogg.
“I have great things coming very, very soon,” he added.
He also said that he will no longer be using Tinder and that he has not been on a dating app since 2018, claiming that any profile using his identity was fake and that he filed police reports against all the fake accounts.
Leviev is now dating Israeli model Kate Konlin.
Claims his wealth is from investing in Bitcoin
Leviev also said that he fully supports himself financially, attributing his wealth to his investment in Bitcoin, a claim which he also made in a previous TV interview with Inside Edition in late February.
In his interview with Inside Edition, he claimed to have bought Bitcoin in 2011 “when it was nothing.”
“This is how you make the money in places that people don’t want to touch,” he said on Instagram Live, in reference to his investment in Bitcoin. “If I believe in it, I’m going for it.”
He also flaunted his wealth by saying that his clothes and watches were worth thousands of dollars and that his security expenses per month cost “more than they say what I took allegedly.”
Online news media The Times of Israel estimates that Leviev is believed to have stolen around $10 million over the years from scamming numerous women across Europe in a Ponzi scheme.
Not afraid of prison
When asked about if he was concerned about going to jail, he responded by saying “maybe those girls [who came forward in the documentary] will go to jail for defamation.”
He insisted that he was not worried about going to jail, despite the number of fraud claims and accusations against him.
“I’m not in prison and I’m not going to be in prison,” he said, adding that police have been actively “helping him” during this time and that the women who came forward in the Tinder Swindler documentary were “lame” and earned “millions from Netflix.”
Originally named Shimon Hayut, the fraudster was born in Israel and had been actively scamming women all over the world into giving him money, most of which they took out as bank loans.
Leviev was recently sued by the real Leviev family at the beginning of March for “making false representations as being the son of Lev Leviev and receiving numerous benefits [including material ones], cunningly and 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,” a lawsuit filed in Israel’s Tel Aviv Magistrate Court stated.
Lev Leviev’s real daughter Chagit Leviev told NBC News that the lawsuit was the “first step” to ensure that Hayut gets what 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. He has no relation to the Leviev family and has no affiliation with our company, LLD Diamonds,” she said.
“I am relieved that his real identity and actions have been globally exposed, and hopefully this will bring an end to his unscrupulous actions,” added Chagit.
Read more:
Explainer: Everything you need to know about ‘Tinder Swindler’ Simon Leviev
Leviev family of LLD Diamonds sues ‘Tinder Swindler’ Shimon Hayut
‘Tinder Swindler’ Simon Leviev denies fraud claims in TV interview