The other details Netflix didn't reveal in The Tinder Swindler
The Tinder Swindler has basically taken over Netflix this past week, with viewers all over the world hooked on the story of con artist Simon Leviev (real name: Shimon Hayut) and his scam victims.
While the documentary exposed the shocking ways in which Leviev managed to pull off a series of elaborate scams - viewers were still left with tonnes of questions. Where is Simon Leviev now? Who is his new girlfriend? And what has happened to his victims since the documentary was released?
However, there's good news for those wanting more, as Netflix has released an audio mini-series as part of its documentary podcast You Can’t Make This Up, with the special episodes titled 'The Making of a Swindler'.
Over three episodes, the podcast digs deeper into the world of The Tinder Swindler - covering the entourage that worked with Leviev, the psychology behind his behaviour and his family background. Here's a run through of all the other details not revealed in The Tinder Swindler documentary. Get ready to be shocked all over again.
Leviev has other victims not featured in the documentary
While The Tinder Swindler follows the stories of three of Leviev's victims - Pernilla Sjoholm, Cecilie Fjellhøy and Ayleen Charlotte - filmmakers apparently spoke to "a number" of other victims who didn't make it into the doc because they didn't want to speak on camera. One other victims spoke under a pseudonym in the podcast, revealing that Leviev told her she "had to look the part" and criticised her appearance.
Another of Leviev's victims, named as Courtney in the podcast, said she quit her job to work with the scammer after he told her he was a trainee pilot and heir to an airline company. Courtney was arrested alongside Leviev for the use of fraudulent credit cards, though she was later acquitted. The events reportedly took place over a decade ago, with Courtney seeing Leviev appear in an article as "The Tinder Swindler" 10 years later.
Leviev's entourage were involved in scams too
Some of Leviev's friends featured in the documentary, though their roles in his scams weren't clear. However, the podcast has since revealed that Leviev's apparent business partner Avishay reportedly had an "active role" in the schemes as well - with victim Ayleen claiming that he would call and text her telling her to send Leviev money. The documentary filmmakers also revealed that they'd seen pictures of Simon Leviev (real name: Shimon Hayut) and Avishay together as children, confirming the fact that Avishay was aware of Leviev's real identity.
A 36-year-old British doctor has since told the Daily Mail that she briefly dated Avishay in 2017, also meeting Leviev during that time.
The mother of Leviev's child was apparently unaware of his scams against the women in the doc
Viewers were understandably surprised by the appearance of the mother of Leviev's child in The Tinder Swindler documentary - after it was revealed that she was previously defrauded by Leviev too. According to the podcast, the woman apparently had "no indication" that Leviev planned to scam Cecilie Fjellhøy when they met on the private jet, and she reportedly believed Cecilie was “another of Simon’s hookups”.
Leviev's first crime was stealing while working as a babysitter
This part is briefly mentioned in the documentary, but Leviev is reported to have stolen checks from a family he worked for as a babysitter when he was 20 years old. It's also been reported that Leviev had stolen checks from his employer during a stint working as a handyman.
LLD Diamonds has released a statement about Leviev following the documentary
The Tinder Swindler saw Shimon Hayut, aka Simon Leviev, pretending to be the son of diamond billionaire Lev Leviev and heir to LLD Diamonds.
The company has since clarified that they have no connection to Hayut. A spokesperson told Newsweek:
"LLD Diamonds has been a well-regarded leader in the diamond industry for three decades. Our company has no connection whatsoever with Shimon Hayut. He is a fraud who has tried to exploit our good name to con victims out of millions of dollars. Our sympathies go out to his victims. His fraud has also caused ongoing confusion about our company. Nothing he has said, about LLD or anything else, should be believed. 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."
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