Members of Israeli diamond tycoon Lev Leviev’s family have called to withdraw the criminal complaint filed against Simon Leviev (born in Bnei Brak as Shimon Yehuda Hayut), aka the "Tinder Swindler," after an agreement between the two was reached, Walla learned on Thursday.
The agreement was submitted for approval to the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court after more than four years of legal proceedings.
Under the agreement, the complaint will be dropped without an acquittal. It was also agreed that the defendants would undertake, as part of the court’s decision, not to present Hayut, directly or indirectly, as connected to the Leviev family or to the various LLD companies.
In addition, the defendants stated that despite the dismissal of the charges against them, they would not be entitled to reimbursement of legal costs or attorneys’ fees. The agreement is still subject to court approval.
Attorney Guy Ophir, who represents the Leviev family, said the agreement was reached after the court raised on its own a legal issue, according to which most of the acts attributed to Hayut were carried out outside Israel’s borders, and therefore the attorney general’s approval was required in order to conduct the proceedings.
Most of offenses happened abroad
According to Ophir, the Leviev family brought witnesses and evidence from abroad regarding Hayut’s alleged actions, but Judge Itai Harmelin ruled that since most of the charges relate to offenses allegedly committed outside Israel, the case could not continue without the attorney-general’s approval.
Ophir argued that the defense never raised any argument about extraterritorial offenses, and that it was not appropriate for the court to raise the issue on its own after the prosecution’s case had ended.
He also claimed that some of the offenses actually did take place in Israel, including the acquaintance with the Leviev family, Hayut’s name change at the Interior Ministry, and sending of Hebrew-language publications abroad.
According to him, the family asked to submit additional evidence to support that claim, but the court rejected the request.
Ophir said that because interlocutory appeals are not possible in a criminal case, continuing the trial was expected to take another two to three years, including appeals, and would end no earlier than 2030.
“Since these were acts carried out in the previous decade, there is no point in continuing such a lengthy process,” he said.
He said the agreement does not amount to an acquittal for Hayut.
“We reached an agreement that does not absolve the defendants of our claims against them, but does ensure in a judicial decision that they will not present Simon as connected to the Leviev family or to the various LLD companies,” he said.
He added that in his view, the public should examine the testimony of the witnesses who came from abroad and judge Hayut’s conduct for itself.
Because this is not an acquittal, he said, the attorney general still retains the authority to file an indictment over the alleged extraterritorial offenses attributed to Hayut. He added that he regretted that, so far, in his words, neither the police, nor the prosecution, nor other foreign authorities had found it appropriate to act against Hayut.
The criminal complaint was filed in February 2022 with the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court by four of Lev Leviev’s nine children, through attorneys Guy Ophir and Victoria Reznik.
The complaint alleged that Hayut, following his name change, had presented himself for years as Lev Leviev’s son and as a member of the Leviev family in Israel and around the world.
It was also alleged that Hayut used that identity to gain his victims’ trust and receive benefits from them, while creating the impression that the Leviev family would cover any expenses and repay the money spent.
According to the family, he also used the trademark of the diamond company LLD Diamonds and presented himself as the company’s CEO and as a family member. The complaint said that as a result of his actions, the alleged frauds became associated with the Leviev family’s name, harming its reputation in Israel and abroad.
Damage to Leviev family's professional reputation
In one of the hearings in the case, Zbulon Leviev, Lev Leviev’s son, testified that the impersonation had also hurt the family in the business world.
“As a businessman, people came up to me and said he was connected to the case. It created confusion. He used the name ‘Simon Zbulon Leviev’ and there is no greater impersonation than that. Instead of talking about business, they immediately talked about how it was connected to us. There was a claim that someone named Simon Zbulon Leviev had rented a yacht, and that is definitely not me. It was even published in the media as if it had been sent through our office in the US,” Zbulon Leviev testified.
Zbulon Leviev added that “in our field, in diamonds, a word is the most important thing, more than any contract. Once someone impersonates you, it damages people’s trust. This is very damaging, especially when he is impersonating you and he is a famous con man.”
A criminal complaint is a relatively unusual procedure, in which a private individual files a criminal charge instead of the state, for offenses that the law allows.
Hayut became known worldwide following the documentary “The Tinder Swindler,” which dealt with the method attributed to him.
According to reports, he contacted women through the app Tinder, won over their trust, and later said he was threatened by enemies and therefore could not use his family’s money. Using that pretense, he allegedly asked his victims to fund flights, hotel stays and other expenses, while promising to repay the money within a short time, a promise the complainants said was never fulfilled.
In December 2019, Hayut was sentenced to 15 months in prison after being extradited to Israel from Greece. He was convicted as part of a plea deal on four separate counts, including stealing checks, forgery of signatures and passing a stolen check. He was also fined and ordered to pay compensation to the victims.
Simon Leviev’s attorney, Sharon Nahari, said in response: “We are pleased to announce that after dialogue between the sides, an agreement was reached under which all charges against Simon Leviev [Hayut] will be dropped."
"Simon will continue on his path, in creation, in action and in developing his ventures, and we are happy that the proceeding has ended with understandings between the sides.”
Simon Leviev said that he is “so happy that all the charges against me will be dropped. That was also the case in Germany and in other places around the world. I am moving on with my life to work and action.”
This brings to an end, at least for now, the private criminal proceeding the Leviev family pursued against Simon Leviev for more than four years.
However, according to the family’s lawyer, the dismissal of the complaint does not amount to an acquittal, and the attorney general still has the authority to examine filing an indictment, if deemed appropriate, over the extraterritorial offenses allegedly attributed to Yehuda Hayut.