The man, made famous by Netflix's newest true crime sensation is denying that he's a con.
Simon Leviev is the focus of the buzzy documentary "The Tinder Swindle," in which multiple women who connected with Leviev on the dating app Tinder claim that he lured them in with a fake story of being a wealthy heir of a diamond merchant and defrauded them of millions.
In an interview reportedly set to air Monday and Tuesday on "Inside Edition," Leviev denies the allegations.
"I was just a single guy that wanted to meet some girls on Tinder," he said in a clip shared on the show's YouTube channel. "I'm not a Tinder swindler."
A woman identified as his "model girlfriend" is also part of the interview, according to the clip.
The doc has been seen by more than 50 million viewers, according to Netflix.
As seen in the documentary, Leviev was convicted of fraud, theft, and forgery in his homeland of Israel and sentenced to 15 months in prison in December 2019. He served five months before he was released.
Leviev has reportedly since been banned from Tinder.
Asked how was able to fund his lavish lifestyle, he said he had bought bitcoin in 2011. “I don’t need to say how much it’s worth now.”
Hayut said he had no regrets.
“[Do] I feel bad for something I didn’t do? No, I feel bad for whatever happened to me. I want to clear my name, I want to say to the world this is not true,” he said.
The Israeli fraudster at the center of the popular Netflix true-crime documentary “The Tinder Swindler,” spoke out on Monday about his alleged role in the documentary for the first time, claiming he “was just a single guy that wanted to meet some girls on Tinder.”
The nearly two-hour documentary directed by Felicity Morris tells the story of several women whose hearts and wallets were captured by Shimon Hayut. The con man presented himself as Simon Leviev, the son of Israeli Russian diamond tycoon Lev Leviev.
While refusing to interview for the documentary, Hayut broke his silence in an interview with Inside Edition.
“I was surprised how many girls wanted me and how many girls offered to travel to meet me without them knowing me,” he said. “I’m not this monster that everybody has created,” he added.
“I’m a legit businessman,” he said, denying any wrongdoing and claiming the women interviewed in the Netflix documentary “weren’t conned and they weren’t threatened.” He denied ever presenting himself as the son of Israeli Russian diamond tycoon Lev Leviev.
Asked how was able to fund his lavish lifestyle, he said he had bought bitcoin in 2011. “I don’t need to say how much it’s worth now.”
‘Tinder Swindler,’ a true-crime documentary about Israeli con man Shimon Hayut, drops on Netflix. Hayut said he had no regrets.
“[Do] I feel bad for something I didn’t do? No, I feel bad for whatever happened to me. I want to clear my name, I want to say to the world this is not true,” he said.
Coming to Hayut’s defense was Israeli model Kate Konlin, who is currently dating him.
She told Inside Edition that Hayut has never borrowed any money from her, referring to the documentary and the accusations it makes as “a fake story.”
Hayut said people should not judge him so harshly.
“I’m not a fraud and I’m not a fake. People don’t know me so they cannot judge me. I’m the biggest gentleman in the world,” he argued.
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