Tinder Swindler Dodges Leviev Lawsuit, But There's a Catch

Shimon Hayut, the con artist behind Netflix’s“The Tinder Swindler,”just caught a break — but don’t mistake it for a win. The so-called“Tinder Swindler”has settled his lawsuit with the Leviev family, the Israeli billionaire dynasty that he impersonated to swindle millions from women across the globe. But this settlement isn’t the kind that lets him walk away clean.

According to Leviev family attorney Guy Ophir, both sides reached an agreement and presented it to Israeli court for approval. The deal contains two major conditions that paint a telling picture of Hayut’s current situation. First, while Hayut denies he ever impersonated the family, he’s promised never to claim any connection to the Levievs or their various companies going forward. Translation: cease and desist on the con that made him famous. Second, he cannot seek reimbursement for legal costs or attorney fees — a financial safeguard designed to prevent him from profiting off the lawsuit itself.

Why would a family with the resources to pursue this case choose to settle? Ophir laid it bare: jurisdictional headaches and cold financial reality. Hayut operated mostly outside Israel, making it legally messy to pursue the matter there. More tellingly, the family’s attorney admitted they don’t believe Hayut has any money left to pay a judgment anyway. After all, this is a man who built an empire on borrowed prestige and stolen cash — not exactly someone sitting on liquid assets.

The backstory makes this settlement feel almost poetic. Hayut posed as Simon Leviev, heir to a family fortune built on diamonds, to lure women into his web of deceit on Tinder. He allegedly conned victims out of an estimated $10 million worldwide, dating them, gaining their trust, and draining their bank accounts before disappearing. He was previously convicted of fraud, theft, and forgery related to these crimes, serving 15 months in prison starting in December 2019 before getting released after just five months.

What’s really interesting here is what the settlement reveals about the limits of litigation when chasing someone with nothing left to lose. The Levievs had every legal right to pursue this, but pragmatism won out. Hayut’s already been exposed globally through Netflix, already served prison time, and already has nothing to show for his elaborate scheme. The settlement essentially forces him to stop using the con that made him infamous — which, for someone whose notoriety is his only remaining asset, might be the real punishment.

And here’s the kicker: Hayut told TMZ earlier this year that he plans to sue Netflix for making him the subject of“The Tinder Swindler”documentary. So while he can’t claim to be a Leviev anymore, he’s determined to fight the one entity that actually told his story.