Fresh testimonies against Simon Leviev (aka Shimon Hayut), an Israeli conman popularly known as the "Tinder Swindler" after a hit Netflix documentary of the same name covering his escapades, surfaced Sunday morning in the Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court as part of the legal proceedings against him.
Ayleen Charlotte from the Netherlands took the stand on Sunday, with her testimony joining those of two other women, Pernilla Sjoholm and Cecilie Fjellhøy, who were also at the center of the 2020 documentary and testified in court earlier this month.
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Ayleen Charlotte claims that she was a victim of the Tinder Swindler
(Photo: Yair Sagi)
The testimony came following a criminal complaint filed by the family of Russian-Israeli diamond mogul Lev Leviev, accusing Hayut of falsely posing as the billionaire's son, damaging the family's privacy and reputation. Hayut denies the allegations
"We met on Tinder in 2017," recounted Charlotte, who arrived from Amsterdam for the hearing. "We talked and quickly switched to WhatsApp. At one point he invited me to go to Paris; unfortunately, I couldn't, but I thought it was a very nice gesture. On Christmas, I received a very nice message from him, that he wanted to wish me a happy new year."
She said she first met with him in London where she was as part of her work. "I saw on Instagram that he was also there," she said. "I texted him if he wanted to have a drink with me. He suggested we sit down for coffee in the morning. We met. He shared his life with me and I immediately felt a connection. We also had dinner together, and we went out drinking after the night we spent together; we stayed in touch."
Charlotte said that she felt that their relationship was growing stronger. "A few days later, he came to visit me at the store I managed in Amsterdam," she said. "We spent time together. He told me that he was Lev Leviev's son, showed me a video of a Dutch program where they showed the story of Lev Leviev's life, and told me that he is part of the LLD Diamonds company; we spent more time together and I fell in love with him."
The relationship soon took a troubling turn. Charlotte recounted that he claimed to have enemies in the diamond industry, which required him to go into hiding. After a few months, he asked for SIM cards not in his name, which she provided out of sympathy and love. He also requested credit cards and a safe place to stay, eventually moving in with her. He later asked for her savings, 13,000 euros, claiming his life was in danger. He promised to repay her with $50,000 from the diamond company, posing as its "president" and even creating a logo, but the money was delayed.
"He bought a lot of plane tickets with my money and kept saying that the money was on its way back to me; he had a lot of excuses," she said. "He forced me to borrow a lot of money from my parents, he spent about 100,000 euros of my money just to 'secure himself from his enemies', and he kept asking for more money."
"I was left without money and so were my parents, he continued to pressure me and threatened to kill himself. In 2019, I found out that he is a crook and that I will never see my money. He stole from me, everything he told me was a lie. He was not Lev Leviev's son and he had nothing to do with this family or this company. I just wanted to keep him safe, help support him."
Charlotte recounted that she stumbled upon an article about his story while in Prague. "I read and saw that during our relationship, he was seeing two other women and stole a lot of money from them. Our stories were very similar," she said. He claimed the women were paid to fabricate stories against him. Despite this, she stayed in touch with him for a few months, hoping to recover her money.
Charlotte filed a police complaint against him, as did her parents and friends. Knowing he was destitute, she suggested he sell his expensive clothes but didn't send him money. A few weeks later, he became furious, and the death threats began. In late May 2019, he messaged her that he had been arrested in Athens and was in contact with Interpol. She revealed, "I was the one who handed over his fake identity."
She concluded, "If you let this person walk the streets as a free man, you must understand that he will continue to destroy lives."
During cross-examination, Hayut's attorney questioned Charlotte about her relationship with the other complainants. "We connected only after I finished reading about them. What linked us was going through the same experiences. Our connection continues to this day," she replied. The lawyer asked, "You really want him convicted here, right?" She answered, "Of course."
Hayut's attorney asserted that, according to the accused, they did not meet on Tinder but in a store while he was buying a coat. She confirmed, "That's right. He first visited when I wasn't there." He accused Charlotte of fabricating an email that was not sent to her, which she denied, and claimed she was "eager about the trial and ready to say anything." Charlotte responded, "He used the logo to claim he was part of the family."
The lawyer told Ynet, "Last week, during cross-examination of the two women, all their testimonies collapsed, revealing lies upon lies."
Outside the hearing, Hayut told Ynet that the hearing was being conducted merely to provide Netflix with material for a Tinder Swindler sequel. "They have a well-written script, and the women are repeating it like they're reading from a teleprompter. It's a joke. This is all a show by the Leviev family to clear their name from their problems," he said.
Hayut claims he has "never asked any woman or anyone for money," and plans to sue Netflix. He maintains, "There are no victims; the only victim here is me."
"I didn't impersonate anyone or need to steal. These amounts are imaginary. No one would go to such extremes for $200,000 or $300,000, and fly them to Israel. This is all a big show and will eventually fall apart. I never said I was his son." He concluded, "I'm like Trump. I can't be knocked down; I'm invincible."
The Leviev family's lawyer countered, "The witness is indeed one of his victims. She recounted her entire story in detail, presenting all the conversation recordings and bank transfers where he claimed to be connected to the Leviev family and acting as their director. She even showed emails with the company's stamp."