Through a Netflix documentary, the world learned about how a man claiming to be a diamond heir deceived people he met on a dating app. But one company knew exactly who the Tinder Swindler was, and, in a unique collaboration, it is helping to heal some of the damage the scammer created.
Leviev Diamonds and three women who told their stories in The Tinder Swindler documentary are launching a jewelry collaboration. The resulting Stronger Together charm bracelet featuring natural diamonds will raise funds for a women-focused nonprofit organization and serve to compensate the women for the financial losses they experienced because of the swindler, who used the name Simon Leviev to pretend to be a member of the Leviev company.
The bracelet, priced at $169, goes on sale Friday. Next week, the three women, Cecilie Fjellhøy, Pernilla Sjöholm, and Ayleen Charlotte, will join Leviev Diamonds CEO Chagit Leviev in New York for a special launch event.
The event is a celebration of the jewelry collaboration, Chagit Leviev says, but it also brings her family business together with the women the Tinder Swindler wronged to work together to ensure he faces every possible criminal charge for his actions.
“It’s a statement,” Chagit Leviev says. “When the documentary came out, I so connected to what they went through. It hurt me. And I wanted to find a way to show this guy and support the women. We’re not just going to wait for him to pay the price for what he’s done. We want to help them for what they’ve been through.”
The Tinder Swindler debuted on Netflix in February 2022 and immediately became a viral sensation. It tells the story of a man named Shimon Hayut who met women on the dating app Tinder and, using a pyramid scheme of sorts, stole an estimated $10 million from them over a period of years.
Hayut used the pseudonym of Simon Leviev, claiming to be a family member and businessperson at Leviev Diamonds, one of the largest privately held diamond firms in the world. In fact, he called himself the CEO.
Chagit Leviev, Fjellhøy, Sjöholm, and Charlotte are promoting the bracelet together—making sure everyone knows the truth and sees their personal friendships, strength, and bond because of this incredible true story. Hayut is due in court June 28 to face criminal charges against him in this case.
Chagit Leviev says friends and business associates kept Leviev Diamonds aware of Hayut’s deception as well as the women affected by his lies. Chagit Leviev says she stayed in contact with these women throughout the years, and the Netflix documentary activated all of them to create this collaboration.
“I remember after I got defrauded, I sent a message via email in 2019 [to Leviev Diamonds] to make sure and get more information about Simon’s story. Chagit answered really quickly and with a lot of feeling,” Charlotte says.
Fjellhøy agrees. “We’re all victims here,” Fjellhøy says. “We were victims, and the company was a victim. We’ve all been hit by this.”
Chagit Leviev, Fjellhøy, Sjöholm, and Charlotte, worked to design the Stronger Together bracelet. It features two interlocking rings in sterling silver with 18k gold vermeil and two natural diamonds with a total weight of 0.14 ct. It is engraved with the words “stronger together” to show the unity among the people Hayut wronged as well as hope that with one another’s help everyone can recover financially and emotionally.
“The bracelet is a very strong statement: They’re telling the truth. That’s the strength in this collaboration, and that is what’s represented in the design of the jewelry,” Chagit Leviev says.
Altogether, Fjellhøy, Sjöholm, and Charlotte were defrauded out of more than $500,000 when they knew Hayut, who asked them to take out personal loans as well as use their credit cards to perpetrate his fraud. Hayut also damaged the Leviev family by abusing the family name, creating false documents, and defrauding people using fake wire transfers and more, Chagit Leviev says.
All profits from the Stronger Together bracelet will go directly to the three women to help them recoup their losses; through Leviev Diamonds they also are donating 10% to Women for Women International, a nonprofit that helps women affected by war.
“They are stopping him from doing this to other people,” Chagit Leviev says. “We want every victim to keep fighting until justice is done.”
All of the women agree: They wanted this collaboration to empower people who go through the pain of fraud everywhere.
“We don’t want to make this just about Simon. Simon is just one among others. There are so many fraudsters out there. There are so many victims,” Sjöholm says. “There’s a real story behind fraud, and we shouldn’t blame the victims all the time. We should take fraud more seriously.… With this bracelet, we feel stronger together because we’re strong when we have others.”
Top: Cecilie Fjellhøy, Pernilla Sjöholm, and Ayleen Charlotte collaborated with Leviev Diamonds and CEO Chagit Leviev to create the Stronger Together bracelet, which supports women who have been victims of fraud and war (photos courtesy of Leviev Diamonds).
Follow me on Instagram and Twitter
Follow JCK on Instagram: @jckmagazineFollow JCK on Twitter: @jckmagazine
Follow JCK on Facebook: @jckmagazine
