Kriti Mehrotra
Netflix’s ‘The Tinder Swindler’ is a documentary film that examines the incredibly baffling tale of Shimon Hayut, better known as Simon Leviev, who used the titular dating app to defraud his victims. He actually posed as the son of Israeli-Russian diamond tycoon Lev Leviev to carry out these hoaxes, especially as a simple online search of their last name earned him a lot of credibility from the get-go. But now, if you’re curious to know more about LLD Diamonds, the family business Simon claimed to be the CEO of thanks to his “father,” we’ve got all the details for you.
Is LLD Diamonds a Real Company? Is Simon Leviev a Real CEO?
Established by Lev Avnerovich Leviev back in 1996, LLD Diamonds is an actual company — and one that operates in the jewel industry as one of the biggest manufacturers and cutting organizations in the world. After all, they boast of being entirely independent of external suppliers to provide the best possible quality of gems, ensuring that they reliably work with both rough and polished diamonds. The fact that Lev himself has been in the ice world since he was a teenager — having worked his way up from an apprentice to a mining investor — also plays a role in the firm’s success.
As a renowned diamantaire, businessman, investor, and philanthropist, Lev Leviev has earned the title of “King of Diamonds” because of the way he has served the diamond trade over the past few decades. That’s also how the Uzbekistan-born billionaire is now at such a place in his life that he not only owns multiple diamond jewelry boutiques across the globe but is even the controlling shareholder of a real estate and construction corporation headquartered in Israel. He’s the man behind the Leviev Group of Companies — the only organization to control all parts of the diamond pipeline and LLD’s parent institution – and rightly so.
Coming to Simon Leviev, aka Shimon Hayut, he’s not even one of Lev’s nine children, let alone the CEO of LLD Diamonds or any other company by the Leviev family. In fact, New York-based Greg Sofiev has held this esteemed position for over ten years now, allowing him to make a name for himself while often traveling to London, Russia, and Hong Kong as well. In other words, there’s absolutely zero connection or association between Simon and the Leviev’s, which means that every claim the former has ever made about the family is essentially unfounded. He feigned being Lev’s son and the heir to his extraordinary empire, that’s it.
However, we should mention that one of his sons, Zevulun, and Lev’s brother, Moshe, were arrested for suspected illegal diamond smuggling from Russia to Israel through LLD Diamonds in November 2018. The smuggling ring, as per reports, unlawfully brought about $80 million worth of jewels to the Middle East in eight years, making it one of the biggest scandals in the industry. With that said, though, the company has since denied any involvement in the matter, saying this in a statement — “Mr. Leviev and the companies in his control operate in accordance with the proper norms while adhering to the law. We hope that the matter will be clarified soon and the suspicions will be proven baseless.”
Read More: What is Simon Leviev’s Net Worth?
