Yup, you read that right. French Montana has met Simon Leviev, best known as the “Tinder Swindler” from Netflix’s true-crime documentary of the same name.
The rapper took to Instagram Stories to share the surprising news alongside a photo posing with the Leviev aboard a private jet. “I can’t believe I met the swindler [laughing Emoji],” French Montana wrote, finding out the information when fans starting sharing the photo on social media.
He followed up by posting a video at home, watching the documentary with his dog. “Finally watching the swindler lol,” he captioned the IG Story seen by Billboard.
ayo french montana with the tinder swindler😭 pic.twitter.com/KLRd8A1vnB
— Saul (@saul_united) February 4, 2022
The Tinder Swindler premiered on Netflix on Feb. 2, and is already generating a lot of social media buzz. The two-hour documentary delves into Leviev’s scheme, as he is said to have conned women out of an estimated $10 million after matching with them on the dating app, Tinder.
The story is told through the devastating experiences of Cecilie Fjellhøy, Pernilla Sjöholm and Ayleen Charlotte Koeleman, who all fell victim to Leviev’s tricks. He disguised himself under various aliases, and claimed he worked in a diamond business as son of billionaire Israeli diamond oligarch. He would lure women on Tinder by showing off his luxurious lifestyle and once a long-distance relationship was made, he’d ask them for thousands of dollars so that he could escape the dangers he would find himself in as a result of the business.
In 2019, he was caught by police in Greece while using a fraudulent passport, and was deported back to his home country of Israel, which he fled in 2011 to avoid other fraud-related crimes. He denied all charges against him, telling Israel’s Channel 12 News, “I never presented myself as the son of anyone, but people use their imaginations.”
He was later sentenced to 15 months in prison in Israel and was released after five months for “good behavior.”
