WORKING as the personal chauffeur to an apparent billionaire, Jemal couldn’t help but notice the never-ending parade of women he ferried around London.
What he dismissed as the lavish lifestyle of his super-rich boss turned out to be even more extraordinary – his employer, known as Simon Leviev, was using him as a pawn in an elaborate con to cheat dates out of millions of pounds.
The cruel dating scam, which saw Leviev, 31, claim to be the son of a diamond tycoon and seduce women by flaunting his glamorous adventures on Tinder, has been turned into a hit Netflix documentary, The Tinder Swindler.
One victim, Cecilie Fjellhøy, said she ended up in a psychiatric ward after he conned her out of £185,000 in a matter of weeks.
Jemal – who did not wish to be identified by his real name – was also led up the garden path by the fraudster, who promised him a £5,160-a-month gig to work for him personally.
Like all the other promises, the job never materialised and Leviev – whose original name was Shimon Hayut – vanished.
“I do blame myself a little bit,” Jemal tells behind-the-scenes podcast The Making of a Swindler.
“I kind of made him look like he was ‘the man’. I made him look and feel like ‘he’s the boss’.
“If I’d known who he was and what he does, I’d never have been a part of it.”
The driver is the only member of Leviev’s entourage who is willing to chat with the makers of the documentary, which has shot to number one on the Netflix charts.
Despite being unaware of the deceit, he says he still feels guilty over his role in the fraudster’s sick game.
“I feel like a pig myself for being involved in that scenery and encouraging Simon to do what he did,” Jemal says.
“It’s had an effect on me. It’s not nice. It’s disgusting.”
Driver thought conman was just ‘horny’ billionaire
When Leviev first booked a car from the company Jemal worked for in 2018, the driver didn’t bat an eyelid at the countless women stepping in and out of his Rolls-Royce.
He assumed that the ‘billionaire’ was just another “horny guy” making the most of being rich and single.
“I drive a lot of high net worth clients – big names, big titles, probably internationally known. They could be in business, they could be celebrities, they could be anybody,” he says.
“When we Googled his name, his Instagram came up. [We thought] he was some flamboyant kid from a rich dad who just wanted to enjoy life.”
Simon booked a few trips with the company, where hiring a Rolls-Royce would set you back £2,500 a day.
Then one day, he asked the driver if he would come and work for him, promising him £5,160 a month.
The money would never materialise, but Jemal was happy to shuttle Simon around, convinced by his charming manner.
“You have to understand one thing. Simon is very charismatic, you want to hang around with him every day. He’s a very nice man,” he says.
“But Simon would drill himself into your heart and make you feel special. Then he stabs you and leaves you.”
‘He painted a picture’
Leviev’s Tinder profile claimed he was a diamond merchant who travelled the globe, but it was all fantasy.
The money he lavished on dates with his victims – including chauffeur-driven cars and trips on private jets – was all conned from other women.
Once he had victims under his spell, the documentary claims, he would pretend he was in danger, or that powerful enemies had frozen his bank accounts.
Victims sent him their savings or took out huge credit card loans to get him out of trouble.
The mother of the fraudster’s child, and a former victim herself, claimed to the filmmakers she had no idea he was still defrauding women.
She was a key part of convincing Cecilie that Leviev was a genuine rich playboy – along with Jemal.
“[Jemal] was such a nice guy and it was quite comforting,” Cecilie says. “I was telling him when we were in the car that this was very overwhelming and I’d never been in that situation before.”
Jemal believed what he was saying was true, but now realises he was helping to sell an image.
“Obviously it was awkward for me because the way the picture looked for Simon, it looked as if I was working for him,” he says.
“This is how the picture was painted. So we kept it that way – just to please Simon, not Cecilie.”
The job dangled in front of Jemal never materialised.
Leviev was eventually extradited to Israel where he was given a 15 month sentence for crimes committed a decade ago.
It emerged he had also served two years in jail in Finland for similar dating frauds.
Looking back on the experience, Jemal now says he tries to “erase” Leviev from his mind.
“He was hurting people. Hurting their finances, damaging them emotionally. He did that to me too.
“The guy played an emotional part with me, promising me things that he never delivered,” he says.
“It’s disgusting. Why would anyone do that?”
Mystery over business partner
Another key member of Leviev’s entourage, bodyguard Piotr, left the scammer after allegedly rowing with him about money.
A security expert claimed it is possible the hardman was also duped and had no idea about the level of deception deployed by his boss.
However, it appeared Leviev’s alleged business partner Avi knew about his pal’s fake identity.
The documentary makers discovered he had signed the document providing bail for Leveiv when he was arrested in Israel under his real name, Shimon Hayut.
The pair were also pictured together as children in photos seen by the team behind the Netflix doc.
Avi’s name appeared on almost all the flight details that Simon took and he also harassed some of the victims into providing money to his friend.
It is unclear if he was aware of his pal’s continual deception and defrauding of victims.
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