Who is The Tinder Swindler Simon Leviev’s Israeli girlfriend, Kate Konlin? What to know about the latest model squeeze of the Netflix documentary subject and fake diamond heir
- Russian model Polina was rumoured to be dating Simon Leviev – real name, Shimon Heyada Hayut – but Konlin claims that she’s with him, posting shots of them in a Rolls-Royce
- Felicity Morris produced Don’t F**k With Cats and directed The Tinder Swindler about victims Cecilie Fjellhøy, Pernilla Sjöholm and Ayleen Charlotte’s fight for justice
Simon Leviev, The Tinder Swindler in the title of the Netflix hit documentary film, has officially been banned from the dating app after years of scamming women out of millions of dollars. But it took an entire Don’t F**k with Cats-style project to finally bring the conman down and remove his swiping right privileges.
Still, Leviev – real name Shimon Heyada Hayut – appears to have found himself a new love: Israeli model Kate Konlin. Despite major coverage of Leviev in their homeland, Konlin – who has modelled designer brands for Harper’s Bazaar Hong Kong – has been seen travelling around with Leviev in a Rolls-Royce on his Instagram Stories.
Here’s what you need to know about her …
1. She’s Simon Leviev’s usual type
Cecilie Fjellhøy, Pernilla Sjöholm and Ayleen Charlotte are all attractive and successful women who Leviev scammed out of many thousands of dollars (US$185,000, US$103,000 and US$25,000 respectively).
Perhaps the creators of Don’t F**k With Cats, including its producer Felicity Morris who went on to direct The Tinder Swindler, should’ve called their two-hour documentary Don’t F**k With Women. In that disturbing case in Canada, it was women on Facebook, not the police, who tracked the killer down. With Leviev, the three women – Fjellhøy, Sjöholm and Charlotte – began to campaign to get him arrested and set up a GoFundMe page to recuperate some of their losses.
According to Esquire, Leviev had in fact been jailed in Finland in 2015 for swindling three other women. Released in 2017, he was jailed again in 2019, in Israel, for crimes including fraud that he committed there in the early 2010s. Sentenced to 15 months, he served only five, leaving prison early for good behaviour.