Cecilie Fjellhoy thought she had been met by her prince charming in the beginning.
just How A israeli conman’s alleged victim states he swindled her out of $200K
Cecilie Fjellhoy thought she had been met by her prince charming whenever she matched on Tinder with Simon Leviev.
Fjellhoy, a 29-year-old Norwegian masters pupil located in London, stated she ended up being swept off her legs on the very very first date, including a plane that is private to Bulgaria. Fjellhoy said Leviev informed her he had been A israeli millionaire who called himself the “Prince of Diamonds.”
“I happened to be texting my buddies in the time that is same in an organization talk exactly like, ‘I do not understand what’s happening,'” she stated.
But just what started being a storybook love changed into a real-life nightmare, Fjellhoy said – one that delivered her into debt and fearing on her security. It really is a cautionary story in the risks of online dating sites.
“we hate him, he is therefore terrible,” she stated. “we have always been simply sick and tired of crying concerning this you realize? It is simply therefore painful. I recently hate myself that i did so this.”
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Leviev came to be Shimon Hayut, a 28-year-old convicted con-man that is israeli served 36 months in Finnish jail for defrauding a few feamales in purchase to invest in their luxurious life style of personal jets and quick vehicles, which Fjellhoy said he adored to ts escort phoenix demonstrate down.
Fjellhoy said Hayut defrauded her out of a lot more than $200,000, finding by by herself lulled into a sense that is false of by their grand romantic gestures and flowery declarations of love. She stated she dropped victim to “confidence fraudulence.”
In June, Hayut had been arrested in Greece for making use of a false passport carrying out a joint procedure between Interpol and Israeli police.
Outside of court Hayut told reporters from VG, a Norwegian socket that first broke the tale, “we will get returning to Israel, [which] is my house nation, and I also will face what’s waiting in my situation here and that is it, and we will sort every thing down. [Whatever] dilemmas we will sort it down in court. that people have actually,”
He now faces extradition to Israel, where he had been indicted last year on theft, forgery and fraud costs unrelated to Fjellhoy but he fled the nation before he had been set to face test.
Based on the U.S. Federal Trade Commission, internet-facilitated relationship frauds, also referred to as confidence fraudulence, could be the no. 1 style of customer fraudulence within the U.S. around the globe, victims of self- confidence fraudulence lose huge amounts of bucks every year, based on the FBI.
Fjellhoy, whom shared her tale with “Nightline” early in the day this present year, stated her love with Hayut started away innocently sufficient.
“this is the very first time where we felt like, ‘Oh my god I really like him. Plus it seems which he actually likes me personally straight back aswell,'” She stated. “He’s texting and then he’s calling in which he generally seems to genuinely wish to get acquainted with me, and I also think i’m a little for that.”
She stated he informed her he required huge amounts of cash because he’d “an entire group” he necessary to book routes and resorts for. Fjellhoy said she assumed, because of their fancy garments and life style, he previously cash and would spend her straight back.
“You did not also think because you were so sure that this guy and the people that you had met was part of the LLD Diamonds and that the money existed,” she said that it was a problem when you were taking up the loans. “as he stated, ‘Everything’s likely to be fine following this ‘ and then it didn’t week. Therefore just ‘one more week’ and then ‘one more week.’ Therefore in the long run you nearly you did not also understand just how money that is much really [owed].”
And fundamentally, Fjelljoy stated, she was at love with him.
“that is the most difficult section of it … when I recognized which he was not [who] he said he had been,” she stated. “That the individual that we thought that I knew and adored, he previously simply done [something] within the many wicked way.”
As soon as she recognized that the person she enjoyed had taken the cash and run was “this kind of shock,” she stated.
“we very nearly wished to provide,” she stated. “It ended up being the very first time during my life that I’d gotten this type of surprise that my own body physically ended up being telling me that, ‘OK your life is ruined,’ everything came crashing down around me personally.”
Fjellhoy alleged that Hayut proceeded to operate the exact same scheme to attract other ladies into their orbit until their June arrest.
“I experienced to be placed as a medical center. Psychiatric ward. Due to suicidal ideas because we thought my entire life ended up being over, like i did not see an easy method away,” she stated. “You’ve lost the man you’re dating but he did not simply dump you, he never ever existed, he had been never ever the man you’re dating.”
Fjellhoy filed a study aided by the Metro Police in London, whom declined “Nightline’s” ask for remark. Israeli authorities additionally declined to comment with this report.
Hayut told “Nightline” in might which he ended up being innocent. In a text, he stated, “there’s nothing here simply [a] loan between friends that went southfor my entire life they got high priced presents and every thing, Or in other words silver diggers, once I ask assistance they consented to assist plus they realize that We have some dilemmas I didn’t run from no one it’s all fake news and lies.… she decided to loan me personally the cash after which she disappeared… before we [were]able to pay straight back… they utilized me”
For the time being, Fjellhoy continues to be in London and it is wanting to reconstruct her life. She told “Nightline” via text that the headlines of Hayut’s arrest ended up being “really amazing” and that she thinks the news attention had been a key point in resulting in their capture.