These days, the world can’t seem to stop talking about con artists thanks to Netflix’s back-to-back jackpots: The Tinder Swindler and Inventing Anna . The first is about Israeli con man Shimon Hayut, who is shown to have conned several European women he met on the dating app, leaving them with harrowing debts after posing as the son of Israeli diamond conglomerate Lev Leviev. While Shimon’s isn’t really a relation, the Leviev family is a real deal with businesses that span worldwide and their American branch is currently helmed by his daughter and businesswoman Chagit Leviev-Sofiev. The diamond heiress is one of the nine children of oligarch Lev and Olga Leviev. Her father is known as the “King of Diamonds” and has a reported net worth of US$1 billion dollars. He owns “an integrated diamond outfit” with mines in South Africa and a jewellery boutique in New York, according to Forbes . His company Lev Leviev Diamonds (LLD) is one of the world’s largest diamond manufacturers and distributors. Leviev-Sofiev currently resides in New York City and heads the Leviev Group USA, among other side businesses and philanthropic acts under her belt. So, what do we know about her? 5 things to know about Thai billionaire Nualphan Lamsam She wants to make it on her own The businesswoman grew up in Israel and Belgium before relocating to New York City in 2012. She started her career as a financial adviser at Deloitte Brightman Almagor in Israel and had a stint at the board of directors of Fox-Wisel. “I knew that I was eventually going to join my father, but I didn’t want to run right in and people were telling me, ‘This girl came from college. She doesn’t know anything. She expects everything’. I wanted to avoid that,” she said during a podcast interview with PTex Group in 2020. Before relocating, Leviev-Sofiev has already worked for her father as a CFO for another holding company. She was asked to expand the family business in the states, however, things didn’t start out smoothly as she needed some time for adjustment. “Unfortunately, I was not welcomed in the businesses and that’s when I understood that they were not run in a certain way that we assumed they were,” she told PTex. She marched on and said that she learns the business market as she goes. “There’s no school in the world that can train you running an empire or running a small company or becoming a real entrepreneur.” 6 facts about A$AP Rocky, father to Rihanna’s first child Her business is not strictly diamonds The conglomerate family doesn’t only deal in diamonds (DeBeers diamond, that is), as the Leviev Group also has its hands on real estate, mining, energy and jewellery. “We had a massive operation here of diamonds in the US. We control six companies of diamonds, wholesale and retail,” she said in the podcast. In addition, Leviev-Sofiev has also managed her dad’s prominent real estate firm Africa Israel USA since 2013. “I didn’t know what I was getting into. I thought that I didn’t want to take too much on myself because I was under a lot of pressure already on the diamond side of the business, but I did it,” she told the podcast. After taking charge, she oversaw the management and disposition of US$1 billion of the company’s assets in the US and was responsible for selling part of the 18-storey Times Square Building, at 229 West 43rd Street, to the Kushner Companies for US$300 million in 2015. According to Reuters , the Levievs bought the iconic building from real estate investment firm Tishman Speyer for US$525 million in 2007. She is an philanthropist and mother of four Chagit is married to American Greg Sofiev with whom she shares four children. Her husband currently works with her, serving as the CEO of the LLD Diamonds USA. He was once the president of GSD Diamonds according to his own LinkedIn profile. Outside work, she is also involved in several non-profit organisations that focus on Jewish education and women empowerment. When asked how she got into charity, she credited her father for opening her eyes to the act of giving. “They have built hundreds and hundreds of schools, community centres, and mikvahs and orphanages throughout Europe,” she said in an interview and added that charity is not only for the wealthy. “Charity is you give 10 per cent of what you make. It’s not yours. The 10 per cent is not yours.” Meet Victoria and David Beckham’s soon-to-be in-laws, the Peltz family Her family has not proved scandal free While her family is no stranger to controversy thanks to their diamond mining business, Leviev-Sofiev’s brothers made serious headlines years ago. Zevulun Leviev was among six suspects in a smuggling ring scandal in 2018, alongside his uncle Moshe, accused of bringing an estimated US$80 million worth of diamonds into Israel. Their lawyers refuted the claims and said they were “baseless”, reports The Sun . Meanwhile, her brother Shalom Leviev was accused by his ex-wife of physical, emotional and sexual violence. He was also declared bankrupt in July 2019 after Bank Leumi filed a suit against him and his ex-wife. Her connection to the Trumps After her Times Square Building deal, the diamond heiress seemed to keep in close touch with Jared Kushner and wife Ivanka Trump . The three of them were pictured together in the 2015 Met Gala after party. Recently, Leviev-Sofiev bought a 104-square-metre condo in Trump Tower for US$1.42 million, as reported by New York Post . Her father Lev Leviev is also said to be a close friend of Vladimir Putin and Donald Trump. Want more stories like this? 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