{"id":464218,"date":"2025-12-22T11:15:13","date_gmt":"2025-12-22T11:15:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/464218\/"},"modified":"2025-12-22T11:15:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-22T11:15:13","slug":"glamorous-l-a-model-targeted-rich-old-men-for-theft-police-say","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/464218\/","title":{"rendered":"Glamorous L.A. model targeted rich old men for theft, police say"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It was an invitation that lingerie model Amber Karis Bassick couldn\u2019t refuse \u2014 a sun-filled hotel stay on the Spanish isle of Ibiza, paid for by her new friend Adva Lavie, a men\u2019s magazine centerfold and social media influencer.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought that was really nice of her and sweet, and it\u2019d be a lot of fun,\u201d Bassick recalled of the offer.<\/p>\n

A willowy Los Angeles resident with dark hair and eyes, Lavie had long cultivated a reputation as a glamorous, jet-setting model<\/a> with an exotic background. <\/p>\n

Dressed in revealing outfits, Lavie posed in TikTok videos, Instagram posts, Penthouse photo spreads and other media. She boasted to podcast listeners and bikini contest judges that she was from Israel and a former member of the Israel Defense Forces.<\/p>\n

But behind the flashy, social media facade of luxury cars, private jets and model getaways in Vegas, there lurked something darker and predatory, according to Bassick and others<\/a>. <\/p>\n

It didn\u2019t take long for Bassick to wonder whether Lavie might have an ulterior motive for inviting her along.<\/p>\n

When Bassick arrived at the hotel, staff told her their room wasn\u2019t paid for, so she had to shell out about 2,000 euros to check in, she said. <\/p>\n

Then, when Lavie showed up to the hotel, she was being trailed by a taxi driver who demanded to be paid, Bassick said. Lavie claimed that her American Express card wasn\u2019t working in Europe and the airport money exchange was closed, so Bassick would have to pay the cab fare.<\/p>\n

What happened next \u201cwas just horrible,\u201d Bassick said. <\/p>\n

Lavie convinced her to stay out all night for days in an effort to attract older men and get them to pay for meals and transportation. When the men weren\u2019t paying attention, Lavie would snap photos of their credit cards, Bassick said. <\/p>\n

\u201cI thought this trip was a girl\u2019s trip to make content, but for [Lavie,] the whole trip was just to use me to attract her next victims,\u201d Bassick told The Times. \u201cAll she wanted to do was hunt for rich older men.\u201d <\/p>\n

Today, roughly six months later, Lavie wears an electronic monitor in home detention and faces a host of criminal allegations, including extortion, grand theft and first-degree burglary with a special circumstance of committing a violent crime against a vulnerable person, court documents say. <\/p>\n

Lavie has pleaded not guilty to the charges.<\/p>\n

The model first won international attention in October, when the Los Angeles County Sheriff\u2019s Department released a special bulletin<\/a> with Lavie\u2019s photo and physical description \u2014 5 feet 7 and 104 pounds \u2014 and encouraged possible victims to contact sheriff\u2019s detectives.<\/p>\n

Lavie \u2014 who authorities say also goes by the names Mia Ventura, Shoshana and Shana \u2014 had allegedly used dating apps and social media platforms to target older men across the county for theft. Investigators said that after posing as a girlfriend or companion, Lavie would burglarize the men\u2019s homes. <\/p>\n

The L.A. County district attorney\u2019s office filed charges against Lavie on Nov. 4, and Lavie turned herself over to authorities Nov. 6. The charges, according to investigators, stem from incidents involving five alleged victims. <\/p>\n

But since the Sheriff\u2019s Department released its bulletin, more than 10 other potential victims have come forward with allegations, according to Det. Angela Lopez. Alleged victims have also filed police reports against Lavie in Hermosa Beach; Henderson, Nev.; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; as well as France and Italy. <\/p>\n

In addition to older men she met online, Lavie allegedly stole from younger men and women, as well as businesses, according to Lopez. Lavie would allegedly target higher-end items, such as designer clothing and purses. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt wasn\u2019t just elderly men,\u201d Lopez said. \u201cIt evolved to … basically anyone she had an opportunity to steal from, she would steal from, whether it was male, female, business or whatnot.\u201d <\/p>\n

Lavie didn\u2019t respond to requests for comment and her attorney declined to comment. The Israeli Embassy would not comment on whether Lavie was a former member of the IDF. <\/p>\n

A Times reporter visited a Koreatown apartment believed to be associated with Lavie, but the woman who answered the door said she \u201cdidn\u2019t know\u201d if Lavie was home. A white Mercedes-Benz sedan that resembled one pictured in the sheriff\u2019s bulletin, and is believed to be used by Lavie, was also present on the property.<\/p>\n

Acquaintances and alleged victims say that in person, Lavie came off as confident and outspoken.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s got very chaotic energy, and she will disarm girls by calling them \u2018babe\u2019 and \u2018beautiful\u2019 and lying and saying that they\u2019re twin flames,\u201d said Meghan Syria, a model who alleges Lavie tried to access her bank accounts after borrowing her phone at an event.<\/p>\n

Lavie\u2019s self-assured demeanor was on display when she appeared on Michael Sartain\u2019s \u201cAccess Vegas\u201d podcast on election night 2024, where she expressed opinions on cryptocurrency, the war in Gaza, Palestinians and her preference for then-presidential candidate Donald Trump. <\/p>\n

\u201cHaving a strong masculine leader to the United States is so important, because a lot of countries are watching the U.S.,\u201d Lavie said on the podcast. \u201cWe are the most important country in the world and everybody knows that. I\u2019m so lucky to be living in this country.\u201d<\/p>\n

But it was during that same podcast that Lavie befuddled the podcast host and fellow guests when she twice walked away from her microphone and disappeared for at least 20 minutes, show participants said.<\/p>\n

Eventually, they said they began to suspect that Lavie had left the studio to rifle through their handbags and other belongings in the green room, and then returned to the show \u201ccalm as a cucumber,\u201d Sartain said in a later show.<\/p>\n

Guests discovered that they were missing credit cards and cash, they told The Times. <\/p>\n

When guest Eden Lynn discovered that two of her credit cards and $400 in cash were missing after the show, \u201cI called all my banks and reached out to [Sartain] and a couple of girls I made friends with on the podcast,\u201d Lynn said. \u201cI asked, \u2018Is your stuff missing too?\u2019\u201d <\/p>\n

A few weeks later, Lynn started getting charges on her Platinum AmEx from a Beverly Hills salon. She called up the salon and asked who made the appointment with her card. They told her they did a FaceTime consultation for hair extensions with a woman named Mia Ventura. <\/p>\n

The hair stylist sent Lynn screenshot photos from the FaceTime call, confirming that it was Lavie. Lynn ended up canceling her credit cards. She didn\u2019t report the theft to the police, she said, because all of the attempted credit card charges were refunded and there wasn\u2019t any way to prove the cash was stolen. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just really off-putting to me \u2014 scammers and thieves,\u201d Lynn said. \u201cI have zero respect for them. I think it\u2019s such a disgusting way to go about your life and treat other people.\u201d <\/p>\n

The experience also left an impression on podcast guest and social media influencer Alena Weigi, who also discovered one of her credit cards missing.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe\u2019s beautiful,\u201d she said of Lavie. \u201cBut despite all of that, something about her character is slightly masculine or it has an intensity to it.\u201d <\/p>\n

Lavie, once a prolific social media poster, has deleted many of her accounts in the wake of being charged, and is scheduled to appear in court again in January.<\/p>\n

Bassick, the Amsterdam-based model who made a disastrous trip to Ibiza with Lavie, said she is still shaken by the experience and has blocked Lavie from contacting her by phone or text. <\/p>\n

She said she recalls Lavie screaming at her when she decided to pack up and leave the hotel, but nothing could make her stay.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to take my suitcase and go because I didn\u2019t feel safe with her anymore, and I couldn\u2019t put up with her, with how she lives,\u201d Bassick said. \u201cShe doesn\u2019t eat anything. She runs on zero sleep. I don\u2019t know how she exists. It\u2019s scary to me.\u201d <\/p>\n

Times staff writer Gavin J. Quinton contributed to this report.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It was an invitation that lingerie model Amber Karis Bassick couldn\u2019t refuse \u2014 a sun-filled hotel stay on…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":464219,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5123],"tags":[211481,211477,1582,276,29418,871,211479,2961,211476,224,5337,26544,211482,4368,211478,12498,211480,8156,7307,18386],"class_list":{"0":"post-464218","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-los-angeles","8":"tag-angela-lopez","9":"tag-bassick","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-california","12":"tag-charge","13":"tag-credit-card","14":"tag-home-detention","15":"tag-la","16":"tag-lavie","17":"tag-los-angeles","18":"tag-losangeles","19":"tag-lynn","20":"tag-michael-sartain","21":"tag-podcast","22":"tag-rich-old-man","23":"tag-sheriff","24":"tag-special-bulletin","25":"tag-theft","26":"tag-victim","27":"tag-young-woman"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464218","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=464218"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/464218\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/464219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=464218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=464218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=464218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}