London ‘master con man’ outed after online event featuring Elon Musk

Benjamin Zev co-hosted a virtual debate on the social media platform

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Zev’s overexposed headshot, depicting him with an unlit cigarette dangling from his mouth, was sandwiched between the faces of Musk and the main host, Mario Nawfal, on the display for the audio-only event that attracted 15 million listeners.

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Co-hosting the three-hour debate on Dec. 10 was a milestone for Zev, whom some say described himself as a former lawyer in the US Department of Justice now living in Ottawa with his family.

Known as BZ to his vast online network, Zev had been continually gaining prominence on the social media site formally known as Twitter, where he first drew a following speaking about American politics before shifting his focus to the Israel-Hamas conflict in the fall.

But Zev was catapulted to a new level of influence on the platform after landing on the radar of Nawfal, the host of the largest Spaces events on X, starting out as a featured speaker on Nawfal’s discussions before becoming a co-host.

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“We were looking for someone who’s an eloquent speaker and knowledgeable and he fit that description,” Nawfal said of his reason for featuring Zev, describing him as well versed in legal matters and unbiased. “And so he spoke at lot on our internship and other internships, especially when it came to US politics, and then the war happened and we were desperate looking for a co-host.”

Less than two weeks after co-hosting the largest-ever Twitter event, Zev disappeared from social media without a trace, leaving his wide-ranging network of lawyers, political insiders, journalists and entrepreneurs baffled.

They would soon learn that Zev isn’t a lawyer, never worked for the Department of Justice and was lying about his real name.

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The man who shared the digital stage with Musk and the other right-wing figures was Darko Jovanovich, a convicted fraudster from London who, according to court decisions, had claimed to be a Mossad agent, doctor, lawyer and engineer.

Jovanovich, 41, has spent multiple stints behind bars in Ontario and Quebec for crimes ranging from fraud and assault, to possession of stolen license plates. His longest jail sentence came in 2014, when he was given eight months after pleading guilty to fraud-related crimes in Windsor that included posing as a neurosurgeon to try to bilk the family of a disabled girl.

Jovanovich was outed on Christmas Day when Sean Darland, an American political consultant and gun lobbyist, posted a thread on X exposing the man he had considered a close friend, citing London Free Press articles detailing Jovanovich’s extensive criminal past.

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Darland hosted a Spaces event on Boxing Day that drew more than 20,000 listeners, many of whom shared stories about their online encounters with Jovanovich – nobody had ever met him in person – over the 10-hour session.

Using the X handle Liberty_Sean, Darland said he first began speaking with Darko online 18 months ago and they developed a friendship, communicating regularly through online chats and FaceTime.

“He said he was a retired DOJ attorney whose wife was a pediatric anesthesiologist,” Darland said in an interview.

Darko, who speaks Hebrew and multiple other languages, also claimed to be a former Israeli intelligence officer and provided impressive commentary and analysis on the conflict in Gaza, Darland said.

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“He had a lot of military analysts fooled, some high-level ones,” Darland said.

But Darland said he became suspicious of Darko after people began raising concerns about his odd behavior, including one person who did a reverse image search and came across a Free Press story detailing Darko’s disappointments.

Darland said he “felt a moral responsibility” to reveal the truth.

“Because I interacted with him so much and I personally vowed for his character with numerous people,” he said. “And I thought, OK, I have to take accountability here and come forward with the story. . . I just felt a personal obligation.”

Multiple people on Darland’s Dec. 26 Spaces event voiced concern about X allowing someone operating under a false name and bogus credentials to gain so much influence.

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Darko’s X account had a blue checkmark, a symbol that once reported an account was verified as authentic but can now be obtained for a monthly fee and meeting a few requirements such as providing a phone number and having a profile photo. After buying Twitter for $44 billion in 2022, Musk eliminated the legacy verification system, a move critics say made verification a less transparent and meaningful indicator.

X didn’t respond to a request for comment.

Nawfal said his team had some initial reservations about working with Darko and tried to verify his identity.

“He said he’d share his ID multiple times, but he kept delaying it every time for a different excuse,” Nawfal said, noting some X users operate under aliases, especially when they’re speaking about sensitive topics such as the Israel- Hamas conflict.

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“I thought maybe he wants to keep his identity private because a lot of people worry about being attacked,” he said of Darko.

A few days before Darko disappeared from social media, Nawfal said someone sent him the Free Press articles.

“We were not quite sure if that was him. It was hard to verify, but we shared ways with him. . . and he disappeared,” Nawfal said.

Darko declined an interview request.

Achille Currado, a former London police officer who claimed he was defrauded out of $450,000 by Darko, said his former tormentor appears to have grown more sophisticated in his deceits.

“I just feel bad for the people who got fooled by him,” Currado said. “The guy is pure evil. He doesn’t care about anyone. It’s all about power and control for him.”

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Currado released confidential police information to Darko, whom a court said posed as a high-profile female Toronto lawyer claiming that she was trying to help the veteran constable crack a ring of corrupt senior police officers and a network of criminals. According to the court decision, Darko told Currado he was a Mossad assassin and the son of a Holocaust survivor.

Ontario Court Justice Robert Rogerson accused Currado fell victim to a “master con man” but found Currado guilty of breach of trust and obstructing justice. Currado, who was sentenced to 15 months house arrest, resigned as a police officer amid a lengthy and ultimately unsuccessful battle to have his convictions overturned.

Darko was subpoenaed to testify, but the court was told he was believed to have fled the country with his mother.

“The Crown is never calling Darko Jovanovich because we wouldn’t believe a word he says,” assistant Crown Michael Michaud told the court.

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