Adva Lavie: Model Thief

0:05There's a lot more to Adva Lavi than meets the eye. Adva is tall, thin, with long dark hair and big brown eyes. To say she's pretty would be an understatement because she's a total head turner. She's striking. She's tall, has a beautiful figure. You wouldn't know by looking at her that before she turned 20, Adva had been through hell and back. I hated my life, hated myself, I felt like a prisoner. I was like, I can't wait to move to a different country and beat the hell out of here. All Adva ever wanted was her own freedom. And when she finally got it, she embraced it completely. She forged her own path, doing something that very few others from her hometown of Jerusalem had ever done.

1:04Adva became one of the world's top adult entertainers. I'm not ashamed of it. I'm proud of it. I'm proud of being so independent. Like I just decide what I want to do and I do it and it makes me money. Nobody tells me what to do. But as Adva gained wealth and power in her field, she started craving even more. No amount of wealth was enough for her and nothing could stop her from getting what she wanted. Soon, the Playboy Bunny and Penthouse Pet developed a dark secret. I was surprised at the severity of it. I was surprised at the grandeur. It seemed pretty blatant in your face. As an award-winning adult entertainer myself, I haven't seen anything draw as much attention.

1:57She actually is a career criminal.

2:08This is The Opportunist, an original podcast from Podcast One. I'm Sarah James McLaughlin. And just a note before we get started, this episode contains discussion of explicit and sexual content. Today, we're digging into the rise and fall of Adva Lavi, the woman who claims to be the first Israeli OnlyFans star. Adva came to the U.S. with dreams of earning her own wealth and independence. But the more success she gained, the faster her greed spiraled. Now the woman who once longed for freedom and the fast life is tied down with an ankle monitor awaiting her next court date in L.A.

3:11Adva Lavi was born and raised in Jerusalem to an Orthodox Jewish family. They were extremely religious and her upbringing was very strict. Here's Adva on the podcast Holly Randall Unfiltered, describing the culture she grew up in. I come from the most strict community of Judaism, like Orthodox. I came from a really religious family. So there was a lot of more open-minded Jewish people. My dad was not. You're not allowed to talk to men or touch men. Even when you're a teenager, you cannot have a boyfriend. You study the Bible every day. You dress up very covered. You pray to God three times a day and you read the Bible every day.

3:56On Saturdays, you don't touch any electronics, you don't drive. So you do all the Judaism, 100 % of it, fully. It's very strict and it's a lot of rules of you will go to hell and your soul will go to the devil if you don't do what God wants you to do, which is keeping your body to your husband. There was one person in Adva's life who refused to live under the strict code, and that was her own mother. Her mom was a lot less conservative than her dad, which caused problems in their marriage. He believed it was her job to give him children and do all the domestic work. For a while, Adva's mom tried to go along with it.

4:42But after she had three babies in three years, she wanted to give her body a break. But her husband said no. If she wanted to be his wife, she had to keep getting pregnant. So she stopped being his wife. Adva was three when her parents divorced. She stayed close to her mother, but her father had most of the say in how she was raised. He was set on his daughter becoming the kind of pious, obedient woman he felt her mother never was. When Adva reached her teens, he sent her to an all-girls boarding school. She was completely closed off from the rest of the world, which was exactly what her dad wanted.

5:28In his mind, he was helping her avoid sinful temptations. But as a 14-year-old, there was pretty much only one thing on Adva's mind, her burgeoning sexuality. She had a lot of pent-up feelings that she couldn't act on, and after she discovered masturbation, she started spending a lot of time behind her locked bedroom door. However, Atva wasn't just exploring her own body. She was curious about the world, so for a lot of the time she spent locked in her room, she'd go online and research what it was like to visit different countries. Do not get me wrong, I love my family, I love my friends, I love the country, but I do not belong there.

6:18And it's very, very hard to live like that. It's a lot of stress and it's a lot of pretending to be someone you're not and shutting down your own wants and beliefs. And it's horrible. Adva had to find ways to fit in with her surroundings. She had no choice. So she maintained certain religious practices, like praying three times a day, studying the Hebrew religious text, and observing Shabbat every weekend. For Anva, having a secret life was just something she had to do until she could strike out on her own. And even after she graduated high school, it would still be a while before she could forge her own path.

7:01because next she began her mandatory two-year service with the Israeli military, which turned out to be a lot like boarding school. So you turn 18, a woman do two years of service. They give you a gun. I had an M16. It's a very long gun and you kind of wear it like this on your shoulder. Every day you have to wake up in the morning and clean it. Every morning they make sure that your bed is organized and they do all the daily tasks that you have to do. they come they lick their pinky and they check that your weapon is clean and if not you have to do 20 push-ups and you're being kind of like punished to obey that's basic training and as an 18 year old i was a baby i was a kid turning into a woman that was like real quick because you have to feed yourself learn how to you survive in certain like survival methods that you didn't know exist in you.

7:58Once again, Adva was living each day under heavy scrutiny, but she adapted quickly and made the most out of it. All of those push-ups made her stronger. And once she was done with basic training, she became a fitness trainer for paramedics whose job it was to rescue injured soldiers from the battlefield. I was in a really good shape. Like I became very independent and Adva's personal growth wasn't just the result of working out, either. She was pushed to her absolute limit as a soldier. The work was grueling. Adva couldn't wait to get out of the military. Then, when she had about a year left, she found something that made it all worthwhile.

8:47Her first boyfriend. It was something she'd wanted for a long time, but right away, the strict religious culture made things pretty tough for them. We started dating for about, I would say, almost a year. And we didn't even kiss, like nine months. And I'm like, so horny. And I couldn't do anything about it. And he could not do anything about it. We were scared of our families or the community, what people would say. And then one day I just, I kind of begged them to just, let's just do it. I can't wait anymore. And I was the one who initiated her first time. Adva had been waiting her whole life for this.

9:28And once it happened, her whole life fell apart. What should have been a romantic, happy time for them spiraled into guilt and fear. It was the feelings, the thoughts, the shame. You feel so ashamed that you've done something wrong. So it was really hard on both of us. All the shame formed a rift between them, and Adva and her boyfriend broke up. Unfortunately, that didn't stop her parents from finding out that she'd had sex. And her dad was livid. He said she'd never be able to find a husband if people knew she was no longer a virgin and told her she had to get surgery to repair her hymen. But Adva didn't want surgery.

10:21She liked her body just the way it was. At the same time, she knew the decision wouldn't be up to her, not if she continued living in her conservative, hyper-religious community. I hated my life, hated myself, I felt like a prisoner. I was like, I can't wait to move to a different country and beat the hell out of here. So when Adva was 20 years old, she packed her bags and moved to New York City. It was the start of a brand new chapter for her, one that would open a ton of doors. And once Adva realized just how many opportunities were laid before her, she wanted it all. She was going to get what she wanted, and no one could stop her.

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12:26When Adva Lavi was 20 years old, she left her hometown of Jerusalem and headed to the Big Apple. All she'd ever wanted was to see the world, especially the United States. Now she wasn't just going to see it, she was going to fully embrace it. At the time, Adva barely spoke any English, but everyone she met was happy to help her learn. including strangers. If she didn't know the word for something, she'd Google the picture of it so they could teach her how to say it. She found her stride pretty quickly. And once she learned enough English, Adva got a job as a flight attendant. She finally got to travel all over the world, just like she'd always wanted.

13:16She was completely free. And that was just the start of the new experiences Adva got to embrace. Because when it came to dating and sex, New York was a lot different than what she was used to. Here she is on the podcast, Holly Randall Unfiltered. I was very curious and I wanted to try out things that I've never tried. So when you come to, it's kind of like you go to the mall and you have like endless possibilities for shopping. That's how I felt when I moved here. Everyone is available to want to sexually involve with me. Adva was not only having a good time dating around and experimenting sexually, but she also realized she was bisexual.

14:04Now that she had the freedom to explore, she took full advantage. She was always out on the town meeting new people and having fun. Adva was living her best life, and she wanted everyone to know it. Whether it was nights in New York or international excursions, she started posting all her adventures on Instagram. She wanted people to know that she was in charge of herself, no one else. She could go whenever, do whatever, and express herself however she wanted. For Adva, expressing herself often meant flaunting her beauty. She posted pictures of herself with a full face of makeup, wearing revealing outfits, or sitting poolside in a bikini.

14:56It was liberating. But there was a downside. Adva's dad, and other people she knew from back home, disapproved of how she was presenting herself online. Her dad wasn't just mad about the photos, either. He was mad that she had a job and still wasn't married. In his opinion, she should have had at least three kids by now. Adva's mom, on the other hand, was supportive of her. She'd always been the more open-minded one, and she was just glad her daughter was happy. Lots of other people love seeing Adva thrive too. As a beautiful woman traveling all over the world, it was easy for Adva to rack up a few thousand followers.

15:44and then a few thousand more. Her follower count kept growing until eventually it reached to more than 50 ,000. She loved all the attention. She was finally able to be herself and be celebrated for it. Everything was coming up Adva. Things got even better when she visited LA for work and met someone she really liked, a guy named nick he was in the sex work industry which adva found alluring they started dating but adva didn't want to be tied down and nick was cool with that we started in threesomes and stuff and then some of the girls kind of liked me more sometimes so i kind of met up with him alone and nick was very open-minded about it he's like do whatever you want which was very surprising because where I'm from, men control their woman.

16:41And then my man here in the U.S., he's super open-minded. He lets me do what I want. You can go here. You can travel there. Most of the times I do stuff without him and he completely trusts me. We're super open-minded and super open relationship. But Anva's life wasn't all fun and games. When the COVID-19 pandemic rolled around, she lost her job as a flight attendant. She moved to L.A. to be closer to Nick. which she was happy about, but she also had to find a new way to make a living. Fortunately, she had some Instagram fame now, and that made it easy for her to transition into a career as a bikini model.

17:23She started making pretty good money, about$100 an hour. But models are a dime a dozen in LA, and Adva had to think long-term. She wanted to build serious wealth. And one day, someone gave her exactly what she needed. A photographer told her she could be making even more money if she started posting on OnlyFans. For those who don't know, OnlyFans is a subscriber-based photo and video sharing platform. The photographer told Adva that if she started posting content on OnlyFans, she could set her own hours and rate. She'd be completely in charge of herself, just like she'd always wanted. However, OnlyFans is mostly known as a site to buy and sell adult content.

18:20And Adva was a little unsure about breaking into sex work. What if people back home found out? The photographer reassured Adva she would be in charge of her own page. So if she only wanted to post feet pics, for example, then that's all she had to do. But even that would be more lucrative than booking fashion shoots at a flat rate. Adva liked the sound of that. Plus, her boyfriend Nick was involved with sex work too, so he could help show her the ropes. She thought feet pics would be a good place to start. She wouldn't have to show her face or share her real name. So in April 2020, Adva launched an OnlyFans account under an alias, which is something a lot of people on the platform do, and started posting pictures and videos of her feet.

19:17Pretty soon, money started trickling in. Then it was rolling in and Adva started seeing things differently. I'm not ashamed of it. I'm proud of it. I'm proud of being so independent to a point where I can own stocks. I can own crypto. I can buy a house. I can buy a car. I can buy jewelry. I don't need to struggle for money. I can pay my bills on time. And, you know, I started at a very young age. So you just create wealth. And if you treat your money right and invest the right investments from doing OnlyFans, I think it's a really respectful job, as long as you're not being forced to do anything you don't want.

19:54Now that Adva had financial freedom, she finally had all the power over her own life. No one could tell her what to do. And she was never going to let anyone gain control of her ever again. But in order to do that, she'd have to start pushing some boundaries. And then I realized, wait, if I make this amount of money for just showing my feet, what can I make out of showing my boobs or showing my face and show who I am? She wasn't showing everything. And still, Adva was an overnight sensation. She watched her followers on Instagram grow to 250 ,000. It was surprising to say the least. Sure, she was beautiful.

20:50Gorgeous, really. But so were all the women on OnlyFans. That's when Adva realized the true reason behind her sudden fame. It was a huge deal in Israel when they found out who I am, that I'm Israeli. It went all over the newspapers, all over the news, all over the media. I was actually on the global news. As it turned out, Adva wasn't just famous back home. She was infamous. It said in Hebrew that now I'm a porn star. Adva had never had sex on camera, but to certain media outlets, she may as well have been filming pornography. And people back home were not happy when they heard the news. comments were mean a lot of reports my instagram was shutting down every week because the community there did not like what i do the only thing i cared about was my family um it was my dad texting me the worst text ever was almost my birthday that month when it got huge and he was like you're the biggest disappointment ever i never want you to be my daughter i don't want to talk to you ever again All the backlash took a huge emotional toll on Adva.

22:07But her mom told her to keep her head up and asked Adva if she was happy. Adva realized she was. And that she didn't need anyone in her life who was only going to judge her. There were plenty of people willing to support her. Not just her mom, boyfriend, and all the new friends she was making, but all the subscribers she was pulling in. Her OnlyFans feed was blowing up. And Adva just kept seeing dollar signs. First, she made the most of the media firestorm. She touted the fact that she was, in her words, the first Israeli woman to become an OnlyFans star. Then, just like before, she realized if she offered more explicit content, she could make even more money.

23:02So she and her boyfriend started having sex on camera. After that, they started inviting other women to join them too. The more Adva offered her subscribers, the more it paid off. Eventually, she wasn't just making money on OnlyFans. men started reaching out to her on social media, asking to be financially dominated. Financial domination is a sexual fetish. Basically, men wanted to spend money on Adva and lavish her with gifts. And she wouldn't even have to be physically intimate with them. They got off on simply buying her things. Some men sent her money, others she met in person to go on shopping sprees with.

23:53Soon, Adva was flaunting luxury handbags and designer jewelry on social media. She had fresh manicures and spa treatments every week, all of which helped her look better on camera when she filmed for OnlyFans. It was a snowball effect, and it was all so easy, especially because some of the men even started paying her monthly allowances. At the beginning, I felt kind of bad. I was like, I don't want to take his paycheck. I feel so bad. But then I started realizing if I don't take his money, he will go give it to somebody else. So Adva embraced her new profession. She built good relationships with her clients.

24:38And pretty soon, she started offering more to some of her regulars. Adva agreed to provide escort services to some of her most high-paying customers. That often meant visiting them at home. And when Adva stepped into her clients' swanky, luxurious houses, she saw an opportunity. She posed as a girlfriend or travel companion, then stole cash, credit cards, and high-end designer items. When her clients' backs were turned, Adva swiped whatever she wanted from their homes. She did this at least 10 times that we know of so far. Not only that, but she'd started doing the same thing to other sex workers and models at events when their backs were turned.

25:29And it seems like she did it purely for the thrill, because she certainly didn't need the money. Adva's client base hadn't been the only thing growing over the last couple of years. Her fame was growing too. As the first Israeli OnlyFans star, she was a hot commodity. She was no longer just another bikini model. She was landing serious gigs, like being on the cover of Playboy and Penthouse magazines. At the same time, the fact that she didn't need to steal was probably the perfect cover. And that wasn't the only reason Adva was able to get away with it. To get a little insight into the world she was operating within, we spoke to controversial author and Las Vegas-based podcast host, Rolo Tomasi.

26:25Because apparently these are some pretty wealthy guys and would kind of like fall into line with the circles that she runs in. She'd basically rob them and then excuse herself from there. And these guys didn't want to say anything about it for the longest time because it was embarrassing, obviously. Or maybe if they were married, they didn't want their wives to find out or they didn't want their business colleagues to find out either. They don't want to come forward and say, hey, I just got robbed by this chick right here. Rolo co-hosts a show called Access Vegas, where he and his co-host, Michael Sartain, sit down with a group of women.

27:03many of whom are models or in the sex work industry, and debate topics and other social issues connected to masculinity and traditional gender roles. We just have conversations about sex, about dating, about the nature of men, nature of women, intersexual dynamics, those kinds of things. And it tends to be pretty entertaining because most of the girls that we get on the show are friends of ours or they're people that we know from Las Vegas. They can be anything from FHM models, maximum cover models, to OnlyFans, girls, to commercial pornography. So it's not just one type of girl. That's how Rolo first met Adva.

27:45In November 2024, she joined the panel for their election night live show. At the time, she was using this stage name Mia Ventura. And no one there knew she'd been robbing her clients, at least not yet. It was the first time we had her on. She was friends with some of the girls that we've had on the show before. Rolo thought Adva fit the mold of their typical guest, and their interactions started out business as usual. Our studio is on the fourth floor of this apartment complex. It's a secure site, so that means if the girls come in, I have to go down and let them in and then walk them up to the apartment.

28:27I brought her up through the elevator and everything, and she was just very personable. I would dare say even a little bit flirtatious and stuff. Then I get her into the studio and she was very curious about the studio because she was talking about how she wanted to do a podcast and how we go about producing the show. She wanted to figure out what the layout of the studio was. So I gave her the tour. Adva told Rulo she was interested in starting her own podcast, but it turned out she had ulterior motives. I didn't realize at the time, but she was just sort of seeing entry and exit routes, I guess.

29:08For the time being, Rolo didn't notice anything unusual, so he led Adva into the main studio where the other guests were seated. We spoke to another one of the guests who was there that night. Her name is Alina, and she's an adult entertainer and model from Las Vegas. she walks into the studio wearing a long black dress she was one of the last hosts to come in she's striking she's tall has a beautiful figure but what i noticed was the amount of cartier that she was wearing she was decked out in jewelry diamonds expensive things I believe she also had a Chanel back on her. Like a lot of podcasts these days, Access Vegas also records on camera.

30:03So it makes sense that a guest would want to look nice. But all the other women were also in the same line of work as Adva. And even they were struck by how decked out she was. She wasn't really bragging, per se. It was very casual. It was an everyday thing. Once Adva got settled in, the show began. Probably for the first hour of the actual show, she was very involved in the conversation. She was talking about her history and her past. So she was very involved and very personal, friendly, very upfront about things. Adva talked for a while about how her past informed her views on politics. And she seemed to get positive reactions from the other guests.

30:55It's important to me to definitely speak about my country as well as someone who is definitely going to be voting Republican probably most of my years in the U.S. And finally getting my American passport, which took me six years doing it legally. I have to talk about my country because I feel obligated to my people. And it wasn't until later that I realized a lot of it was a cover story.

31:22soon the evening took a bizarre turn within hours people saw a side to adva they never expected