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Former Wah!Banana Actor Lev Panfilov on Trial For Raping Woman He Met On Tinder App

2023-05-16 , 5:51 pm

Falling head over heels for someone on a dating app?

Nah, it’s more likely you’ll fall head over heels while trying to run away from someone you met on a dating app.

A former Wah!Banana actor’s ongoing trial proves to us why it’ll be so.

Former Wah!Banana Actor Lev Panfilov On Trial for Various Sexual Offences

Lev Panfilov, a former scriptwriter-actor at the local Youtube channel Wah!Banana is currently on trial for a laundry list of sexual offences.

Eh, hello, this one not collecting Pokémon, okay.

On Tuesday (16 May), the 27-year-old, who was originally from Russia, claimed trial to four charges of molesting, sexually assaulting and raping a then 30-year-old woman he met on Tinder two years ago.

Regardless, the TikToker better hopes that his acting and scriptwriting experience will be helpful for whatever case he may be running at trial. His lawyers, Anil Balchandani and Ashwin Ganapathy, should also hope luck’s on their side.

The prosecution is calling not one, not two, but 14 witnesses to prove their case against Panfilov.

If convicted of rape, the 27-year-old can be sentenced to a maximum of 20 years’ jail and fined or caned. The punishments for sexual assault by penetration are the same.

If convicted of molestation, he can be sentenced to a maximum of two years’ jail, fined, caned or any combination of these punishments.

Woman Matched With Panfilov on Tinder to Get Advice for Scriptwriting

We all install dating apps for different reasons—some of us are looking for love, while the rest want to meet new people.

The then 30-year-old woman belonged to the latter group. She came across Panfilov on Tinder, saw that he was a scriptwriter, and decided to swipe right on him, knowing she could get his advice on a script she was working on.

Subsequently, the pair talked, clicked, went on a date, finished her script, fell in love and lived happily ever after. Except, no, this was not what happened.

Instead, what happened was a little more like this: The pair talked, clicked, went on a date, and Panfilov proceeded to ruin this woman’s life.

Taking her breath away, but in the worst way possible.

Anyway, the two decided to meet in person on 12 January 2021 at Roberston Quay’s Wine Connection to work on the woman’s script over dinner.

If the story ended here, it would have been sweet. Unfortunately, it doesn’t.

Want to Head Back to My Place?

When the restaurant was closing, the former Wah!Banana scriptwriter-actor suggested the pair head back to his place to continue working on the woman’s script. He stayed in a River Valley condominium unit with two roommates.

The pair continued working on the woman’s script for a while. But in a moment, Panfilov was about to lay all his cards on the table.

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Out of the blue, Panfilov forced a kiss on the woman, molested, sexually assaulted and raped her. This was despite knowing he did not have her consent—she had repeatedly begged him to stop.

He went in for what he thought was the “kill”, but little did he know this would be what would kill his reputation instead.

Panfilov Asked Woman to Leave Afterwards; Sent Her Home on a Private Hire

When he was done with her, he asked the woman to leave and booked her a private hire car home.

Yet, her problems didn’t end there.

In the days following the alleged incident, the pain in her lower abdominal region was so severe that she had to seek medical treatment. She was also unsure whether she should lodge a police report.

Only when her mother saw her sobbing in her room nearly a week after the alleged incident did the woman finally decide to lodge a police report. Her mother also accompanied her to the KK Women’s and Children’s Hospital.

Not the First Wah!Banana Actor to be Charged for Sexual Offences

Currently, Panfilov works as a consulting manager at a recruitment firm—though we’re betting that this won’t last long now that the current news has surfaced. The 27-year-old also produces skits and other lifestyle videos on his social media platforms.

According to Panfilov’s LinkedIn, he was a creative specialist for Wah!Banana from May 2020 to May 2021.

However, Panfilov is far from the first Wah!Banana actor to be charged for sexual offences.

If you recall, another former Wah!Banana actor, Eden Ang, was charged with sexual harassment in 2018. He allegedly asked his then 18-year-old personal assistant to call him “daddy” and forced her to wear a G-string.

You can read more about the Eden Ang saga here.

Hopefully, we won’t be seeing more Wah!Banana actors on the news for the wrong reasons again.