The Con Queen of Hollywood (Update)

Hargobind Tahilramani was taken into British custody on November 26th of this year (2020), and authorities are just now releasing information about his arrest...

Starting in 2013, a mysterious individual would perpetuate one of the longest-running - and, honestly, most bizarre - schemes in modern history. Posing as more than a dozen male and female executives in the entertainment industry, this individual would convince dozens of stuntmen, actors, makeup artists, and other film and TV professionals to travel out-of-country; primarily to Indonesia, where these men and women would be set to begin work on a fictitious project.

This was a project that required a great deal of foresight and planning. In addition to coming up with fake scripts for projects, learning about the intricate personal lives of the executives being masqueraded as, and figuring out how to convincingly pull off their voices; this schemer seemed to be duping several people at the same time, no matter what time of day it was. It was a seemingly nonstop scheme that required an insane amount of diligence and planning, for seemingly little payoff. Victims of this fraud were forced to pay hundreds (or thousands) of dollars - for drivers and security, once they arrived in Jakarta, as well as other fees and permits - and would then be abandoned there, thousands of miles from home.

In 2018 and 2019, outlets would begin reporting that this scheme wasn't just targeting Hollywood professionals anymore, but was branching out into social media influencers: photographers and others with decent-sized followings. It was also reported during the same timespan that the mysterious caller seemed to have sexually propositioned several men over the phone; attempting to lure them into phone sex, showing that this scheme was not entirely incentivized by financial reward. Nonetheless, it was believed that the scheme had netted anywhere between $1.5 and $2 million over a handful of years.

When I covered this story back in April of this year (2020), the case was still very much alive in the press, but it was unknown how close authorities were to capturing the ringleader of this scheme. The FBI and other private security firms had been investigating the matter for some time, and seemed to be narrowing in on a group of accomplices, but that would change over the past couple of months. First came the release of a standalone podcast - called "Chameleon", which I promoted on this podcast feed - and then came a breakthrough report from Vanity Fair, the publication that had been tracking this case from the very beginning. Now, it appears like authorities have the "Con Queen of Hollywood" in custody.

As reported by Vanity Fair, Hargobind Punjabi Tahilramani - who often went by the nickname "Gobind" - was born on October 31st, 1979 to his parents, immigrants from Pakistan and Hong Kong. A native to Jakarta, Indonesia, Gobind most recently lived in the United Kingdom - under the alias Gavin Ambani - and had become an bit of an influencer on social media: a fitness guru who loved to promote healthy living - both physically and mentally - to his thousands of Instagram followers.

In reality, though, Gobind was a longtime criminal, who had spent time in and out of Indonesian prisons throughout his adulthood (for a number of frauds, including embezzlement). Having been educated in America, Gobind was an experienced speaker who perpetrated a bomb scare on the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta while incarcerated, using a contraband cell phone and a number of different accents - American, Iranian, and Russian - in an effort to convince officials that the threat was legitimate. Later, when speaking to reporters about the incident (which earned him additional jailtime), he reportedly laughed and said:

"It was only a joke."

After his release from prison, Gobind would end up perpetuating a number of frauds and deceptive schemes, oftentimes operating under the nickname "Harvey" (one of his many aliases, but one he would return to with regularity). This would eventually lead to him beginning the Hollywood scheme, which he carried on until just recently (with him continuing to ensnare victims as recently as November).

Now, the world is learning that Hargobind Tahilramani was taken into British custody on November 26th of this year (2020). Operating under the name Gobind Tahil, the impersonator was found near downtown Manchester. Nicolette Kotsianas, an investigator with K2 Intelligence (the private firm hired by Hollywood executives), has been investigating the case for years now, and wrote about the arrest:

"Two years ago, we identified our subject and began building a meticulous case against one individual. Now, we have reached one incredible outcome: justice for the victims."

It's not known what the next step is in this story, but it's likely that Harbobind Tahilramani will be charged with carrying on this widespread fraud over several years. And while this story is far from finished - we still don't know how many total victims were affected, and details about the culprit are continuing to emerge by the hour - this is the second Unresolved story this week to reach some kind of resolution.

Episode Information

Episode Information

Writing, research, hosting, and production by Micheal Whelan

Published on on December 3rd, 2020

Producers: Roberta Janson, Ben Krokum, Gabriella Bromley, Peggy Belarde, Quil Carter, Laura Hannan, Travis Scsepko, Damion Moore, Brittany Norris, Amy Hampton, Steven Wilson, Scott Meesey, Marie Vanglund, Scott Patzold, Bryan Hall, Astrid Kneier, Aimee McGregor, Sydney Scotton, Sara Moscaritolo, Sue Kirk, Jo Wong, Thomas Ahearn, Marion Welsh, Patrick Laakso, Meadow Landry, Kevin McCracken, Tatum Bautista, Teunia Elzinga, Michele Watson, Ryan Green, Stephanie Joyner, Dawn Kellar, Elissa Hampton-Dutro, Sharon Manetta, Ruth Durbin, and Jennifer Henshaw

Music Credits

Original music created by Micheal Whelan through Amper Music

Other music created and composed by Ailsa Traves

Sources and further reading

https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2020/11/how-we-unmasked-the-hollywood-con-queen-suspect

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8963543/Hollywood-Queen-unmasked-UK-based-conman.html

https://es.vida-estilo.yahoo.com/arrestan-impostor-hollywood-hargobind-tahilramani-kathleen-kennedy-102600660.html?_guc_consent_skip=1607196721

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/con-queen-of-hollywood-arrested-exclusive

https://www.wionews.com/entertainment/indonesian-man-con-queen-of-hollywood-arrested-for-duping-people-347235

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/fbi-unseals-con-queen-of-hollywood-indictment