Hargobind Tahilramani is dubbed “Hollywood’s scam queen”. The man, a suspected crook of Indonesian descent in his 40s, extorted hundreds of thousands of dollars to film professionals. Arrested in the UK in 2020, he could soon be extradited to the United States. British justice authorized his transfer, this Tuesday, June 6, to America.
Between 2013 and 2020, he would have succeeded in extracting more than a million dollars from more than 300 people from American cinema. To commit his misdeeds, he posed as Hollywood influencers. He would be a virtuoso in the imitation of female voices and accents. Before her arrest near Manchester, “the queen of scams” was wanted around the world after her indictment by a California court in 2019.
Hargobind Tahilramani’s victims include Lucasfilm boss Kathleen Kennedy, ex-Sony executive Amy Pascal, former Paramount CEO Sherry Lamsing, but also the ex-wife of media magnate Rupert Murdoch, Wednesday.
A “forged” trip to Indonesia
Contacted by the scammer, film professionals in different specialties received prestigious and lucrative job offers for imaginary projects, as told by the indictment consulted by AFP. Only condition: travel to Indonesia for location scouting, documentation or script prep work.
When they arrived in Indonesia, the victims were relieved of their dollars. Accomplices argued “transport costs” or other often prohibitive advances that the production was supposed to reimburse later. Problem, refunds were never made. And those who complained were threatened by Tahilramani.
British Home Secretary Suella Braverlan must decide whether or not to extradite the crook to the United States. The latter’s lawyers have announced that they oppose this extradition. They implicate future conditions of detentioncontrary to human rights.
2023-06-06 20:47:26
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