Hargobind Tahilramani is an Indonesian with a special talent: he imitates women’s voices and accents. But he doesn’t use it for artistic or humorous purposes, but for criminal purposes. According to the indictment, they impersonated Hollywood women and conned more than 300 people. Among them, actors, directors and photographers. He took over a million dollars from them between 2013 and 2020.
Tahilramani contacted film professionals. He proposes prestigious and lucrative job opportunities for bogus projects. He asked them to travel to Indonesia to find, document, or prepare manuscripts.
Upon arrival, his accomplices extort money from the victims. They were told it was a “transport fee” or some other down payment that got in the way. Production will replace it later.
But the victims don’t see their money anymore. If they complain or doubt, Tahilramani will threaten them. He would send them pictures of his kids or talk about “cuts[los]”, according to the indictment.
lots of fake identities
Tahilramani plays a Hollywood boss. For example, Kathleen Kennedy, president of Lucasfilm (producer of Star Wars), Amy Pascal, former head of Sony, and Sherry Lansing, former CEO of Paramount.
Composition: EPA/AP/Getty
She also imitates Wendi, ex-wife of tycoon Rupert Murdoch, and occasional male executives.
His victims included screenwriter Greg Mandarano, photographer Will Strathman and producer Dan Considine. Tahilramani offers them sexual favors or fictional projects for Netflix or Christopher Nolan.
Extradition to the United States
(Photo: Central News)
A California court indicted Tahilramani in 2019. He was arrested in 2020 in England. A British court approved his extradition to the United States on Tuesday. There he faced eight counts of fraud and identity theft.
Suella Braverman, UK Home Secretary, must decide whether to order extradition or not.
His lawyers opposed his extradition. They say that the conditions of detention in the country will violate human rights and the detainees’ health will suffer. I will be almost isolated.
But Judge Paul Goldspring dismissed the argument. He considered the case should be tried in the United States.
A case that shocked Hollywood
The Tahilramani case shocked the film world. One of his biggest dreams turned into a nightmare. The deception has serious economic and emotional consequences for the victims.
Several outlets have called her the “conquering queen of Hollywood” or “the world’s most dangerous impersonator”. Her story inspired the podcast “Chameleon: Hollywood With Queen” and several film and television projects.
Tahilramani has denied the accusations. He said that he was an interesting person and US prosecutors wanted to make a film about him.
“Web specialist. Incurable twitteraholic. Explorer. Organizer. Internet nerd. Avid student.”
