A fraudster known as the 'con Queen of Hollywood' impersonated well-known figures to dupe more than 300 victims out of one million US dollars by offering non-existent work in the film business, a court has heard.
Hargobind Tahilramani, 42, was arrested by the FBI at a £60 per night hotel in Manchester city centre, where he claimed to be a 'writer from Netflix', magistrates were told. He allegedly pretended to be executives, including producers working for The Dark Knight director Christopher Nolan, during a seven-year scam.
Tahilramani is also accused of posing as American film producer Megan Ellison, her mother Barbara Boothe, and executive Amy Pascal in phone calls, emails and text messages. While impersonating billionaire Jean Pritzker, Tahilramani even offered 'sexual favours' to one victim, Westminster Magistrates' Court heard.
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US-based entertainment industry professionals, including actors, screenwriters and photographers, were allegedly convinced to travel to Indonesia at their own expense for non-existent projects before being charged exorbitant expenses, which were never repaid.
Tahilramani was arrested following an FBI investigation on November 25, 2020, in a £60-a-night Aparthotel in Manchester, where he had allegedly claimed to be a 'writer for Netflix', the court was told. When asked if he understood, Tahilramani, who has been based in the UK since 2016, replied: "Yeah the scam,", magistrates heard.
He is fighting extradition to the US where he faces eight charges, including conspiracy to commit wire fraud, two counts of wire fraud – which each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years’ imprisonment – and five counts of aggravated identity theft, carrying a maximum penalty of two years each.
Joel Smith, representing the US, said on Wednesday that Tahilramani was the 'mastermind' of a conspiracy to defraud more than 300 victims out of more than 1 million US dollars between 2013 and August 2020.
"The defendant would pretend to be well-known entertainment industry executives or their representatives and promised victims non-existent work in the film industry in Indonesia," he said. "US-based victims were persuaded to travel to Indonesia at their own expense, and once there were persuaded to pay a raft of fees or expenses, again from their own pocket."
Mr Smith said victims would be asked to pay for the cost of the driver, photography fees or “permits” and told they would be reimbursed upon return to the US. He continued to contact them by phone and text message, while his co-conspirators posed as drivers, tour operators and money collectors, he explained.
"The monies spent by the victim were received by the defendant himself and never paid back," he said. "At its heart, this is an old-fashioned advanced fees fraud."
New York-based screenwriter Greg Mandarano is said to have been left 80,000 US dollars out of pocket, while Casey Grey, who worked in the security industry, was allegedly duped by Tahilramani posing as film producer Ms Pritzker. The court heard he was offered a non-existent 5,000 US dollar-a-day job surveying film sets in Indonesia.
Mr Smith said: "The defendant, whilst pretending to be Ms Pritzker, offered sexual favours to Mr Grey, and tried to get him to send recordings of himself."
Freelance photographer Will Strathman was emailed by Tahilramani pretending to be Hollywood executive Ms Pascal and was persuaded to travel to Indonesia to direct a Netflix travel series, the court heard. He allegedly paid nearly £40,000 in fictional expenses over three trips between October and November 2017.
Mr Smith said the scam was adapted when travel restrictions were introduced because of the Covid-19 pandemic, with actors falsely promised film roles which would require an advance.
Dan Considine, based in Los Angeles, received a text message in May 2020 purportedly from Thomas Hayslip – a producer working with Nolan, who is known for films including Inception and Tenet. The court heard he spoke to Tahilramani, who was posing as another producer, 'Dana Walden', who persuaded Mr Considine to send audition tapes and pay around 7,000 US dollars for martial arts training videos, in a bid to land a role in a Nolan movie.
Mr Smith told the court: "Mr Considine never received any videos and the audition was a sham. There are a large number of victims not currently subject to the US indictment, including some UK-based victims but they are not currently the subject of any US prosecution."
Tahilramani appeared by video-link from Wandsworth prison, wearing a blue shirt, and used his alias Gobind Lal Tahil when asked to confirm his name and date of birth.
Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring will hear evidence over the next two weeks before making a decision on his extradition following final legal arguments on November 7.
Private investigation firm K2 Integrity, which worked with law enforcement agencies during the investigation, has previously described Tahilramani, who is represented by Ben Cooper KC, as the 'con queen of Hollywood'. The hearing continues.
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