9/30/2022

The Hollywood Con Queen is a Actually an Indonesian Man

The con would start with a phone call from a powerful Hollywood exec, with a life changing career making opportunity. Vague details are exchanged, and a trip to Jakarta, Indonesia to scout for locations and take meetings becomes necessary. The glamor and globality of it all feels flattering, and so victims were quick to take up the offer. Fast forward to Jakarta, and many requests for driver reimbursements, things start to get fishy. Victims would leave the country in frustration, without a job and with less money than when they arrived. The “Hollywood Con Queen”, who faked being Wendy Deng Murdoch to Kathleen Kennedy, ends up being a man called Hargobind Tahilramani, an Indian-Indonesian man, who often posed as a middle aged Chinese woman. Tahilramani is the son of a rich Indonesian film producer and was a food influencer before he scammed $2M dollars from victims. This month, he will be going to trial for several counts of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. If he loses, he will be extradited to a US prison.

9/30/2022

The Hollywood Con Queen is a Actually an Indonesian Man

The con would start with a phone call from a powerful Hollywood exec, with a life changing career making opportunity. Vague details are exchanged, and a trip to Jakarta, Indonesia to scout for locations and take meetings becomes necessary. The glamor and globality of it all feels flattering, and so victims were quick to take up the offer. Fast forward to Jakarta, and many requests for driver reimbursements, things start to get fishy. Victims would leave the country in frustration, without a job and with less money than when they arrived. The “Hollywood Con Queen”, who faked being Wendy Deng Murdoch to Kathleen Kennedy, ends up being a man called Hargobind Tahilramani, an Indian-Indonesian man, who often posed as a middle aged Chinese woman. Tahilramani is the son of a rich Indonesian film producer and was a food influencer before he scammed $2M dollars from victims. This month, he will be going to trial for several counts of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft. If he loses, he will be extradited to a US prison.

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Shincheonji:The Korean Cult Spreading More Than Covid

South Korean cult, Shincheonji, boasts nearly a quarter of a million members and 70 churches across the country. In 2020's first wave of COVID-19, more than half of the country’s confirmed cases linked to Shincheonji, and it quickly became evident this cult was spreading more than COVID. The investigation revealed coercive tactics used on members, including brainwashing and psychological manipulation. For example, Shincheonji’s style of mass worship packs 1,000 people in a room and forbids them to Google what the church is. Known to go to extreme lengths to gain new followers, recruiters admitted to unethical practices to get followers, including operating out of offices disguised as youth centers and inviting unaware Christains to join what they thought was a regular Bible study. This aggressive and disingenuous recruitment actually paid off, with 240,000 followers and twelve tribes. When Shincheonji’s leaders refused to cooperate with authorities, both withholding information and releasing false records of their members, they claimed they were being unfairly targeted as scapegoats. This prompted former members to come forward with stories revealing the insidious ways they indoctrinated and isolated members–specifically young people in their 20s. Other members deny all negative claims and have made it their goal to protect the cult. Will more unhealthy silence be broken, or will Shincheonji members continue to believe this is what service and community mean? Host & Producer Joy Jihyun Jeong Producer Stephanie Tangkilisan Editor-In-Chief Keshia Hannam Director of Photography Boya Sun Additional Research Ella Chi Editor Shakeeb Asrar Animator Samuel Salas & Fitra Pratama Sound Mix Ezound Studios Graphic Design Samuel Kang & Fitra Pratama & Annie Zhao

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The Hollywood Con Queen is a Actually an Indonesian Man