Who are the most unlikely criminals we’d
never expect? Let’s find out, starting with: 6 - The Serial Robber Model
Monique Marina Agostino, a real-life Instagram model and wannabe actor, got herself arrested
by an elite strike force police unit that normally goes after motorcycle gangs - right
after she was released on bail for a handful of other crimes she was appealing.
Monique has had a bit of a rough patch, getting herself tangled up in a series of crimes,
including helping to pull off four r
obberies in Sydney back in 2018. But here's the thing
– she was out on bail, appealing her 18-month sentence, when she decided to break the rules
again, sending the cops on a manhunt. Strike Force Raptor
Enter the elite strike force police, Strike Force Raptor- which is a name that came out
of an 80’s action movie- swooped in to save the day. Luckily, they managed to arrest Monique-
which, we’re sure the surrounding neighborhood was grateful that an elite strike force was
available to take down
an Instagram model. We’re sure they earned their pay with this
one. Along with outstanding warrants, Monique was
charged with being in possession of some allegedly stolen goods. Which isn’t really a good
look for the 'gram, but she’s far from the only one posting dumb things on that platform.
Uptown Girl Monique's not your average troublemaker, either.
She's a single mom who grew up in the posh Sydney suburb of Belrose, and even attended
Killarney Heights High School- which is kind of like livin
g in Palo Alto or Cupertino,
where Google and Apple are located. So even though Monique came from a wealthy neighborhood,
she still went down a bad path. Back in 2019, she was slapped with an 18-month
sentence for those robbery shenanigans where she drove a bunch of dudes around to break
into shops, and let's not forget the separate spate of charges for causing chaos at Blacktown
Westfield Shopping Centre. She kind of got into everything: contraband, stolen goods,
and even a bit of knife-wieldin
g action in Target- maybe she was trying to slash Target’s
already low, low prices? Aftermath
But wait, we’re not done: Monique's got a flair for the dramatics, as well- she represented
herself in court after her lawyer withdrew from her first case. She actually told the
judge that it would be her fault if she gave Monique time, because she’s threatened self
harm in the past. The judge wasn't buying it, and still handed
down a pretty hefty sentence. Monique appealed it, got bailed out, rearreste
d, and now 2
years. 5 - Two Wives
Rexford Lynn Keel Jr., a resident of North Carolina, admitted to being responsible for
the passing of his wife, Diana Alejandra Keel, and was sentenced to at least 32 years in
prison. But the story behind his conviction is nothing short of insane. It all began with
the discovery of Diana's body, tragically dumped in the woods. The Nash County Sheriff's
Office wasted no time in pointing the finger squarely at Keel, even raising suspicions
about the passing of his
first wife back in 2006. Diana's disappearance, reported by her
daughter, sparked a frantic search that ultimately led to the grim discovery.
Domestic Issues Amidst whispers of a troubled marriage and
looming divorce, the plot thickened. There were talks of domestic issues between Keel
and Diana, and friends and family hinted at tensions brewing beneath the surface.
The circumstances surrounding Diana's passing were anything but straightforward, and the
authorities treated it as a crime from th
e get-go, so of course, they were very interested
in Keel. Aftermath
But Keel wasn't about to stick around for those conversations. He attempted to flee,
but the law caught up with him during a routine traffic stop in Arizona while he was attempting
to flee to Mexico. The subsequent trial was a media frenzy, forcing
a change of venue due to the extensive coverage. Despite the challenges, Keel's guilt was undeniable,
and he eventually pleaded guilty, getting 32 years in prison.
His first wife’s p
assing was still ruled as an accident at the time of this video.
4 - The Worst Friend Ever Darryl Evans, a smooth-talking con man, conned
his friends out of £377,000, sending him to prison. Evans, with his slick talk and
charming demeanor, managed to convince his friends to hand over their hard-earned cash
for what they thought would be big returns on their investments. Who wouldn't trust a
guy who calls himself a financial adviser, right? But the problem was it was all a sham.
Empty Promises Ev
ans, the little eel that he is, took over
£377,000 from his friends, promising them the moon and the stars while he lived it up
on their dime. The fact that he knew full well that almost all of these people couldn’t
afford to lose the money they handed him- since it was a bunch of retirement funds and
pensions- shows exactly what kind of person this guy is.
He was so into scamming that he continued his scheme even after getting busted by the
cops. This dude actually made himself the executor of
someone's will, then took all
their money and put it into his own account. Because he didn’t want to limit himself
to only stealing from living people he knew. Court
Darryl Evans was eventually investigated by the police and arrested. During his trial,
Evans had the nerve to stand in court and spin more lies, trying to weasel his way out
of trouble by blaming everyone else around him- so much so that the judge even commented
on how fluid the garbage flowed out of his mouth. Apparently, no one kn
ows where all
the money even went, since Evans claimed that the police destroyed all the evidence of his
investments. We're sure there was a collective eye rolling when he spat that one out.
Thankfully, justice prevailed, and Evans got slapped with an eight-year sentence based
on his refusal to say where the money went. 3 - Doctor Scam
Dr. Olubunmi Adeagbo-Sheikh created a phony tenancy agreement and a fake landlord to get
nearly £12,000 in benefits for a flat that didn’t exist. And he got away
with it. Olubunmi,
aka the crooked doc, decided to get a little creative with his housing situation while
training as a medic in the UK. He claimed to be shelling out £900 a month
for an apartment in London, when in reality, he was just chilling with his mom in Kent.
Because why not right? He also managed to rake in a sweet £12,000
in housing benefits over the course of a year. Not bad for a guy living with his mom.
Discovery Of course, Olubunmi's little scheme didn't
last long. Of course, someo
ne actually did their job- after a year, but still..- and
it was quickly discovered that the address didn't even exist, let alone the landlord.
The cops caught wind of his antics, raided his mom's place, and found all the evidence
they needed to bust him. Aftermath
You'd think a doctor would be smarter than to pull off such a stunt, but here we are.
Olubunmi's excuse was that he wasn't able to practice medicine in the UK yet because
he failed a couple exams. According to his mom, he’s since pass
ed them and has been
in practice ever since. In the end, he got slapped with a 12-month
community order and 100 hours of unpaid work. So he basically got away with it. It's dumb
that a future doctor thought it would be a good idea to risk all that work and his career
for such a little amount of money. Hopefully he's a better doctor than he is
a scammer. 2 - Frozen Winnings
Judy Carroll, who won a $5.2 million lottery jackpot, pleaded guilty to scamming six people
after she won. Because whenever
there's a scam, the first place you look is at lottery
winners. Back in '89, Judy and her hubby hit the jackpot, scoring a sweet $5.2 million.
But instead of living it up, they kept a low profile, probably to avoid long-lost relatives
coming out of the woodwork. Frozen Funds
Now, fast forward a bit, and Judy starts telling tales about her accounts being frozen by the
IRS over unpaid taxes. Classic move, right? Except it was mostly a load of baloney.
So her friend, Kelly Lhotak, ended up helping
out by handing over a whopping $622,000 in
prepaid credit cards and cash transfers. Ummm…we want to be friends with Kelly.
But Kelly wasn't alone in being duped. Five other poor souls fell for Judy's sob story,
coughing up an extra $618,000. To avoid paying everyone back, Judy repeatedly
said her husband had his identity stolen and that her accounts were frozen. Her friends
accepted these excuses at first, but they got old quick.
Kelly eventually called the IRS herself to ask about the frozen ac
counts and finally
uncovered the fraud. It turns out that the IRS did freeze her accounts, but it was only
once and for a short time. Discovery
Judy was finally arrested in Montana by the FBI –and now she's pleading guilty to wire
fraud and tax evasion. Judy took a plea deal, and now she's gotta
pay back nearly $1.6 million to her victims and the taxman.
As for Kelly, well, let's just say she's learned a valuable lesson about trusting friends with
deep pockets. Bet she won't be lending out her c
redit cards anytime soon!
If you’re enjoying this video, be sure to stay tuned right here for our past release
to find out how this seemingly innocent kid was able to scam gullible Ferrari owners! 1 - The Disability Scam
Shahab Reza, who’s profoundly deaf- one of the severest forms of hearing loss, ran
an £800,000 disability allowance scam that landed him in prison for nine years. Reza
was pulling off this massive con while spending the cash on diamonds and jet-setting around
the globe. Likeyado
. But here's the thing - he roped in his own family, including his
wife Shehnaz and their two kids, Abbas and Zainab.
They were all in on the action, submitting fake invoices for sign language interpreters
like it's nobody's business. And they didn't just stop there; they even set up fake companies
all over the place to launder the money. Nice family, right?
Court So, fast forward to the courtroom drama, and
Shahab gets hit with a nine-year sentence. His wife Shehnaz and son Abbas aren't off
the
hook either; they're facing their own time behind bars for their roles in the scheme.
Meanwhile, Reza's wife Shehnaz bawled her eyes out in court as she got slapped with
a 22-month sentence. His son Abbas got a suspended sentence because apparently, he was under
his dad's influence. Aftermath
Two other women, Daiva and Natela, jumped on the benefits gravy train as well, submitting
fake claims left and right. And they didn't even need sign language interpreters, they
just wanted a slice of the s
camming pie! In the end, it's a real family affair gone
wrong. The Reza clan's lavish lifestyle came crashing down, and now they're facing the
consequences. But hey, at least they'll have plenty of time
to brush up on their sign language skills in the slammer, right? And who knows, maybe
they'll even start a fraudsters anonymous group behind bars. Daniel Lesin
By all appearances, 24-year old Daniel Lesin was just a young Trust Fund baby, with an
actual baby face to go with it. It came to no one’
s surprise that he had access to
a collection of rare Ferraris because of course, his dad was, as he claimed, a powerful Russian
Oligarch. Lesin's Ferrari collection has been a subject
of interest among his followers on social media, where he would often post pictures
and videos of himself with the cars. Lesin's collection included models such as the Ferrari
488 Spider, Ferrari 458 Italia, and Ferrari California. However, it’s unclear how Lesin acquired
his Ferrari collection. Some have speculat
ed that the cars may have been rented or leased
for the purpose of his social media posts. It’s also possible that Lesin may have purchased
the cars through fraudulent means or through the proceeds of his alleged illegal activities. One of the people who was impressed by Lesin's
collection was Rob Feretti, the owner of Adventure Drives, a company that offers exotic car tours
and driving experiences. According to Feretti, he first met Lesin at an exotic car event
in Florida, where Lesin was showi
ng off his collection, something we’ll get into a bit
later. Lesin's extravagant lifestyle was called into
question after several individuals accused him of fraud and deception. In addition to
the aforementioned oligarch story, Lesin would often pose as a billionaire and claimed to
have made his fortune through crypto trading and investments in real estate. Investments
In a time when so many young people were earning millions from early investments in obscure
cryptocurrencies, Lesin’s claims wer
en’t all that hard to believe. The individuals
who accused him of fraud fully believed his stories, mainly because they wanted to believe
him. What Lesin was offering was every Ferrari collector's dream. And Lesin, despite only
being all of 24 years old at that time, knew this all too well. He already had extensive experience finding
ways to entice people looking for something extraordinary and rare. For many novices,
and even many experienced investors, falling for any sort of scam can be quite
easy. Especially
if the scammer is extremely charismatic and experienced in being the person you want him
to be to sell you on the investment. Daniil Lyalin
Lesin's alleged deception went beyond his fraudulent schemes. He also pretended to be
a Russian billionaire and used the name "Daniil Lyalin" to conduct business deals. He would
often claim that he had made his fortune in Russia and had connections to high-ranking
officials in the country. However, it was later revealed that "Daniil
Lyalin"
was a fake identity created by Lesin to deceive people. The Russian embassy in
the UAE confirmed that they had no record of anyone by that name and that Lesin had
never held a Russian passport. But this information was only discovered later
on. After the schemes were revealed by investigators and victims. For years, Lesin built a reputation
of wealth and power, despite not having any of either. One man, David Eisen, had an interesting
perspective on the entire situation, as someone from the out
side looking into the disaster
that was unfolding before the luxury car community’s very eyes. For example, one of Lesin's alleged victims,
a businessman from the UK, claimed that he had invested over $200,000 in Lesin's crypto
scheme. Lesin was subsequently arrested in Dubai in 2020, following an investigation
into his alleged fraudulent activities. He most likely was just one of many people who
HAVEN’T come forward with their stories of getting ripped off by Lesin. Obviously, for Lesin’s Ferra
ri collection,
he didn’t have an actual source of consistent income to justify owning such a collection. David Eisen
Travel agent David Eisen is the man behind Lux Rallies, an exclusive travel service that
offers high-end driving experiences to luxury car enthusiasts. Eisen's unique approach to
travel planning has garnered him a reputation as one of the most sought-after travel agents
in the industry. One of the things that sets Lux Rallies apart
from other travel services is its focus on superc
ars. Eisen's clients are passionate
about high-performance automobiles, and he has made it his mission to provide them with
experiences that cater to their interests. Recently, Eisen found himself hearing stories
about a 24-year-old car collector named Daniel Lesin. According to Eisen's clients, Lesin
had amassed an impressive collection of luxury and exotic cars, including a Lamborghini Aventador,
a Ferrari 458 Italia, and a Rolls-Royce Ghost. Eisen was intrigued by Lesin's story and decided
to
do some research of his own. While conducting his research, Eisen discovered
more crazy stories about Lesin. He found out from his wealthy travel clients that Lesin
was claiming he had somehow gotten hold of future allotments of the latest and greatest
Ferrari model: the Ferrari Monza SP1 and SP2. Every luxury sports car collector wanted this
car, especially collectors who favor Ferraris and other Italian supercars. Insider Access
In order to make these claims, Lesin had to convince people that
he was a part of a prestigious
program that only the wealthiest people in the world have access to. The program is called Ferrari Ambassador,
and it’s designed to reward the company's most devoted customers. Ambassadors are selected
based on their history with the brand, including the number of Ferraris they have owned and
how active they’re in the Ferrari community. Once a customer becomes an ambassador, they’re
given access to a range of exclusive benefits. These include invitations to specia
l events,
access to limited edition vehicles, and the opportunity to order custom-built Ferraris. One of the most coveted benefits of being
a Ferrari Ambassador is the allocation privilege. This means that ambassadors are given priority
when it comes to ordering new Ferraris. When a new model is announced, ambassadors are
the first to receive information and are given the opportunity to place an order before the
general public. Allocation privileges aren’t given to all
ambassadors, however. They
’re reserved for the most loyal and influential customers.
These are individuals who have a long history with the brand, own multiple Ferraris, and
are active in the Ferrari community. Lesin claimed that his family was a part of
the program, and that they owned over 75 Ferraris. And that because of his family’s high status
in the program, he could obtain as many allotments as he wanted. In other words, Lesin could preorder the car
every luxury sports car collector wanted to get their hands on. A
nd he was the only person
willing to do it. Allocating cars on your own is a very risky business if Ferrari finds
out what you’re doing. The company is very particular on who can sell their vehicles. So, Lesin had to get creative in how he would
sell the mysterious Monzas. To do so, he established a few different shell companies, but it was
his friendship with Ferrari dealer Rob Feretti that really helped him spread the scam around. Rob Ferretti
Rob Ferretti, who we mentioned earlier as the owne
r of Adventure Drives, is also a well-known
name in the exotic car community on YouTube, with over 849,000 subscribers on his channel,
Super Speeders. But recently, Feretti has found himself in the spotlight for a very
different reason, his alleged involvement in a scheme to sell allocations of the limited-edition
Ferrari Monza SP sports cars for profit. Feretti has been linked to Lesin. According
to court documents, Feretti and Lesin allegedly conspired to obtain allocations of the limited-edit
ion
cars and sell them for profit to third-party buyers. Feretti says that Lesin approached him and
started talking about his cars, which included rare and exotic vehicles such as a Pagani
Huayra and a Bugatti Chiron. Lesin allegedly boasted about the cars he owned and offered
to let Feretti take them for a spin. Feretti says that he was impressed by Lesin's
collection and decided to take him up on his offer. Over the next few months, Feretti and
Lesin reportedly became friends, and Lesin even p
articipated in some Adventure Drives'
events. But Feretti says that he had no knowledge
of Lesin's alleged involvement in the Ferrari Monza SP scheme. In a recent YouTube video,
Feretti addressed the allegations and explained that he had no idea that Lesin was involved
in any illegal activities. Feretti says that he was shocked and disappointed
when he learned of Lesin's arrest, and that he has since cut ties with him. He also emphasized
that Adventure Drives has always operated with the highest
ethical and legal standards,
and that he would continue to do so in the future. In a recent YouTube video titled "My Involvement
with Dan Lesin and the Ferrari Monza SP," Feretti further addressed the allegations
and explained his side of the story. In the video, Feretti admits to being involved in
the scheme but claims that he was unaware that it was illegal. Feretti explains that he was approached by
Lesin, who had offered him the opportunity to purchase an allocation of the Ferrari Monza
SP.
Feretti says that he agreed to buy the allocation,
but that Lesin later told him that the car had been sold to someone else. Feretti claims
that he later learned that the car had actually been sold to a third-party buyer at an inflated
price. Feretti goes on to say that he had no knowledge
of the larger scheme to sell allocations of the cars for profit, and that he never received
any money from Lesin or anyone else in connection with the alleged scheme. The video has received mixed reactions fr
om
Feretti's fans and the wider car community. Some have praised Feretti for being open and
honest about his involvement, while others have criticized him for not taking more responsibility
for his actions. Either way, Feretti certainly regrets being
associated with Lesin. There’s currently very little evidence to suggest Feretti actually
knew and participated in the fraudulent dealings, but of course, he still faces scrutiny nonetheless. If you’re enjoying this video, be sure to
stay tuned and
not click away for our past release on this scammer who pretended to be
powerful influential women in Hollywood! Civil Suits
According to court documents, Lesin allegedly purchased a Pagani Huayra from Pagani Beverly
Hills in early 2021 for $2.9 million. However, despite signing a sales agreement and taking
possession of the car, Lesin allegedly failed to make any payments on the vehicle. Pagani
Beverly Hills has filed a lawsuit against Lesin seeking the full purchase price of the
car, plus inte
rest and attorney's fees. Similarly, Veltracon claims that Lesin agreed
to purchase a Lamborghini Aventador SVJ from the dealership for $730,000 in late 2020.
However, Veltracon alleges that Lesin never made any payments on the car and has yet to
return it to the dealership. Veltracon has filed a lawsuit seeking the full purchase
price of the car, plus interest, attorney's fees, and the cost of retrieving the vehicle. JPCM, another luxury car dealership, claims
that Lesin agreed to purchase a Ro
lls Royce Cullinan from the dealership for $370,000
in mid-2020. However, JPCM alleges that Lesin only made a partial payment on the vehicle
and hasn’t made any further payments. JPCM has filed a lawsuit seeking the remaining
balance owed on the car, plus interest and attorney's fees. Lesin hasn’t yet publicly commented on the
lawsuits. It’s unclear why he allegedly failed to make payments on the luxury cars
or why he hasn’t returned the vehicles to the dealerships. Indictment According to court
documents, Lesin and several
co-conspirators allegedly worked together to allocate Ferraris to customers who were
willing to pay bribes in order to receive priority status on the waitlist for the high-end
sports cars. The indictment alleges that Lesin and his
co-conspirators would then allegedly manipulate Ferrari's allocation system to ensure that
these customers received their vehicles ahead of other customers who weren’t willing to
pay bribes. The scheme allegedly began in 2018 and continued
until 2021. The indictment alleges that Lesin and his co-conspirators received bribes ranging
from $5,000 to $25,000 per vehicle, and that they allocated at least 12 Ferraris through
the scheme. There were also several banks who lost upwards of $300k on the deals. These
banks loaned out money to various people involved in the deal, leading to multiple levels of
monetary loss. Speaking of banks, much of the evidence that
the FBI gathered stemmed from financial transactions from J. P. Morgan. Sev
eral non certified copies
were released during one of the aforementioned civil suits, and showed the exact amounts
Lesin was accepting. These documents were classified as wire activity, meaning they
could be used as evidence for wire fraud charges. His father, Alexander Lesin, is named in several
of the financial documents. Though, federal investigators couldn’t find any evidence
that he was aware that his name was being used on the transactions. Some have speculated,
however, that in fact Alexa
nder may have helped his son escape certain lawsuits. In the end, the feds decided not to charge
Alexander due to complete lack of evidence. Instead, it appears that Dan used his father’s
name fictitiously, thus frauding his family as well as his other victims. Arrest and Charges (I used the second Drive
source for this section only. The rest of the script was sourced from the first). On June 2, 2022, Lesin was arrested by the
FBI in Miami on charges of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire f
raud. The charges against Lesin carry a maximum
sentence of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for each count. Lesin may not spend much
time behind bars, especially since this is his first felony charge. But he’ll most
definitely have to dig deep into his wallet to fulfill his punishment. The Voice
Imagine you're an aspiring screenwriter working on a project that just had its funding approved.
You have the opportunity to travel to Indonesia to begin researching and gathering material
for you
r script. Since you're in another country, you need
to worry about your transportation, food expenses, and ensuring that you have a translator on-site. You're still waiting for the funds for the
project to be released, but you know that it’ll happen so you’re not worried about
using your own money to cover the expenses up front. You throw yourself into your work but still
spend time speaking to Hollywood executives where nothing seems out of place until one
day when you find out that the whole t
hing was a hoax. This happened to Gregory Mandarano, a screenwriter
from Long Island, New York. In the summer of 2015, he traveled to Indonesia six times
to work on an upcoming project. But Mandarano would certainly not be this
scam's first or last victim. Hargobind Tahilramani
Hargobind Tahilramani is an Indonesian man who'd managed to scam multiple people by impersonating
males and females. Hargobind grew up in Jakarta, Indonesia, where he grew up with an affluent
lifestyle. His father was a f
ilm producer and wrote rom-com and dramatic movie scripts.
It was when Hargobind's mother died that his life fell apart. And then, his father's death led to tension
with his siblings over the family inheritance. Soon, he was cast out from his family after
he and his siblings fell out over property disputes. He attended school in Jakarta before he moved
to the US to attend college. In 2000 he went by the alias of Harvey when he participated
in the National Forensic Association competition in "per
suasive speaking". He placed in the
quarterfinals, and this wouldn't be the first time that he would pretend to be Harvey. However, he was disqualified from a tournament
after getting caught plagiarizing. Hargobind started calling various people involved with
the tournament to air out his frustrations. However, rather than making calls as himself,
he decided that he needed a more powerful name that would catch people's attention. This was when people involved in the tournament
started receiving
calls from Cate Blanchett, who claimed to be calling to represent him.
Of course, it wasn't the Australian Academy Award-winning actress that people were speaking
to. It was Hargobind. Early Scamming
Hargobind's crimes date back to the early 2000s, starting when he was still a student.
Public court records state that he and a few others were a part of a lawsuit over the misappropriation
of school funds. The Hollywood Reporter also discovered that
he was booked for falsifying checks in Las Vegas.
The Hollywood Reporter also uncovered
that he was arrested on embezzlement charges in his home country of Indonesia. It didn't take long for him to set his eyes
on Hollywood, where he would commit most of his crimes. He used his knowledge of how the Hollywood
industry worked to his advantage, aware that he could make people trust him if he pretended
to be the right person. His ability to impersonate whomever he wanted
made it easy for him to carry out some of his biggest cons. Not all of his cr
imes targeted celebrities.
Dozens of the people he scammed were ordinary workers on sets, such as photographers, makeup
artists, and stunt performers. He'd convince them to go to Indonesia, where he'd make big
promises of work and high budgets to accommodate their stays. He asked the marks to pay for their own expenses,
like transportation, hotels, and food, with the promise that they'd be reimbursed. What
Hargobind would do is simply overcharge them for expenses. He’d be in charge of making
sur
e his marks had what they needed. He simply acted as an overly expensive middleman. Many of them willingly did this, even if they
were paying thousands, even tens of thousands of dollars in expenses. Purebytes
On top of his travel scam, Hargobind was also the host of the food-centric Instagram account,
"Purebytes". Although he never identified himself on the account, he managed to gain
50,000 followers. It used the tagline "Every Meal Has a Story",
and he presented himself as someone who grew up
in Indonesia and the US. The account had photos and videos of well-photographed
meals from some of the fanciest restaurants in the United Kingdom. He'd mention his escapades
exploring London's culinary scene and would use his platform to promote different restaurants. He sometimes rounded out the posts with mentions
of his love life, his relationship with his parents, or the time he spent exploring London's
culinary cuisine. Sometimes he told fans about struggling with
potentially life-threaten
ing illnesses such as pancreatic cancer. Adulation
The Clerkenwell Boy, another faceless Instagram account, is an account that also documents
restaurants in London and has a quarter of a million followers. One thing that Hargobind
wanted more than anything was adulation. He was an opportunist and would fawn over
anyone he met that he felt could help him raise his status. If he were talking to someone
of high status, he would laugh too hard at their jokes or compliment them so much so
that it wou
ld make them uncomfortable. When he wasn't worshiping high-profile people
he met, he was name-dropping other people he knew. He wanted to make it clear that he
was well-connected in the London restaurant scene. Pål Hansen
Pål Hansen is a highly-regarded photographer in the industry. He was contacted one day
in 2018 by a man named Gavin Ambani. Ambani wanted pictures for his Instagram account
and felt that Hansen would be the perfect person to take them. Ambani was Hargobind's new alias and the o
ne
that he would use to promote his Instagram account. Hansen wasn't interested. His most notable
work included pictures of Nicole Kidman, Tilda Swinton, and Sir Lewis Hamilton. He took photos
of some of the world's best-known chefs. Therefore, a photo shoot for Instagram wasn’t a project
that excited Hansen. But Ambani wouldn't accept no for an answer.
He name-dropped Sarit Packer and Itamar Srulovich, the chef-owners of Honey & Co., a popular
Middle Eastern restaurant in London. While he claim
ed to have a close relationship with
Packer and Srulovich, the couple only knew him as a customer at one of their restaurants. Ambani spoke to Srulovich one day about Karam
Sethi, one of the people behind the Michelin-starred Gymkhana restaurant in Mayfair. When Srulovich
spoke about his admiration for Sethi's work, Ambani offered to introduce them to one another. However, Sethi knew of Ambani for the wrong
reasons. Ambani had gone to Sethi's restaurant, Trishna, four or five times. While Sethi
saw
him when he was there, he thought Ambani was just an ordinary customer. But then, after feeling disgruntled about
how the staff treated him at the restaurant, Ambani sent a slew of emails complaining about
the service at the restaurant, so much so that he caught Sethi's attention. According to Ambani, a staff member wasn't
giving him the attention that he felt he deserved when he was there. He was heated and threatened
to call Michelin and his attorneys. Sethi personally called Ambani to smo
oth things
over. And that’s when Ambani's demeanor completely changed. Rather than continuing
with his threats, he expressed admiration for the chef, as if he was Sethi's superfan. Since Ambani knew some of his friends, he
agreed to get a coffee with Ambani to discuss the project. Ambani told him that he grew up in India and
was born into a wealthy family. He said he worked for Netflix in the U.K. and claimed
his goal was to become a key influencer in the food world. Ambani planned to develop
a
gastronomy channel by developing the T.V. side of Instagram. Ambani called upon his restaurant "friends"
for the locations of the two shoots. The first one was at Xu Teahouse in Chinatown. The second
shoot was done at Honey & Smoke, owned by Packer and Srulovich. In one shot, Ambani sat while several servers
poured teapots with rainbow colors out in front of him to represent that Ambani was
gay. At Honey & Smoke, he broke bread with Packer and Srulovich, which was supposed to
be a symbol for bre
aking the social barriers with their Israeli- Middle Eastern cooking.
He went as far as to say that he stood for breaking down barriers. The shoots were successful, and the photographs
were in Hansen's signature dramatic yet intimate style. Then came time for the payment, which was
over £4,000 pounds. Ambani claimed that there was a technical issue and that he had to transfer
money from his aunt's American bank account, which was where his money was tied up. Of
course, he promised he would get H
ansen the money soon. Hansen found Ambani odd but wasn't worried
about getting his money. After all, why would a fraudster show his face so much and even
document his scam through public photographs? However, some time passed, and Hansen still
wasn’t paid. Ambani's excuses became more implausible, such as when he said he would
physically deliver the money one day but then didn't show up. Other times they spoke about
the money, Ambani asked for more time. Eventually, Hansen asked Srulovich to che
ck
Ambani's bank statement, as he was growing suspicious over whether Ambani was who he
said he was. Ambani found out about this and was furious with Hansen. He accused Hansen of defamation, a criminal
act, for contacting Srulovich. He also said that Hansen telling Srulovich about the weird
situation with the money made him really upset. Hansen was never paid. Hansen's photographs were still used on the
Pure Bytes Instagram account, but Pure Bytes eventually removed them after receiving repeated
reminders that he never paid for the work. Gregory Mandarano
Hargobind's next scam would be set around him impersonating multiple executives that
worked for the China Film Group, a mainland China film company that had handled several
large productions. One of his victims from his China Film Group
days was Gregory Mandarano. He was from Long Island, New York. As an aspiring screenwriter,
he jumped at the opportunity to travel to Indonesia for an upcoming project. In the summer of 2015, he went w
ith his writing
partner to Indonesia six times to pursue the project. Their issue was the finances for the project.
They believed the money was approved; it just had to be released. In the meantime, they
would have to cover expenses themselves, understanding that they would be reimbursed when the money
became available. Covering expenses for themselves was getting
expensive, but they knew they had to do it while they waited for the rest of the financing. A producer for China Film Group, named An
and
Sippy, met with the pair regularly while they were in the country. Mandarano was also in
touch with many executives at the China Film Group, all reassuring him that they would
get their money soon. However, Mandarano wasn’t speaking to multiple
high-powered executives in the film industry as he'd thought. In fact, he would soon learn
that he was only talking to one person the entire time. And Anand Sippy, who'd served
as one of the only people they'd met in person from the China Film Group,
was the mastermind
behind a huge scam. He had to fund his own expenses during his
six trips to the country. By the time he found out the truth, he'd wasted $70,000 of his
own money to cover the trips. Aliases
Hargobind had many aliases. Throughout his time as a fraudster, he developed multiple
personas that were male and female. All of the evidence gathered over the years makes
it clear that aliases such as Gavin Ambani, Lal Gobind, and so many others, were all just
Hargobind. Of course, then th
ere are the famous people
he impersonated, starting back when he pretended to be Cate Blanchett. Henry Wu, a photographer, was delighted when
he was contacted by Wendi Deng Murdoch, who was once married to the media mogul Rupert
Murdoch. Wendi reached out to him and his partner,
Zory Shahanska, about taking on an assignment abroad for an exhibition that was part of
the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Hargobind began impersonating Wendi to lure
Henry and Zory to Indonesia. The San Francisco-based p
air are co-editors
of the photography site, This Life of Travel. They were flattered that Wendi reached out
to them and probably hoped that it would be the start of an ongoing professional relationship. Wendi complimented them on their photography,
saying it was exactly what she wanted. The project was to photograph Chinese immigrant
communities in South-East Asia and to portray the Chinese essence that these communities
represented. To make the story more plausible, Hargobind
added Aaron, Wendi
’s assistant. Henry received a call from a man named Aaron,
who was supposedly Wendi Murdoch's assistant. He wanted to talk to the pair about the details
of the project. After speaking for a minute with a thick New
Yorker accent, he said he'd connect them with Wendi. There was a momentary pause, and then
they were on the phone with her. Her accent was unique, with Asian, British,
and American influences mixed together. Even though they spoke to Wendi, or at least
who they thought was Wendi, the
pair were becoming a little bit suspicious, and one
of their anxieties was that her listed lawyer didn't seem to exist. While they were concerned, it didn't stop
them from signing their contract and making plans for their trip to Indonesia. Their job
was to photograph people in several cities around the country, including Jakarta. And then, they were told that they would have
to pay the initial costs of their airfares and other expenses but that they would be
reimbursed for everything when they
were paid for the project. It was risky and meant they had to pay thousands
of dollars of their own money. They still hadn't met Wendi or Aaron in person, but this
was an excellent opportunity, and they trusted that Wendi would reimburse them at the end
of the project. A high-profile connection like Wendi made
it worth it for them, but their excitement turned to concern when they arrived in Jakarta. Aaron called them right as they landed to
tell them they'd be responsible for even more costs tha
n they realized. Even though they were promised that they'd
be reimbursed, they still had to pay fees like a $1500 photography permit they were
asked by Aaron to make payable to the driver who picked them up. The next day they received a call from a furious
Wendi, who accused the pair of racism after taking photographs of the driver. She claimed
they were unauthorized and even threatened to cancel the entire project. Panicked, they promised to fix the misunderstanding.
Wendi informed them that t
hey'd have to pay for another photography permit, as the one
they bought the previous day was suddenly invalid. This was when it became clear to the pair
that something wasn’t right, and they were confident it was some sort of scam. Many other people like Henri trusted Hargobind
because he impersonated well-known people. The list of people that Hargobind likely impersonated
is long. He imitated Megan Ellison, a film producer, Barbara Boothe, Ellison's mother,
and Amy Pascal. Authorities also bel
ieve that he pretended
to be Star Wars producer Kathleen Kennedy, ex-Paramount executive Shelly Lansing, and
former Sony movie chief Amy Pascal. . Operation
Hargobind's scams followed a similar pattern. He would offer Hollywood workers, like photographers,
makeup artists, and stunt performers, a job in Indonesia. Working with people in Hollywood
that were determined to bring their dreams to life made it much easier for Hargobind.
Many workers there are desperate for the opportunity to find their
"big breaks", and his scam offered
them a path to the success they sought. He kept in constant contact with them as they
flew to Indonesia. He would give them projects such as creating mood boards for photo shoots,
enacting sides of dialogue that he sent them, or even doing auditions on the phone. They
always thought they were close to meeting the movie's director or producer, but there
were always excuses as to why the shoot was delayed. Every day that they waited to work on these
movies was a
day where they were forced to fork out even more of their own money. They
had to pay for photo permits, driving fees, food, and whatever other expenses came up
that day. Hargobind didn't do all of his work in Indonesia
alone, and it's believed that he had two accomplices that collected the money. While his execution was elaborate, at its
core he was committing advance fee fraud. Essentially, his victims were promised that
they would receive their reimbursements once the movie funding was releas
ed, something
that would never happen. Typically he would pretend to be a male assistant
and then have them hold to talk to people like Amy Pascal, which was an elaborate way
of making them think that they were about to speak to a different person. Hargobind
would pretend to be the assistant and the executive all on the same call Investigation
The executives that Hargobind was impersonating didn't know it was happening until victims
started calling their offices. They wanted reimbursements for t
he trips and costs they
incurred while in Indonesia, but the executives had no idea what they were talking about. Some of the impersonated executives hired
a private security firm as they searched for answers as to why they were being accused
of not paying workers. Then, in 2016 and 2019, the FBI opened its
own investigation. Hargobind was arrested in Manchester, England
in November 2020 at a hotel. At the time, he claimed that he was a writer for Netflix. He’s additionally wanted on charges of
aggravated
identity theft, conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and wire fraud in the US. Aftermath
A U.K. district judge will decide in November 2022 whether or not Hargobind will be handed
over to the U.S. authorities. Some of the factors that will be considered during the
trial are the amount of scams he carried out in the U.K. and the amount of time that has
passed since the crimes occurred. Even if the extradition request is granted,
it’ll likely take years for Hargobind to go on trial. Authori
ties believe that he's convinced MORE
people to send him money, even while in jail as he’s waiting for his court date. Click to watch one of these next videos! Let us know in the comment section what you’d
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