Where Is Simran Bhogal After Catfish Scheme?

Sweet Bobby took the podcasting world by storm in 2021, and now, the shocking catfish scheme is at the center of Netflix’s latest documentary.

Tortoise Media’s six-part investigative podcast chronicled the story of Kirat Assi, a radio presenter who was duped for nearly a decade by Bobby Jandu, a man she met on Facebook and developed an intimate relationship with.

While Bobby is a real person, the individual Kirat had been communicating with was someone in her close circle who orchestrated what Tortoise Media described as the “most sophisticated catfishing operation” they had ever encountered. After more than a decade, Kirat finally learned the truth about the person on the other side of her screen: her cousin Simran Bhogal had been catfishing her all along.

“It was a slow destruction of everything I had. Bobby targeted every part of my life – my career, my dreams, my hopes, my relationship with family, with friends, my studies,” she told The Guardian in January 2022. “I could have met someone real, had a baby during that time. But the other impact has been on my mental and physical health.”

Now, the story is brought to life on Netflix in Sweet Bobby: My Catfish Nightmare, which is available to stream now. From the same producers of 2022’s The Tinder Swindler, the docuseries provides viewers with a closer look at Kirat’s traumatic experience via photos, screenshots, voice messages and exclusive interviews with her and those who witnessed the relationship unfold.

Here’s everything to know about Kirat Assi’s catfishing story and where her catfisher is today.

Who is the real Bobby Jandu?

Kirat’s story began in 2010 when she received a friend request on Facebook from Bobby Jandu, a successful cardiologist based in Kenya. Like Kirat, Bobby is Sikh, so the pair had several mutual connections within their community.

As it turns out, Bobby is a real person, but he had never met or spoken to Kirat and was completely unaware that his identity was being used to scam her.

In real life, Bobby works as a dental surgeon in Brighton, England, where he lives with his wife and son. According to his bio on Dental Essence, he graduated from the University of Sheffield in 2008, just two years before the catfishing scheme started.

Despite initially being hesitant, Bobby agreed to be interviewed for the Sweet Bobby podcast and is also featured in the Netflix docuseries.

Who is the fake Bobby Jandu?

The person who had been pretending to be Bobby for all those years was actually Kirat’s cousin, Simran Boghal — a revelation that shocked both Kirat and Sweet Bobby‘s millions of listeners.

Simran was only 17 years old when she began catfishing her older cousin, whom she had a good relationship with at the time. Simran and Kirat’s families go way back, with Simran’s dad even serving as the best man at Kirat’s parents’ wedding. In the podcast, Kirat described Simran as the “perfect daughter” and the “girl we were always proud of,” noting that she was the head girl at her school and fit the stereotype of a “good little South Asian Punjabi Sikh girl.”

As the catfishing scheme unfolded over time, Kirat and Simran grew even closer, with the latter even offering Kirat emotional support and confirming Bobby’s feelings for her.

Finally, in 2018, Simran admitted to being Bobby, but Kirat’s struggles did not end there.

How did Simran Bhogal catfish Kirat Assi?

What made Simran’s catfishing scheme so convincing was the 60-plus fictional characters she created and wove together into a complex web of lies. These characters included Bobby’s friends, coworkers and family members, with whom Kirat also formed close relationships, making the shattering of the illusion that much more painful for her.

“Imagine somebody really close to you had suddenly died, and it’s not one person, it’s all of them. I had lost everybody,” Kirat told The Guardian. “Normally, even if you lose a boyfriend, your girlfriends come and look after you.”

Why did Simran Bhogal catfish Kirat Assi?

To this day, Kirat still does not know why her cousin targeted her with this catfishing scheme, nor has Simran offered a public explanation on the matter.

Alexi Monstrous, Sweet Bobby’s host, interviewed several psychologists in an attempt to understand Simran’s motives, but her profile stumped even the experts. While speaking with Monstrous, Kirat revealed that Simran wrote her a private apology letter, the contents of which she cannot legally disclose. Although Kirat felt that the apology was not sincere, it did provide some insight into Simran’s motivation.

“There was a phrase she used which bothered me,” Kirat recalled. “She honestly believed that we were both in a dark place and living in this kind of fantasy world that she created was bringing both of us some kind of happiness and joy.”

Did Simran Bhogal face any criminal charges?

Simran has never been charged with any crime related to her catfishing scheme. When she first confessed back in 2018, Kirat immediately went to the police, but they ultimately dismissed her claims as catfishing is not considered a crime in the U.K.

In 2020, Kirat won a substantial settlement in a civil case against Simran for harassment, misuse of private information and data protection breaches. Despite this small victory, Kirat has remained committed to telling her story in hopes of achieving justice for herself and other victims of catfishing.

In response to the podcast, Simran and her lawyers provided Tortoise Media with the following statement: “This matter concerns a family dispute over events that began over a decade ago when I was a school girl. As far as I am concerned, this is a private family matter that has been resolved, and I strongly object to the numerous unfounded and seriously defamatory accusations that have been made about me, as well as details of private matters that have been shared with the media.”

Has Simran Bhogal catfished anyone else?

During episode 4 of Sweet Bobby, a former classmate of Simran’s claimed to the podcast’s host that Simran was caught creating fake Facebook profiles in school, which the classmate speculated was an attempt to gain popularity and attention.

Where is Simran Bhogal now?

When Sweet Bobby first launched, Simran was living the life of a typical 20-something. According to the podcast, she was engaged, traveled often and worked at a top firm in London. At one point during the series, Simran was even promoted to vice president at a well-known British bank.

In the final episode, which aired in November 2021, Monstrous reported that Simran had left her job for unknown reasons. Her social media profiles have since been deleted, and she now lives completely under the radar, with virtually no online presence.