A former TV producer who specialized in true crime television was added to the FBI’s most wanted list last week after defrauding banks for over $30 million.
Mary Carole McDonnell, former CEO of Bellum Entertainment, was responsible for shows like I Married a Murderer, It Takes a Killer, Corrupt Crimes, and Murderous Affairs.
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Now, however, she’s been on the run for almost seven years, following charges of bank fraud and aggravated identity theft from the FBI.
The FBI’s official website states that McDonnell ran a scheme to defraud banks from July 2017 to May 2018, where she “knowingly, and with the intent to defraud, devised and participated in a scheme to obtain money, funds, assets, and property owned by Banc of California.”
Allegedly, she falsely claimed to be an heir of the McDonnell Aircraft Corporation—an aerospace company that went out of business all the way back in 1967—and told banks of an “$80 million secret trust to which she will have access.”
“Through this scheme, McDonnell allegedly and fraudulently obtained a total of approximately $14.7 million from the bank to which she knew she was not entitled and has not paid back,” the FBI’s statement read. “It is alleged that McDonnell also defrauded additional financial institutions in a similar fashion, with an estimated loss of over $15 million.”
A warrant for her arrest was issued in December 2018.
The FBI believes she fled the U.S. and currently lives in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates.
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