The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is on the hunt for a 73-year-old woman accused of defrauding nearly $30 million from banks and other financial institutions in a year-long scheme while posing as a fake heiress.
Mary Carole McDonnell is wanted for her alleged involvement in the fraud scheme in Los Angeles and Orange Counties in California, which began in approximately July of 2017 and continued to May of 2018, the FBI revealed in a most wanted bulletin.
It’s alleged that McDonnell falsely claimed to be an heir to the McDonnell Aircraft family, with an $80-million secret trust to which she claimed she’d have access.
“McDonnell is alleged to have 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,” the FBI said.
Through the scheme, McDonnell allegedly and fraudulently obtained a total of $14.7 million from the bank “to which she knew she was not entitled and has not paid back,” according to the FBI.
It is also alleged that McDonnell swindled additional financial institutions, with an estimated loss of over $15 million.
A federal arrest warrant was issued for McDonnell in the United States District Court, Central District of California in Santa Ana, Calif., in December 2018, after she was charged with bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.
Federal officials believe that McDonnell, who is originally from Michigan, is currently in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, but has ties to Los Angeles and Montgomery, Ala.
McDonnell’s last known occupation was CEO and founder of the now-defunct Bellum Entertainment, a Burbank-based television production and distribution company.
Bellum Entertainment came under investigation by the California Labor Commission in 2017 for the alleged nonpayment of wages to former employees, according to a report from Deadline.
Former FBI special agent Tim Clemente and his associates at XG Productions told the outlet that they worked on more than 100 true-crime shows for Bellum Entertainment, including It Takes a Killer, I Married a Murderer and Corrupt Crimes.
Clemente said that he and his colleagues stopped working for Bellum because they were owed $50,000 in back wages.
Numerous other Bellum Entertainment employees told the outlet that they hadn’t been paid either.
McDonnell reportedly told the employees in 2017 that the company was the victim of bank fraud and had been having problems with its line of credit. She insisted the company was “doing well” and promised the employees they would be paid.
“They give all kinds of different excuses,” Clemente told Deadline at the time. “They say, ‘You’ll get it next week,’ or ‘We’re processing it.’ We’ve heard that a lot from them.
“Clearly, they appear to be in some financial straits. It happens in life, it happens in business. I just wish they would be a little more up front about it.”
McDonnell was named in several civil complaints, alleging that she owed more than $1 million to creditors nationwide, according to authorities.
She is described as 5 feet, 7 inches tall with blonde hair, blue eyes and a scar on her right knee.
McDonnell also goes by many aliases, including Mary Carole Carroll, Mary Carol McDonnell, Mary Carroll McDonnell, Mary C. Carroll and Mary Carroll McDonald, officials said.
Authorities urge anyone with information regarding McDonnell to call local FBI offices, the nearest American embassy or submit anonymous tips online.
© 2025 Global News, a division of Corus Entertainment Inc.
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