Former LA producer posed as heiress and stole $30 million before going on the run, feds say

For years, Mary Carole McDonnell ran a California media company that produced a slew of true crime titles – now, the 73-year-old woman is being hunted by the FBI after she allegedly posed as an aviation heiress to defraud multiple financial institutions and then vanished.

According to federal authorities, McDonnell carried out the alleged schemes between July 2017 and May 2018 in Los Angeles and Orange counties, falsely claiming she had access to a “secret” $80 million trust fund as an heiress to the McDonnell Aircraft Corporation.

“Beginning in approximately July of 2017, and continuing to May of 2018, 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 in a release.

The FBI says McDonnell is now a fugitive, and believed to be living in Dubai.

Federal authorities say McDonnell fraudulently obtained approximately $14.7 million from Banc of California alone. She is also accused of using similar tactics to steal more than $15 million from other financial institutions in the region.

“McDonnell falsely claims to be an heir to the McDonnell Aircraft Family, with an $80 million secret trust to which she will have access,” federal authorities stated.

McDonnell, a Michigan native, once worked as the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Bellum Entertainment LLC, a Burbank-based television production company behind true crime shows including It Takes a Killer and I Married a Murderer.

During her time with the company, it was investigated by the California Labor Commission over allegations it failed to pay wages to dozens of employees, according to Deadline. The company folded in 2017 due to what was described as “unresolved financial issues.”

Around the same time federal authorities allege McDonnell was defrauding banks, she told Bellum employees the company could not meet payroll because of “significant bank fraud,” Deadline reported.

McDonnell’s nephew, Peter McDonnell, who worked at the company for 10 years as vice president, later said he was unaware of any such fraud and claimed he was owed at least $10,000 when he quit in July 2017.

In December 2018, a federal arrest warrant was issued for McDonnell after she was charged with bank fraud and aggravated identity theft in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

The FBI describes McDonnell as a white woman with blond hair, blue eyes, and a scar on her right knee. She stands 5 feet 7 inches tall and weighs approximately 145 pounds.

Authorities say she has used multiple aliases, including Mary Carole Carroll, Mary Carol McDonnell, Mary Carroll McDonnell, Mary C. Carroll, and Mary Carroll McDonald.

Authorities believe McDonnell is currently in Dubai, though she also has ties to Los Angeles, California and Montgomery, Alabama.

Anyone with information about McDonnell’s whereabouts or the investigation is urged to contact the FBI or the nearest American Embassy or Consulate.