Woman posed as heiress to steal nearly $30 million from banks
Authorities from the Federal Bureau of Investigation are now searching for a 73-year-old woman who allegedly disguised herself as an heiress in California and scammed nearly $30 million (P1.7 billion) from banks and other financial institutions.
In a press release on their website, Michigan native Mary Carole McDonnell has now been issued an arrest warrant for a supposed fraud scheme that took place from July 2017 to May 2018.
The FBI stated that McDonnell had falsely claimed herself to be the heir to the McDonnell Aircraft Family and told financial institutions that she had access to an $80 million (P4.7 billion) secret trust.
According to the agency, 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."
McDonnell managed to trick the bank into fraudulently obtaining approximately $14.7 million (P872 million) before going on to defraud additional financial institutions for another $15 million (P889 million).
According to Deadline's report, McDonnell previously served as the chief executive officer of Bellum Entertainment LLC, a Burbank-based production company with shows that included It Takes a Killer and I Married a Murderer.
However, the company faced investigations by the California Labor Commission during her tenure in 2017 for alleged nonpayment of wages to dozens of its former workers. At the time, McDonnell told her employees that the company had been the victim of "significant bank fraud."
She has now been charged with bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. Police believe that she is currently in Dubai and asked the public to come forward with any information on her whereabouts.
The FBI described her as a blonde woman weighing 145 pounds and 5'7" with a scar on her right knee.
