75-Year-Old Woman Added To FBI’s Most Wanted Fraudsters List Over $30m Bank Fraud

A 75-year-old woman has been added to the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Most Wanted Fraudsters List for allegedly defrauding banks and other financial institutions of nearly $30 million 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 ran from July 2017 to May 2018, according to a news release from the FBI.

McDonnell was added to the FBI’s newly formed Most Wanted Fraudsters list on Wednesday, with the agency offering a reward of up to $150,000 for information that leads to her arrest and conviction.

She allegedly claimed to be an heir to the McDonnell Aircraft family, with an $80 million secret trust to which she claimed she would 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, she allegedly obtained $14.7 million from the bank “to which she knew she was not entitled and has not paid back,” the bureau added.

It is also alleged that McDonnell, who is believed to currently be in Dubai, swindled additional financial institutions, with an estimated loss of over $15 million.

A federal arrest warrant was issued for her in the United States District Court, Central District of California in Santa Ana, in December 2018, after she was charged with bank fraud and aggravated identity theft.

“Most Wanted Fraudster Mary McDonnell is wanted for defrauding financial institutions out of millions and is known to have falsified her inheritance and background,” said Patrick Grandy, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office.

“It’s just a matter of time before McDonnell is caught as we work with our international partners to locate her. A generous reward is being offered in exchange for information leading to her apprehension and conviction, and a tip from the public might break the case,” he added.

McDonnell’s last known occupation was CEO and founder of the now-defunct Bellum Entertainment, a Burbank-based television production and distribution company.

She is described as 5ft 7in tall with blonde hair and blue eyes.

The FBI said she has ties to Los Angeles, California, Montgomery, Alabama and Dubai, UAE.

She also goes by several aliases, including Mary Carole Carroll, Mary Carol McDonnell, Mary Carroll McDonnell, Mary C. Carroll and Mary Carroll McDonald, officials said.

Authorities urged anyone with information regarding McDonnell to call local FBI offices, the nearest American embassy or submit anonymous tips online.