True-Crime Producer Accused Of $30M Heiress Scam Targeting OC Banks

LOS ANGELES, CA — A former true-crime TV producer has been added to the FBI's newly formed Most Wanted Fraudsters list after being charged with posing as an heiress in order to bilk banks in Los Angeles and Orange counties out of millions of dollars, according to the FBI.

Mary Carole McDonnell, 75, was indicted by a federal grand jury in September 2018 of bank fraud and aggravated identity theft and has been on the run since. Authorities believe she is currently in Dubai, the FBI said.

McDonnell was added to the FBI's most wanted fugitives list in 2025.

A reward of up to $150,000 is on offer for information leading to her attest and conviction.

McDonnell is accused of fraudulently obtaining a total of $14.7 million from one bank and defrauding other financial institutions, according to the FBI.

McDonnell was the CEO of Burbank-based Bellum Entertainment, which produced true crime shows available on streaming services including "It Takes a Killer," "Corrupt Crimes," "I Married a Murderer," and "Bizarre Murders," according to court documents obtained by Patch.

In 2017, Bellum "began having issues paying payroll and meeting its financial obligations." That year, McDonnell was named in several lawsuits that claimed she owed over $1 million to creditors," federal prosecutors wrote.

As part of an effort to reverse her financial misfortunes, McDonnell is accused of posing as a heiress connected to the McDonnell Douglas Corporation, a former major aerospace manufacturing company and defense contractor.

She obtained letters from an employee at a trust company that falsely stated she held a trust worth $28 million. As part of a loan application, she used that letter to the Banc of California and told bank officials she was entitled to a distribution of $80 million from a trust, prosecutors claim.

McDonnell is accused of convincing a notary to notarize a bank account control agreement featuring a forged signature of a trust company employee.

With those documents, she managed to secure a $15 million loan from the bank, which she used to pay creditors and payroll for her company, prosecutors claim.

“It is alleged that McDonnell also defrauded additional financial institutions in a similar fashion, with an estimated loss of over $15 million,” the FBI said in a statement, bringing the total amount to some $30 million.

Bellum came under scrutiny of the California Labor Commission during the time of the claimed fraud due to claimed nonpayment of wages, Deadline reported in 2017.

At that time, Deadline reported McDonnell told employees that the company had been the victim of “significant bank fraud."