FBI Hunting for 73-Year-Old Woman Accused of Stealing Nearly $30 Million by Impersonating Heiress
Seven years after she was indicted, the Federal Bureau of Investigation is still looking for a woman who allegedly raked in almost $30 million through fraud.
Mary Carole McDonnell is alleged to have been involved in multiples schemes in the Los Angeles area, according to KABC-TV.
The alleged fraud took place between July 2017 and May 2018, the FBI said.
During that time, McDonnell allegedly hooked one big fish — the Banc of California.
The FBI posted that McDonnell allegedly “devised and participated in a scheme to obtain money, funds, assets, and property owned by Banc of California.”
“Through this scheme, McDonnell allegedly and fraudulently obtained a total of approximately $14.7 million from the bank to which she knew she was not entitled and has not paid back,” the FBI said.
Mary Carole McDonnell is #wanted by the #FBI for her alleged involvement in a fraud scheme in Los Angeles and Orange Counties in California. Beginning in approximately July of 2017, and continuing to May of 2018, McDonnell is alleged to have knowingly, and with the intent to… pic.twitter.com/QCtLnOB2dy
— FBI Most Wanted (@FBIMostWanted) December 5, 2025
“It is alleged that McDonnell also defrauded additional financial institutions in a similar fashion, with an estimated loss of over $15 million,” the FBI added.
McDonnell allegedly conned the institutions by saying she was “an heir to the McDonnell Aircraft Family, with an $80 million secret trust to which she will have access,” the FBI posted.
Aliases such as Mary Carole Carroll, Mary Carol McDonnell, Mary Carroll McDonnell, Mary C. Carroll, and Mary Carroll McDonald have been linked to McDonnell, the FBI said.
She is described as 5 feet, 7 inches tall, weighing about 145 pounds, with blond hair, blue eyes, and a scar located on her right knee.
The FBI believes McDonnell is living in Dubai in the United Arab Emirates, but has ties to Los Angeles and Montgomery, Alabama.
McDonnell was once the CEO of Bellum Entertainment LLC, a production company the was involved in shows such as “It Takes a Killer” and “I Married a Murderer,” according to KTLA-TV.
The California Labor Commission investigated the company over non-payment of worker wages.
At around the same time the FBI alleges she was involved in defrauding the Banc of California and other financial institutions, McDonnell told employees that “significant bank fraud” was the cause of the company not meeting payroll.
Peter McDonnell, the suspect’s nephew, claimed he was owed $10,000 when he left the company, and has said he knew nothing about the fraud.
Anyone with information on McDonnell is asked to contact the FBI or an American Embassy or Consulate.
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