Mary Carole McDonnell, a 73-year-old woman from Michigan, is reportedly on the run after scamming banks and institutions out of nearly $30 million, according to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
According to People Magazine, the FBI also stated that she posed as an heiress in California and claimed to be related to the McDonnell Aircraft Family, with access to an $80 million secret trust.
According to the FBI’s official statement, McDonnell is currently wanted for being involved in an alleged fraud scheme in Los Angeles County and Orange County, California, between July 2017 and May 2018.
Authorities said that the woman “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.”
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
Officials have accused Mary Carole McDonnell of withdrawing approximately $14.7 million from the bank despite knowing she was not entitled to the money and never repaid it. She is also facing allegations of defrauding other financial institutions “in a similar manner” for more than $15 million.
McDonnell has been described as a blonde woman who weighs 145 pounds, is 5 feet 7 inches tall, and has a scar on her right knee. According to KTLA, she was previously the CEO of the now-defunct Bellum Entertainment LLC, a Burbank-based production company known for producing shows like “I Married a Murderer” and “It Takes a Killer.”
In 2017, Deadline reported that the company was facing an investigation by the California Labour Commission for allegedly failing to pay dozens of its former employees.
🚨 Fraud Fugitive Alert | Los Angeles, California | 2025-12-05 UTC
Federal agents are searching for Mary Carole McDonnell, accused of running a bank fraud scheme across Los Angeles and Orange Counties.
Officials say she carried out the operation from mid-2017 to mid-2018 with… https://t.co/sBATcazPWj
— Gunnys Adventures (@DerrickSalas9) December 5, 2025
According to ABC7, McDonnell is believed to go by multiple aliases, including Mary Carol McDonnell, Mary Carole Carroll, Mary Carroll McDonald, Mary Carroll McDonnell, and Mary C. Carroll.
According to the FBI, the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in Santa Ana issued a federal arrest warrant for McDonnell on December 12, 2018, on charges of Bank Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft. Authorities believe she may currently be in Dubai but has ties to Montgomery, Alabama, and Los Angeles, California.
Officials are requesting that anyone with information contact their local FBI office or the nearest U.S. Embassy.
