How A Former True Crime TV Producer Ended Up On The FBI's Most Wanted List

Mary Carole McDonnell is the former CEO of Bellum Entertainment, a company that produced shows like "Corrupt Crimes," "Deep Undercover," and "I Married a Murderer." In 2017, Bellum reportedly began facing an onslaught of financial problems – Deadline reported that year the company was facing issues with their line of credit and the California Labor Commissioner was investigating wage claims lodged against the company by dozens of employees. The FBI alleges that In july 2017, McDonnell “knowingly, and with the intent to defraud” came up with an elaborate ruse to scam various financial institutions out of close to 30 million dollars. Authorities allege she maintained she was an heiress with ties to a wealthy aviation family and would have access to an $80M trust. Over the next 10 months, with that phony story, she was able to obtain $14.7M from one bank, and con an additional $15M from other institutions. In December 2018, she was charged with bank fraud and aggravated identity theft. Seven years later, the FBI added McDonnell to the Bureau’s Most Wanted list, claiming that they believe the former executive is currently in Dubai. Former FBI agent Dr. Rhonda Glover Reese joins “Forbes True Crime” to break down the case.

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