The True Crime Con: The TV Producer Who Faked a Fortune

Mary Carole McDonnell spent decades in television producing true crime shows. But in 2017, she allegedly pulled off a multimillion-dollar con of her own. Her company, Bellum Entertainment, made syndicated true crime shows like Corrupt Crimes, Murderous Affairs and I Married a Murderer. In December 2017, she walked into a bank and said she was heir to the McDonnell Douglas aerospace fortune — with an $80 million trust about to pay out. The bank extended her a line of credit, and over the next six weeks, she obtained $14.7 million. She drove a Porsche and kept a boat in Newport Beach. Meanwhile her staff went unpaid for weeks at a time. Her on-camera experts were retired FBI agents, including Joe Pistone, the agent known as Donnie Brasco. None of them saw through her the alleged scheme. So how did a woman who made television about criminals allegedly pull off a fraud of this scale? Jonathan and Cooper break down the case, from a fabricated family fortune to the people who were left dealing with the fallout. A federal grand jury indicted McDonnell in 2018, but she never appeared to face the charges. She remains a fugitive on the FBI’s Most Wanted list. For important links from this episode, check out our source material here. Listen to Doctor Billions here. 🎧 Subscribe to The Binge today to get this episode ad-free and unlock over 70 true crime podcasts instantly. Subscribe directly at GetTheBinge.com — or if you're listening on Apple Podcasts, tap "Subscribe" at the top of the show page. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices