January 1, EXPOSED: Hollywood Producer Vanishes With Millions After Faking Fortune

Wyatt’s Take

• TV exec Mary Carole McDonnell allegedly posed as an aircraft heiress to steal nearly $15 million from California banks before fleeing to Dubai
• Antonio Sabato Jr., host of her feel-good home makeover show, says he had no idea his boss was allegedly running a massive fraud scheme
• Feds say she faked trust documents claiming an $80 million inheritance — then vanished overseas when the scheme collapsed

Mary Carole McDonnell ran Bellum Entertainment, a television production company that made true-crime shows and an uplifting home renovation series. Now the former CEO is the target of an FBI manhunt tied to a federal fraud case involving millions of dollars.

Prosecutors say McDonnell fled to Dubai after using false claims about an $80 million trust and fabricating trust-company documents to obtain a $15 million loan from Banc of California. She received roughly $14.7 million.

The former host of Bellum’s makeover show says he was floored when a reporter told him about the case this week.

Antonio Sabato Jr., who hosted the syndicated series “Fix It & Finish It,” said he was stunned to learn about the criminal charges against McDonnell, the former Bellum executive he remembered as the business force behind the show.

“I didn’t know anything at all until you guys called,” Sabato told Fox News Digital.

McDonnell was indicted in federal court in 2018 on five counts of bank fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft. That’s seven years ago — and she’s still on the run.

Investigators say McDonnell is wanted on charges of bank fraud and aggravated identity theft in connection with the alleged scheme carried out in Los Angeles and Orange counties between July 2017 and May 2018, the FBI said.

“Beginning in approximately July 2017 and continuing to May of 2018, McDonnell is alleged to have knowingly, and with intent to defraud, devised and participated in a scheme to obtain money, funds, assets, and property owned by Banc of California,” the FBI said.

Federal investigators say McDonnell posed as an heir to the McDonnell Aircraft family and falsely claimed she would eventually gain access to an $80 million secret trust. That’s the kind of scam you’d expect to see on one of her own true-crime shows.

She allegedly obtained approximately $14.7 million from Banc of California, knowing she was not authorized and had no intention of repaying it. She used similar methods to defraud other financial institutions of more than $15 million, according to the FBI.

The bureau’s active wanted notice says the agency believes she is currently in Dubai. A federal arrest warrant for McDonnell was issued on Dec. 12, 2018, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California.

Sabato told Fox News Digital he was hired as the host, creator and producer of “Fix It & Finish It” and was not involved in Bellum’s finances. The series sent him and a small crew from city to city to renovate homes for families in need, he said.

He described the show as physically demanding but deeply meaningful work, with the team completing a different home project each weekday. While he was fixing homes for struggling American families, his boss was allegedly looting banks.

“It was called ‘Fix It & Finish It,’ but it was really fixing their souls,” Sabato said. “I’ve seen grown men, grown women, just [in] tears.”

Sabato said he had no firsthand knowledge of the allegations against McDonnell and did not see warning signs at the time. He also said he was never contacted by the FBI or other federal investigators after the indictment against McDonnell was filed.

Instead, he said, he remembered McDonnell as a polished executive who spoke about Bellum’s shows and the potential of the renovation series during meetings at the company’s Burbank office. Turns out that polish was covering up an alleged multimillion-dollar fraud.

Sabato said the show’s sudden end had long puzzled him and now he was left “speechless” after learning the extent of McDonnell’s alleged fraud.

“It felt weird,” Sabato said when Bellum canceled the hit renovation series. “And I said, something’s going on. I just felt something was up. And then my producer called me and said that they pulled the plug.”

He said the criminal case has now given him a new context for the company’s financial troubles. When the money ran out, so did McDonnell.

“I would want to ask her someday, ‘Why did you do that? Why would you go and create this hell?'”

Investigators say they believe McDonnell is currently in Dubai and describe her as a White female, 5 feet, 7 inches tall, weighing 145 pounds, with blonde hair, blue eyes and a scar on her right knee. Dubai doesn’t have an extradition treaty with the United States — convenient for fugitives.

Anyone with information on McDonnell’s whereabouts is urged to contact their local FBI office or the nearest American embassy or consulate.

Wyatt Matters

This is the kind of Hollywood scam that makes working Americans sick. While regular people were struggling to pay their mortgages, this TV exec was allegedly posing as an heiress and stealing millions from California banks. Then when the jig was up, she hopped on a plane to Dubai where U.S. law can’t touch her. Meanwhile, Antonio Sabato Jr. and his crew were out there actually helping American families fix their homes — doing honest work while their boss was allegedly running a fraud scheme. That’s the difference between people who work for a living and people who work the system. Seven years later, she’s still living it up overseas while her victims are still out millions. That’s not justice.