Mary Carole McDonnell once led Bellum Entertainment, a television production company whose programming included true-crime shows and an uplifting home makeover series. The company’s former chief executive is now the subject of an manhunt tied to a federal fraud case involving millions of dollars.
Prosecutors allege after using false claims about an $80 million trust and fabricating trust-company documents to obtain a $15 million loan, receiving roughly $14.7 million from Banc of California. The former host of Bellums makeover show says he was left speechless 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 of the case against McDonnell, the former Bellum executive he remembered as the business force behind the show.
“I didnt know anything at all until you guys called,” Sabato told Fox News Digital.
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McDonnell was indicted in federal court in 2018 on five counts of bank fraud and two counts of aggravated identity theft.
Investigators say that McDonnell is wanted on charges of bank fraud and aggravated identity theft in connection with the alleged scheme carried out in 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 ,” 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.
She was allegedly able to obtain approximately $14.7 million from Banc of California, although she knew she was not authorized and did not repay it. She used similar methods to defraud other financial institutions of more than $15 million, according to the FBI.
The bureaus 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 Bellums 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.
“It was called Fix It & Finish It, but it was really fixing their souls,” Sabato said. “Ive seen grown men, grown women, just [in] tears.”
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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 Bellums shows and the potential of the renovation series during meetings at the companys Burbank office.
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