When television production company Jeff Nimoy stopped being on the payroll in 2017, the Los Angeles showrunner wasn’t worried.
Bellum Entertainment was a “machine”, he said, producing a steady series of true crime shows, children’s TV and documentaries. At one point, the company had more than 30 shows on the air or in development, including “It Takes a Killer”.
Like his coworkers, Nimoy also believed that the company’s CEO, Mary Carroll McDonnell, was a wealthy aviation heiress with access to millions of dollars.
“I was like, there’s no way this thing is going to die, they have so much capital,” said Nimoy, who at one time believed he would spend the next 20 years of his career at Belém.
But that dream vanished when his paychecks stopped and Bellum Entertainment suddenly closed. Nearly a decade later, Nimoy is still waiting for more than $16,000 to be paid — and McDonnell is a fugitive wanted by the FBI who, she says, misrepresented himself as an heir to the McDonnell aircraft family in order to defraud California banks of more than $30 million.
Nimoy said, “Everyone was right, and I was wrong.”
This month, the FBI issued a Most Wanted Bulletin Information was sought about McDonnell, 73, who was federally convicted in 2018 on bank fraud and aggravated identity theft charges. Investigators allege that from July 2017 to May 2018, McDonnell used forged documents and claimed he had access to an $80 million secret trust fund as part of his scheme.
Federal investigators believe McDonnell is in Dubai.
While McDonnell faces criminal charges that he defrauded banks, Bellum’s former employees, family members and court records describe his transformation from a brilliant television producer to an alleged con artist who left a long string of victims.
“We are looking into his whereabouts,” FBI spokeswoman Laura Eimler told NBC News. He said new information about continued rape allegations abroad has prompted the FBI to ask for the public’s help.
The McDonnell Aircraft family eventually sold the corporation. James S. The McDonnell Foundation did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
an alleged false legacy
The only biographical detail in the story of McDonnell’s aviation dynasty that a relative knew accurately was his connection to St. Louis. The relative asked not to be identified for the safety of other family members.
McDonnell was born in Michigan and hails from Alabama. FBI saidBut the relative said McDonnell grew up in the St, Louis area, where the McDonnell Douglas aircraft company was founded,
The relative said that while McDonnell’s father was “well-off” and owned a successful grocery store, she would “inflate his worth” and make up stories about being associated with him. McDonnell Douglas CorporationThe company was known for producing airplane parts during World War II, developing the Navy’s first carrier-based jet fighter, and shaping space exploration and aviation,
“I spoke directly to her father … and he laughed and said, ‘No, there’s no connection there,'” the relative said. “I was too stupid to challenge her on this. But she continued to boast about the affair, insisting that she would inherit this huge sum of money.”
The details of McDonnell’s early career and when she moved to California are not immediately clear. According to former Bellum Entertainment employees, McDonnell continued to claim that she was a Dynasty descendant.
‘A lot of my checks bounced,’ says former Bellum employee
Brian Testa was hired as producer and director for Bellum Entertainment’s Burbank location in July 2016. He initially saw the opportunity to work on true crime re-enactment shows such as “Murderous Affairs” and “Deep Undercover” as a new adventure.
“I come from a lot of reality [television]“So scripted, while keeping the story true to the person who was the victim, usually it was murder, I would tell that story in as entertaining a way as possible,” he said, “That was a challenge,”
Testa said that his crew often worked 12-hour days scouting locations, filming and gathering the necessary materials for the show. McDonnell was always in and out of the office, he said.
Testa said McDonnell projected wealth – driving a Porsche, working out of an office with “rich wood everywhere” and carrying himself like someone who would enjoy “five-star hotels and certainly a lavish lifestyle”.
“She dressed well… but always looked a little disheveled,” he said, adding that office rumors suggested she came from money. “When I was there I certainly heard two different stories. One was that McDonnell Douglas was an heiress, and then the other was that a family trust was set up for her.”
When checks started bouncing and the facade of generational wealth began to collapse, McDonnell always had an explanation for the late payments, Testa said. Sometimes she would blame them for the credit line not being fulfilled, Testa said, and sometimes she would tell her employees there was “significant bank fraud” affecting the company’s finances.
When people got paid, there was a rush to cash the checks, Testa said.
“They have to run out the door to take it to the banks before they close so you can give them cash, because they’ll be carrying money around,” he said. “A lot of my checks bounced.”
For Carlos Franco, doubts about Bellum Entertainment began almost from the moment he was hired as a production assistant in the company’s New Orleans office in 2016.
While he was working on “Murderous Affairs”, he started hearing complaints from his co-workers about not getting paid. Then, his first paycheck came late and the excuses started flowing.
“There was always some problem with the bank, or the money they were supposed to get hadn’t been released to them yet, or they had to change banks, or they were getting a loan,” he said.
Reportedly unaware of the payroll issues plaguing Bellum, Aaron Cadieux began working for the company in 2017 when he was approached to help with a show, “Mysteries of the Unexplained”.
The production company wanted Cadieux as director of photography for an episode to be filmed in Massachusetts about the Bridgewater Triangle, an approximately 200-square-mile area in the state that is known for paranormal activity according to some people.
Cadieux, who lives in Massachusetts and owns a video production company, had never heard of Bellum — but he jumped at the opportunity. The company paid him a $500 advance, which he said gave him “peace of mind” and even provided him with a camera.
He said, “I think they also provided lunch and all that kind of stuff. I mean, it was a skeleton operation. It wasn’t a huge budget thing, but I was totally comfortable.”
Like others, Cadieux said she started seeing red flags early on. He said, while the two-day shoot ended in the spring of 2017, he was still waiting to pay his remaining $2,000 invoice by the end of the summer.
Cadieux said she sent emails and called Bellum for months for updates on her payment.
“I apologize for the delay in payments. We are a little behind. The payment is being processed and will be sent this week,” a Bellum employee who works in accounts payable said in an email dated July 26, 2017, which Cadieux shared with NBC News.
Cadieux said he never received the July payment. In a November 10, 2017 email, the employee suggested that Cadieux’s check had been mailed and apologized for the delay. When Cadieux once again did not receive her money, she told NBC News, she eventually emailed McDonnell and threatened to create a website exposing her for not paying employees.
“They stole my money. I got paid, but what about the rest of the people? So I said screw it,” he said, noting that he had only launched the website for a short while.
Around the same time, the troubles of Bellum started making headlinesAnd the company was ultimately sued over dozens of wage claims in Los Angeles County. Online court records show McDonnell has been named in several civil cases.
In 2017, the California Labor Commissioner’s Office investigated Bellum after approximately 50 employees filed unpaid wage claims, according to the entertainment site. Notice of deadline In those days.
“The claims mostly allege nonpayment of wages and have been filed by actors, producers, crew members, and others,” a spokesperson for the Labor Commissioner’s Office told Deadline at the time. “Some have reached a settlement, and some have not and are in different stages of the wage claim process.”
The Labor Commissioner’s Office did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment, but said it was working to obtain information about McDonnell’s investigation.
Faced with increasing pressure, the company abruptly closed after a planned week-long break to celebrate the Fourth of July holiday in 2017.
Nimoy said, “The night before we were supposed to return, it looked like we were going to have some delays, we were going to have to extend the break for two more weeks.” “That’s when I called my boss and said, ‘We’re never coming back.’ He agreed, and we never heard from him again.”
Testa told that after the closure of the company, he started protesting outside the office demanding the outstanding salaries. A few days later, he received a check for $3,000, which he said the company owed him.
But other Bellum employees were not so lucky.
Franco filed a complaint with the California Department of Labor in September 2017 and won a $12,395 judgment — but he says he’s still owed $1,250 in unpaid wages. Nimoy said the company owed him $16,650 in back pay.
From allegedly harassing employees to allegedly defrauding banks
The FBI alleged that behind the scenes, McDonnell was running an even bigger scam. A 2018 federal indictment accused her of obtaining $14.7 million from the Bank of California by falsely claiming that she was related to the McDonnell Douglas family and had access to an $80 million trust.
In an amended federal civil complaint filed in December 2018, the bank said that during a meeting with McDonnell and her former attorney, Barry Rothman, McDonnell said she was the heiress of the founder of McDonnell Douglas Corp. and the beneficiary of a family trust. The complaint alleges that McDonnell said he was going to receive cash distributions from the trust, but needed a loan to repay it.
The bank alleged that the scheme involved her forging documents and falsely claiming that she would repay the loan from the trust. The bank sued them for willful misrepresentation/fraud, conspiracy to defraud and breach of written contract. Rothman, who died in March 2018, was not named as a defendant in the case.
Federal investigators alleged in an indictment that McDonnell used similar tactics to defraud other financial institutions of more than $15 million.
On 12 December 2018, A federal arrest warrant was issued For McDonnell on charges of aggravated identity theft and bank fraud. But federal authorities believe she had fled to Dubai by then.
The FBI said it has received information that McDonnell is still accused of engaging in fraud abroad.
FBI spokesman Eimler said, “Publicity is an investigative tool.” “We were at the point where the case was cold, and we were getting information that she was continuing to commit fraud, and we decided it was a strategic time to go public.”
