The British person who is accused of fraud in Singapore after allegedly duped her brother and left him in loan to finance her champagne-drinking lifestyle is the subject of a Netflix documentary.
According to local media reports, after watching Con Mum, the alleged victims of Dionne Marie Hanna, 84, filed officers information.
They accuse the Singapore tenant of stealing their money with the assurance that the royal family’s inheritance would reimburse them.
The plot is similar to the one she reportedly used against Graham Hornigold, a London pastry chef, after she allegedly contacted him in 2020 and claimed to be his long-lost family.
A later DNA test revealed that Ms. Hanna was actually the family of Mr. Hornigold.
Ms. Hanna showed up in court on Saturday via video website and was charged with five counts of scams. According to reports from Singapore’s Channel NewsAsia, she was seen lying on a medical bed with an investigating officer.
She is accused of defrauding three French and Indian gentlemen into sending money into her transactions, claiming that the funds were needed to pay legal fees and open new bank accounts.
Ms. Hanna pleaded with them for their understanding by claiming that she was terminally ill and attested to pay them an inheritance and that she is a member of the Brunei royal family. In the film, her brother contests these assertions.
She even made promises to contribute millions of dollars to a minaret and a non-profit organization serving Muslims in Singapore, according to the court.
Although it is not known how much of the money her alleged victims lost, Singapore police said preliminary investigations reveal that she has been involved in at least five fraud cases resulting in losses of more than S$ 200, 000 ($ 149, 000 ) and more than S$ 149, 000 ($ 115, 400 ).
Ms. Hanna could receive a great and up to 20 years in prison if found guilty.
Following Mr. Hornigold’s meeting with Ms. Hanna during the crisis in the UK, Con Mum was released on Netflix on March 25.
She first presented herself as a powerful, unmarried daughter of the sultan of Brunei, lavishing his then-partner Holly Kaniuk, his friends, and Mr. Hornigold with beautiful presents from cars to properties.
Although originally skeptical, Mr. Hornigold quickly established a close relationship with his mother, who has worked in Michelin-starred establishments and founded Longboys Doughnuts.
But, Ms. Hanna started leaving Mr. Hornigold and his companions to base her mounting costs while she disappeared. Mr. Hornigold claimed in the movie that he lost £300,000.
According to the movie, Ms. Hanna had recently been found guilty of theft and fraud in the UK.