British woman in Netflix’s ‘Con Mum’ documentary charged in Singapore
The British woman at the centre of the Netflix crime documentary Con Mum has been charged with fraud in Singapore.
Police reports suggest that further alleged victims of Dionne Marie Hanna, who is 84 years old, came forward after seeing the show, in which she conned her biological son into funding her luxurious lifestyle, subsequently leaving him in debt.
Now, a number of people in Singapore, where Hanna now lives, have accused her of a similar scam in which she took money from them, claiming they would be repaid through her supposed inheritance to the Brunei royal family.
Three Singaporean men and one French man allege that she deceived them into transferring money into her accounts, which she said was needed for legal fees and opening other bank accounts.
Hanna appeared by video link in court on April 5th, charged with five counts of fraud. She was seen lying in a hospital bed next to an investigating officer, according to Singapore’s Channel NewsAsia.
The specific amount of money lost by Hanna’s victims has not yet been revealed, but preliminary police reports suggest that across the five counts, there could be as much as S$200,000 at stake.
Hanna could face up to a 20-year prison sentence if convicted, alongside a fine.
The fraudster’s actions were first revealed in the Netflix documentary released in March. The documentary detailed how, in 2020, Hanna reunited with her biological son Graham Hornigold posing as the illegitimate daughter of the Sultan of Brunei.
She showered her son in gifts before increasingly asking to borrow money, which eventually racked up debts of £300,000 for Hornigold.
In Con Mum, it is implied that Hanna had previously been convicted of further fraud and shoplifting offences in the UK.