SINGAPORE: A British woman from the Netflix documentary "Con Mum", about her allegedly scamming her renowned pastry chef son, told a Singapore court on Thursday (April 17) that she had nobody to bail her out.
Dionne Marie Hanna, 84, was charged this month with five counts of fraud involving three people, according to documents filed with a district court in the city-state.
Prosecutors said her alleged offences involved losses of S$500,000 (US$381,000) at a hearing on Thursday.
Her bail was set at S$50,000 ($38,100).
"I don't have anybody to bail me out," she said in a weak voice over video link from a police station.
Hanna, sitting in a wheelchair, was not represented by a lawyer and was visibly having difficulty hearing the judge.
In the documentary released on March 25, Hanna upends pastry chef Graham Hornigold's life when she emails him and claims to be his biological mother.
She allegedly scams Hornigold as they reconnect, conning him out of hundreds of thousands of dollars, according to the film.
A DNA test at the end of the documentary shows Hanna is indeed his biological mother.
The Singapore police has said they received several reports from alleged victims after the documentary was released on Netflix.
One of the charges against Hanna involves her allegedly telling a man in Singapore this year, identified as Paiman Supangat, that she was from the Brunei royal family, according to court documents.
She allegedly told him she had terminal cancer and wanted to pass on her wealth to him and his son.
"As part of the arrangement to receive monies for the investment and inheritance, the victims were asked to transfer money for legal fees and opening of overseas bank accounts," the police said this month.
"The victims believed that her investment and release of inheritance to be genuine and made several transfers to her."
If found guilty of fraud, Hanna faces fines and up to 20 years in prison.
Her next court hearing is scheduled for May 16. - AFP
