Episode 1242: Queen of the Con - How 'Irish heiress' Marianne Smyth swindled €133k from victims

An American woman dubbed 'Queen of the Con' who swindled more than £100,000 from friends in Northern Ireland before fleeing to the US and posing as a fake heiress has been jailed after trial at Downpatrick Court.

Fifty-six-year-old Marianne Smyth stole the six-figure sum from clients after befriending them while working as a mortgage adviser between 2008 and 2010.

She then fled overseas to continue conning others, claiming to be on the run from the IRA. But one of her victims was LA producer Johnathan Walton, who has made it his life’s work to investigate her crime — writing a book and even travelling here to see her in the dock.

Nicola speaks to Johnathan about Smyth and her life and crimes. 

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