American woman who posed as Irish heiress turns out to be a scammer, faces extradition to UK
- Marianne Smyth is accused of stealing more than US$170,000 from at least five victims from 2008 to 2010 in Northern Ireland
- Smyth’s victims say she was always dressed in designer clothes, claiming to be a witch, a cancer patient and best friends with Jennifer Aniston
She has criss-crossed the US saying she’s an Irish heiress, a psychic and good friends with a movie star to run scores of scams, her victims say.
But now Marianne Smyth is in a Maine jail awaiting a hearing next month that will decide whether she can be extradited to the United Kingdom over a scam dating back more than 15 years in Northern Ireland.
The 54-year-old American is accused of stealing more than US$170,000 from at least five victims from 2008 to 2010 in Northern Ireland, where a court issued arrest warrants for her in 2021, according to legal documents. She was located and arrested last month in Maine.
Her case has similarities to Anna Sorokin, a grifter convicted in New York of paying for a lavish lifestyle by impersonating a wealthy German heiress.
“She’s a master of disguise completely changing her appearance and her grift to suit each mark,” said Johnathan Walton, who started a podcast in 2021, “Queen of the Con,” to warn others about her after he said he was fleeced out of nearly US$100,000.
She was always dressed in designer clothes, but said she needed the money for things like a frozen bank account and to post bail, he said. She told him she was due an inheritance of US$7 million from her wealthy family in Ireland, Walton said.