Fake Irish heiress who posed as psychic and cancer patient is extradited to UK on fraud charges

A woman accused of travelling across the US claiming to be an Irish heiress to con people out of tens of thousands of dollars has been extradited to the UK.

Marianne Smyth faces allegations that she stole more than $170,000 from several victims from 2008 until 2010 in Northern Ireland.

In May, a US magistrate judge in Maine ruled that there was sufficient evidence for Smyth’s extradition.

Authorities in Belfast claim that Smyth stole money while working as a mortgage advisor, telling clients that their funds would be invested but instead kept them for herself.

Smyth’s victims in the US included Johnathan Walton, a TV producer, who created a podcast about the saga called Queen Of The Con: The Irish Heiress.

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The two had become friends while living in the same building. Smyth offered her lawyer boyfriend’s services to sort out a problem the residents had been having with accessing a swimming pool.

“[She] reminded me of Eva Perón in Evita, talking to the masses who adored her … She was brash and bold and charismatic and funny and irreverent … everybody loved her,” Mr Walton told Image.

She told the unsuspecting Mr Walton that she was awaiting a multi-million dollar inheritance from her wealthy family in Northern Ireland.

After gaining his confidence, she asked for his help with legal fees claiming that her family had “framed her” for theft. She asked Mr Walton for financial support when they “froze her bank accounts”.

Smyth was then sentenced to 30 days in jail for felony grand theft.

She was jailed for five years in 2019 but was released the following year due to Covid-19.

Smyth used more than 23 aliases and regularly changed her appearance with surgeries including nose and breast alterations and liposuction, Mr Walton claimed.

While in hospital she would ask nurses to take her picture which she would then send to victims claiming that she was receiving treatment for cancer.

“She used the cancer scam to get out of paying rent for six months,” said Mr Walton.

Police in Belfast planned to arrest Smyth in 2009, but she was tipped off and fled with her family.

After leaving Northern Ireland, Smyth continued her exploits across the United States pretending to be a witch, a psychic and a friend of A-list celebrities including Jennifer Aniston.

She was arrested in Maine in February.

Smyth drew comparisons to Anna Sorokin, a scammer who impersonated a German heiress to pay for a glamorous lifestyle in New York City, and became the subject of a Netflix series. Sorokin, whose real name is Anna Delvey, was convicted in 2019 of conning $275,000 from banks, hotels and New Yorkers to finance her deluxe lifestyle.

A spokesman for the US Department of Justice confirmed the extradition, and referred questions to law enforcement officials in Northern Ireland. An attorney for Smyth did not immediately respond to an email requesting comment.