 "Who is Netflix’s ‘Con Mum’, the Brunei ‘heiress’ now charged with fraud in Singapore?")
What happens when you are watch a documentary and realise that the story mirrors what’s happened in your real life?
For three individuals, that’s exactly what happened when they watched Netflix’s new documentary, Con Mum, and realised that the woman at the centre of the movie had used the same ploy against them. For those unaware, Netflix has dropped a new movie titled Con Mum, which tells the story of 84-year-old Dionne Marie Hanna, who went on to ruin the life of her son, Graham Hornigold, London’s top pastry chef, by contacting him in 2020 claiming to be his long-lost mother.
Subsequently, the three filed complaints against her, resulting in her arrest on March 28 and being charged with five counts of fraud by false representation.
But who exactly is the real Dionne Marie Hanna? How did she con her son and three others? We piece together this unbelievable story that seems straight out of a Hollywood movie script, but alas, is very much real.
Reality behind Netflix’s Con Mum
Released on March 25, Con Mum is the Netflix movie that speaks of the con that Dionne pulled off against renowned British pastry chef, Graham Hornigold, who attained fame after featuring on Masterchef: The Professionals and Junior Bake Off.
The true story dates back to 2019 when Hornigold received an email from a woman named Dionne, who claimed to be his mother. The mail read, ‘‘Hi Graham, I’m not sure if this is going to reach you as I’ve been searching for a way to contact you and found this email. My name’s Dionne, formerly known as Theresa…’
Suspicious that the e-mail could really be from his birth mother, Hornigold replied to the email with some questions — What was his middle name? Where exactly was he born? — all of which Dionne answered correctly.
Convinced by her answers, Hornigold and his pregnant wife, Heather Kaniuk, also a pastry chef, went to meet her.
Dionne told Hornigold that she had been diagnosed with a brain tumour and bone marrow cancer and was given only six months to live — the reason why she even reached out to him. She also revealed to him that she wanted to bequeath her wealth to him — she claimed that she was the illegitimate child of the former Sultan of Brunei. She bought him a car and all manner of gifts.
Mother of all cons
However, things quickly unravelled. Dionne convinced Hornigold into travelling with her to Zurich to organise her affairs so that he could inherit her wealth upon passing. What was initially thought to be a trip of just few days became a few months
Moreover, claiming she had lost access to her funds, she asked him to fund her lavish lifestyle to the tune of £300,000 (Rs 3.3 crore). She assured him that, once he inherited her money, he’d be fine. But instead, he sunk further and further into debt.
Amidst this, Horinigold’s wife, Heather Kaniuk, realised something was amiss; Dionne kept racking up expenses and her promises were seeming to go nowhere.
Dionne’s con came to light when Juan, one of Hornigold’s friends, confronted him about his mother borrowing money from him. The most shocking revelation, however, was when Hornigold found a bottle of red dye among his mother’s belongings. The blood she claimed to be losing due to her terminal illness was nothing but a trick. Also, the medications he found were for high cholesterol and diabetes, rather than chemotherapy.
When he confronted Dionne, things fell apart: it was all a scam. She disappeared from Hornigold’s life, leaving him in financial and emotional ruin. By then, his wife had left him and gone to New Zealand.
Later, she called him from Malaysia to tell him she loved him and to apologise. “I just want to talk to my son,” she said. “I love you, son, I’m sorry for what happened…. I’ve done what I’ve done, son. I cannot change, son.”
When many see the Netflix documentary, they would assume that Dionne isn’t Hornigold’s real mother. But, here’s a spoiler: a DNA test confirmed that Dionne was his birth mother after all, with 99.99 per cent accuracy.
Dionne ‘Con Mum’ charged with fraud
On April 5, Dionne Marie Hanna was charged in court in Singapore with defrauding three people. According to court documents, the 84-year-old had used a similar ploy that she used with Hornigold to defraud three other individuals.
She allegedly defrauded three individuals of their money with the promise that they would be reimbursed through her inheritance. According to Singapore police, she was believed to be involved in at least five cases of cheating with losses amounting to more than S$200,000 (Rs 1.2 crore).
“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,” police said. “The victims believed her investment and release of inheritance to be genuine and made several transfers to her.”
Court documents reveal that while at 10 Scotts Road – the address of the Grand Hyatt hotel in Singapore – from February 13 to 14 in 2025, she falsely represented to Mohamed Ariffin Mohamed Kawaja Kamaludin that she was terminally ill with cancer. She allegedly lied to him that she wanted to donate S$3 million (Rs 19 crore) to Masjid Khalid and S$2 million (Rs 12.7 crore) to Mawar Community Services.
Then between February 17 and March 10 in Singapore, she allegedly lied to another individual, a man identified as Paiman Supangat, that she was from the Brunei royal family, that she was terminally ill with cancer, and that she desired to distribute her wealth to him and his son.
Court documents also reveal that from March 10, she lied to Mohamed Syafiq Paiman that she was terminally ill with cancer and she wanted to distribute her wealth to him.
The police add that the individuals came forward with their complaints from March 28 — shortly after the Netflix documentary released.
If found guilty of fraud, she faces up to 20 years in prison. Her next court hearing is on April 11.
With inputs from agencies
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