Every time a coupon counterfeiter is charged and convicted, the industry tends to warn that the counterfeiters’ customers could be next. While that’s certainly true, it rarely, if ever, actually happens.
But this time, it has.
Five alleged customers of one of the most notorious coupon criminals in recent years have been arrested and charged with crimes that could put them behind bars for up to 20 years, and cost them millions in fines, forfeiture and restitution.
A federal court in Virginia has unsealed an indictment against five women from all over the country – 38-year-old Sherise Williams of Palmetto, Florida; 30-year-old Amber Teague of Louisville, Kentucky; 37-year-old Jennifer Snyder of Lavon, Texas; 40-year-old Melissa Apodaca of Thornton, Colorado; and 55-year-old Cindi Swindle of Jacksonville, Florida.
From approximately April 2017 through May 2020, the indictment alleges the five “were all top purchasers of fraudulent coupons” from Lori Ann Talens, who is currently serving a 12-year prison term for creating and selling tens of millions of dollars worth of counterfeit coupons. The defendants “knowingly purchased thousands of dollars of these counterfeit coupons from Lori Ann Talens and used them to defraud businesses and enrich themselves,” the indictment reads.
Williams was the biggest customer of the bunch, according to the indictment. She allegedly purchased coupons from Talens 274 times, spending $19,821.34 and causing $1,387,493.80 in losses. Next was Teague, who is accused of spending $12,332.72 in 155 separate transactions, causing $863,290.40 in losses. Apodaca was said to have made 94 purchases, spending $9,311.42 and causing $651,799.40 in losses. Snyder allegedly bought $340,924.50 worth of counterfeit coupons for $4,870.35, over 120 separate transactions. And Swindle is accused of causing $334,388.60 in losses, spending $4,776.98 in 42 transactions.
All totaled, these five “top purchasers” alone allegedly cost retailers and manufacturers more than $3.5 million in losses. And prosecutors say they were just some of the estimated 2,000 customers that Talens had during her counterfeit-coupon-creating career.
Talens was charged in early 2021 with wire fraud and mail fraud, and was sentenced later that year. Her husband and accomplice Pacifico was sentenced to serve prison time as well. In what prosecutors called “one of the biggest counterfeit coupon schemes in history,” Lori Ann Talens admitted to creating more than 13,000 distinct counterfeit coupon designs with a total face value of nearly $32 million, and recruiting her husband to help process and mail her orders. Talens “would locate individual coupon enthusiasts on Facebook and invite them to chat privately on Telegram,” which is how the five women charged this month became customers, the indictment alleges.
The Coupon Information Corporation was tipped off to the scheme by a former customer, and assisted the U.S. Postal Inspection Service in its investigation. At the time of Talens’s arrest, CIC Executive Director Bud Miller told Coupons in the News that those who purchased coupons from Talens “may be criminally and financially liable for their counterfeit coupon activities.” Anyone who buys coupons online – whether or not they know that the coupons are counterfeit – “should be aware that they are providing their personal information to individuals or organizations that are likely criminal enterprises and may open themselves to other criminal schemes,” Miller warned.
Williams, Teague, Snyder, Apodaca and Swindle were each arrested in their respective hometowns earlier this month and ordered to face charges in Virginia, where Talens carried out her scheme. They’ve all been charged with conspiracy, mail fraud and wire fraud. If convicted, the maximum sentence is 20 years, plus fines, restitution and forfeiture of “any property” obtained with “proceeds traceable to the commission of the offense.”
“Coupon fraud is not a harmless crime,” Brian Dugan, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Norfolk Field Office, said in a statement upon Lori Ann Talens’s sentencing. “The FBI investigates these matters aggressively because this kind of fraud ripples through the economy, and unfortunately it is the innocent consumer that ultimately pays the price.”
And by holding responsible the allegedly not-so-innocent customers of counterfeit coupon sellers, authorities hope to send a message that those who buy fake coupons could end up facing some very real consequences.
Image source: FBI
Up to 20 years for coupons, yet in NYC Alvin Bragg let’s murderers off with a fine.
And just how did they find that last person to buy these?
Seems kind of appropriately named for it 🙂