The wheels of justice turn slowly. But justice also has a long memory.
Four and a half years after she was first arrested and charged with theft in connection with a multimillion-dollar coupon fraud investigation, a Texas woman has been arrested and charged again – this time on more serious federal charges, which could have her spending decades behind bars if convicted.
41-year-old Cassandra Clark of Cleveland, Texas – just outside of Houston – was arrested and arraigned on Wednesday on one felony count of conspiracy and three felony counts of mail fraud. She’s accused of creating millions of dollars worth of counterfeit Catalina coupons and selling them online.
It’s the same crime for which the local sheriff’s department arrested her, way back in March 2021. But those charges were quickly dropped, as federal investigators took over the case. And it appeared to have gone dormant – until now.
From at least October 2020 to February 2021, a federal indictment reads, Clark “manufactured counterfeit Catalina coupons at her residence,” using genuine Catalina coupon paper that she obtained online, and sold them to buyers on social media.
Walgreens tipped off local investigators in late 2020, after the retailer flagged numerous counterfeit coupons being used at one particular Houston store. Investigators traced hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of counterfeits to loyalty accounts used by two local shoppers, one of whom had sent and received multiple texts about coupons to and from Clark. That led investigators to seek her out as well.
A search of her home turned up “computers, a printer, Catalina paper, a large bag of fraudulent coupons, and United States Postal Service packages ready to be mailed with fraudulent coupons.” According to the original criminal complaint, Clark admitted that she created the counterfeits that the shoppers had been using. Investigators searched her computer and reported finding folders dating back to 2017, containing high-value coupon forgeries, which Clark would allegedly print onto Catalina paper and sell in a Facebook group. “All of the individuals in the group knew the coupons were fraudulent,” investigators said she told them. The federal indictment estimates the scheme cost retailers and manufacturers “more than $2,000,000.”
Clark and the two shoppers were subsequently arrested, but all were cleared just a few months later once federal investigators stepped in.
And then the local sheriff’s department held a bizarre news conference, publicly announcing the arrests months after they had been carried out, showing off all the loot they confiscated from the shoppers they took into custody, and suggesting it was all just the tip of the iceberg in a potential $20 million sophisticated organized crime ring involving at least 87 suspects in 23 states – all while failing to mention that they had already dropped charges against the three people they had arrested, and tipping everyone off to the fact that a federal investigation was still underway.
The “87 suspects in 23 states” appeared to refer to Clark’s alleged customers, none of whom – not even the two who were initially arrested by the sheriff’s department – have been charged in the federal case. The sheriff’s news conference, in which the crime was described with a healthy dose of hyperbole, quickly pivoted to the various seized health and beauty products on display for the TV cameras, which the department announced would be distributed to various local nonprofit organizations.
Clark has pleaded not guilty to all four counts of the indictment, and has been released on $15,000 bond. A trial is tentatively set for December 15th. If convicted, she faces up to 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, plus restitution for the losses she allegedly caused, and forfeiture of any profits made.
Thousands of dollars worth of products obtained with counterfeit coupons have already gone to good homes. The outcome of this case will determine where Clark herself will be calling home, for the next 20 years or so.
Image source: Montgomery County Sheriff’s Office
