A woman from California has been arrested and charged with fraudulently selling over $700,000 worth of counterfeit coupons to people in New Jersey and other states.

Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael Honig says 33-year-old Tong Lor, also known as Mandy Carr, of Modesto, CA, is facing two counts of mail fraud.

Honig's office says,

From January 2020 to May 2021, Lor was involved in a large-scale operation to produce and sell fraudulent, counterfeit Catalina coupons using the U.S. Postal Service. She printed coupons with fake bar codes and then mailed them to purchasers in New Jersey and elsewhere for use at participating retail stores for discounts on household items such as diapers, laundry detergent, and toiletries.

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Authorities say the fake coupons, which mimicked the ones printed at registers at stores, were sold in invitation-only internet groups in the Telegram app that were associated with her businesses, which ran under the names of Mandy’s Treasure Box, Mandys Knitting Club, and Mandy’s Treasure Chest. In those groups, buyers could select the coupons that they wanted to buy using an order form.

Honig continues, "Lor then falsely coded and printed the counterfeit coupons and mailed them to the purchasers, almost exclusively using the USPS mail system. USPS records show that from in and December 2017 through the present, Lor mailed over 13,000 parcels using USPS."

The charge of mail fraud carries a maximum of 20 years in a prison and a $250,000 fine.

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