Woman charged with selling $18 million worth of fake coupons she downloaded in New Jersey: Federal authorities

From June 2020 to June 2024, Janet Bernal – who goes by the names Rocky, Rocky G, Rocky Gee and RockyG-Kruella – orchestrated a conspiracy to manufacture and sell fraudulent, counterfeit coupons to shoppers at retail stores throughout the United States, including major pharmacies and grocery stores, said U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger.

Bernal offered fake coupons through a paid monthly subscription group available through a widely used cloud-based messaging application on the Internet.

Shoppers signed up with the group, paid a monthly fee and then had unlimited access to numerous types of fake coupons that Bernal made available for download in the application, Sellinger said.

Members paid the monthly fee into mobile cash accounts linked directly to Bernal and downloaded tens of thousands of fake coupons to redeem at retail stores in New Jersey and elsewhere, officials said.

This resulted in losses of around 18 million US dollars for 156 retail stores and manufacturers whose products were affected by the counterfeit coupons.

Bernal was charged in an indictment with three counts of wire fraud. She appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Richard Farrer in federal court in San Antonio in the Western District of Texas on August 27, 2024, and was released on $15,000 bail.

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