A pair of Taunton women went on a three-month-long shopping spree at Stop and Shop, allegedly racking up 300 bottles of fabric freshener and hundreds of other products before selling them on social media.
The business proved to be illegal, with the two women being indicted on charges they ran an organized, counterfeit coupon operation and stole nearly $27,000 in products, according to Plymouth County District Attorney Tim Cruz.
A Plymouth County grand jury on Tuesday returned indictments charging Jacqueline White, 41, and Crystal Travis, 40, with one count each of larceny by false pretense by single scheme and larceny to induce parting with personal property.
White also faces a charge of organized retail theft.
The spree lasted from March 10 through June 2, with White and Travis using counterfeit coupons to steal roughly $26,547 of products from 13 Stop and Shop grocery stores in Massachusetts and two others in Rhode Island, the indictments allege.
White and Travis used social media sites and apps like Facebook and Dropbox to purchase what investigators described as “high quality, counterfeit coupons that contained barcodes and graphic designs,” mirroring “legitimate third-party coupons.”
“The two women committed the theft by passing counterfeit coupons to unsuspecting Stop and Shop cashiers,” the Plymouth DA’s office said in a release. “The fake coupons allegedly White and Travis steep discounts, sometimes undercutting the total retail value of the products.”
Specifically, the venture began on March 10 when White and Travis bought 366 items — beverages, laundry detergent, hygiene products and dishwashing soap — worth $1,658.28 with a Stop and Shop Rewards Program card.
But the fraudulent coupons, totaling $1,655, knocked that figure down to a mere $3.28 the pair owed the store at an undisclosed location, according to the indictment.
“After absconding with the items, the pair posted photographs of the products on social media sites, namely Facebook, offering to sell the goods at steeply discounted prices,” officials said in the release. “The women asked potential buyers to meet them at a location in Taunton and payments for the products were to be made in cash.
The Coupon Information Center, a Florida-based nonprofit that fights coupon fraud, sent an online notification to White on April 26 that she had been associated with illegal counterfeit coupon activities and to stop the operation.
But the spree continued for another month and a half. White and Travis hit Stop and Shop stores in Quincy, Weymouth, Raynham, Plainville, Whitman, Abington, Pembroke, Norwell, Hingham, North Dartmouth, New Bedford, Sandwich and Brockton, as well as East Providence and Pawtucket in Rhode Island, according to the Plymouth DA’s office.
Some of the larger items stolen include 300 bottles of fabric freshener, 275 cases of antibacterial wipes, 226 bottles of laundry detergent and 219 cans of air disinfectant, among others.
Abington and Hingham police conducted the investigation, receiving support from the Coupon Information Center.
White and Travis will be arraigned in Brockton Superior Court at a later date.