GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. – Meijer lost hundreds of thousands of dollars in a counterfeit coupon scheme, and eight people are facing charges.
The scheme goes back to at least 2018, and police say at least $805,000 was stolen from the store chain in counterfeit coupon barcodes from several people.
Nine people were named in court documents as being part of the criminal enterprise. Eight of the nine had criminal cases filed against them: Elizabeth Tejada, Sara Tejada, Efrain Tejada, Thomas Ragen, Kristin Ragen, Travis Gale, Travis Plotts, and Christine Day.
Court documents say many of them are either married, related, or know each other in some way.
Officials said they found Visa and Mastercard gift cards that had been fraudulently obtained from Meijer in the homes of the people involved.
Court documents suggest most of the group have already been sentenced to a minimum of three years in prison, as state officials cited $13 million in losses to Michigan businesses in the past year.