Queenpins, a comedy based on a true tale, follows two buddies who are behind a big couponing operation. Actors Kristen Bell and Kirby Howell-Baptiste, who previously worked together in Veronica Mars and The Good Place, reprise their roles as Connie Kaminiski and JoJo Johnson, respectively, in Queenpins.
After complaining to a firm about stale cereal, Connie is given a discount as an apology in the film. Because of this event, she and her BFF JoJo come up with a business plan that becomes quite successful. Three ladies from Arizona—Robin Ramirez, Marilyn Johnson, and Amiko “Amy” Fountain—created the couponing scheme shown in Queenpins.
Bebe Rexha, Vince Vaughn, and Joel McHale are just a few of the well-known actors in the audience will recognize in supporting parts in Queenpins. Connie and JoJo’s plan to resell stolen coupons online soon becomes popular, and before long they are running a thriving criminal organization.
Connie and JoJo recruit the aid of tech whiz Tempe Tina to avoid being caught by the cops (Bebe Rexha). Loss prevention officer Ken Miller (Paul Walter Hauser) of a grocery store chain notices an unexpected increase in counterfeit coupons, and he and postal inspector Simon Kilmurry (Vince Vaughn) work together to figure out where the counterfeits are coming from. In reality, Queenpins’ story is far more complex than the movie portrays, as the couponing scheme was more involved than depicted.
The $40 million coupon fraud in Queenpins is based on a factual crime while reading like a work of fiction. Three women were apprehended in 2012 by Arizona police after they were found with millions of dollars worth of counterfeit coupons. It may not seem like much, but illegal couponing may cost businesses millions of dollars annually. The film was inspired by the true story of the swindle perpetrated by Queenpins, but it departs from the actual events in some significant ways.
Queenpins Is (Roughly) Based on a True Story.
A real-life coupon fraud was the inspiration for Queenpins, which follows the exploits of three Arizona women named Robin Ramirez, Marilyn Johnson, and Amiko “Amy” Fountain. Ramirez, who was 40 when she was arrested, was thought to be the group’s leader. Johnson, who was 54 at the time, and Fountain, who was 42, helped her with the operation, which made all of them millions of dollars.
Sgt. David Lake of the Phoenix Police Department was interested in the American real crime story and he told local TV station KPHO [via Coupons in the News] that “the grandeur and the money was the equal of drug cartel-type of stuff.” No matter what the women’s financial situations were like before they began the scam, by the time it was over, they were living in luxury.
CBS’s Pink Collar Crimes did a documentary on coupon fraud in 2018, and Queenpins takes a more comic approach to the story. However, in reality, the Queenpins had to pay a significant sum and serve time for the scam, so the story is far from comical.
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How a Real-World Coupon Scam Operated
In 2007, Ramirez reportedly began selling counterfeit coupons, according to Coupons in the News. Her scheme entailed shipping coupons abroad to be mass-produced by forgery. Queenpins, like other true crime movies like Leonardo DiCaprio’s Wolf of Wall Street, simplifies the true narrative of the couponing fraud for dramatic purposes for the sake of time.
Super savings would be added to these coupons. As an example, a valid $1 off coupon for Pringles might be exchanged for $50 worth of free dog food. Even after experiencing such wonderful success, some consumers have stated that the deals looked too good to be true at the time.
In order to make the counterfeit coupons appear more authentic, Johnson assisted with packaging and shipping, while Fountain occasionally added hologram stickers.
The group then marketed the coupons on their own website, SavvyShopperSite, and on various eBay accounts. This site restricted access through invitation only and cautioned users against telling others where to buy coupons.
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Where Exactly Did the Ladies Operate Their Coupon Forgery?
The three women who would become known as the “Coupon Queens” lived in Phoenix, Arizona, and ran their counterfeiting enterprise from there. Beginning in 2007, when mastermind Robin Ramirez first began selling counterfeit coupons, she was soon joined by accomplices Marilyn Johnson and Amiko Fountain. Coupons in the Press
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What Were the Women Peddling if Not Fake Coupons?
Robin Ramirez, Amiko Fountain, and Marilyn Johnson, three ladies, largely sold free product vouchers. They had discounts on everything from Hershey chocolates to dog food to diapers. This is not a fifty cents-off coupon. The coupons are for free items,” stated Phoenix police sergeant David Lake. A $10 Iams coupon from here will get you a $70 product.
Imagine the potential for expansion if you have access to an infinite supply of those (Yahoo Finance). Both eBay and the women’s own website, SavvyShopperSite.com, featured listings for their fake coupons. Savvy Shopper, a legitimate coupon magazine, was the inspiration for the site’s name. It was hoped by the real-life Queenpins that using a similar moniker would lend credibility to their enterprise.
Is it possible that the real Queenpins didn’t have quite as glamorous of a lifestyle?
As a rule of thumb, that is correct. Sergeant David Lake, who oversaw the Phoenix Police Department’s coupon investigation, said, “The splendor and the money was the equal of drug cartel-type stuff.”
Four homes, twenty-two firearms, a forty-foot speedboat, and twenty-one automobiles were among the four-and-a-half million dollars in assets that police recovered from the three women throughout the course of their investigation and subsequent arrest.
