Ms. Ramirez was arrested by the Phoenix Police Department in June of 2012 as part of the world’s largest ever coupon counterfeiting bust. The Phoenix PD seized over $35,000,000 worth of counterfeit coupons in the case and Ms. Ramirez has been in custody since the time of her arrest. CLICK HERE for the video depicting the media coverage of the seizure.
Ms. Ramirez was operating her counterfeit coupon empire from her high end home in Phoenix, Arizona. She would only sell her counterfeits through her website and was distributing the bogus coupons throughout the United States.
The scope and depth of her operation was nothing less than amazing. Ramirez was selling every type of coupon that you could think of. She had coupons for pizza, diapers, coffee, dog food, fast food restaurants and detergent. You name it and she had it.
The case was truly an amazing example of a very high level counterfeit operation that was generating millions of dollars in revenue. Many folks within the law enforcement community had no idea before this case that counterfeit coupons were such a problem. In fact, it is estimated that the losses each year due to coupon counterfeiting may exceed $500,000,000!
The Phoenix PD’s investigation was led by Officer Sara Garza and Sergeant Dave Lake and they were also assisted by The Maricopa County Attorney’s Office and The FBI. Their diligence in this case is what caused such an outstanding result. Based on their efforts, the County of Maricopa was also able to seize over $ 2,000,000 in assets, which included cash, luxury cars, a speed boat, properties, and lots of high end recreational vehicles.
Ms. Ramirez had so many toys that she needed to rent an aircraft hangar to store all her cars, RVs and other toys inside. Let’s not forget the now seized custom Corvette that was valued at over $150,000!
Officer Garza was simply incredible. If it were not for her efforts to find and locate the assets in this case, it is likely that the asset seizure would have been much less. If Officer Garza did not go at this case the way she did, the Coupon Queen would likely have retained all this wealth from her illicit activity.
Officer Garza really put her all into this case and deserves special recognition for her efforts! Well done Sara!!!
The “approach” to the case that the Phoenix PD took was very thought out and methodical and is what led to such an overwhelming success. Ms. Ramirez is looking at 2 years in jail and 7 years of probation. If she violates her probation, she has a 15 year sentence hanging over her head. She will also have to pay the victims restitution. Two of her co-defendants have also been convicted as part of the case.
We applaud the efforts of law enforcement in this case and believe that this is a great outcome. We are very excited that the Coupon Queen is now out of business.
