Woman swindles thousands by promising clothing resellers a reality TV show, cops say
A Texas woman promised five clothing resellers a contract with a TLC reality show and persuaded them to send her cash and even thousands of dollars’ worth of goods from their resale store, Texas police said.
There was no reality show, Warner Bros. eventually told one of the victims months into the scheme, according to court documents.
Monette “Mona” Isela Mejia was charged with aggregate theft, according to a probable cause statement filed on Feb. 21. The Houston mom had previously gone viral on social media for reselling clothes across various platforms, according to Business Insider.
Mejia scammed over $6,000 in cash and dozens of items from Loretta and Kenneth Cuadra’s resale store First Dibs in Houston, police said. Court records indicate Loretta Cuadra was swindled into giving Mejia 26 purses, four messenger bags, 59 shirts, 29 dresses, nine pairs of pants, 25 scarves, seven pairs of shoes, 28 necklaces and nine planners, many of them designer.
Mejia began messaging Loretta Cuadra in December 2022 about the fake TLC reality show featuring Mejia and her husband, according to court documents. Mejia and the Cuadras had established a relationship prior to this, but conversations about a reality TV show did not start until this point, police said.
Wanting to boost business at their clothing resale store, the couple later took Mejia up on her proposal to film the reality show at First Dibs. The couple offered her $2,000 and $8,000 in store credit after Mejia told them other stores were offering her money and store credit to film the show, according to the probable cause statement.
“We thought it was a great business opportunity, great advertisement, so we offered her to shop with us, we would give her store credit, and we even offered her a cash incentive,” Loretta Cuadra told KTRK.
Mejia contacted Loretta Cuadra in January, saying “we choose you!” leading the Cuadras to believe they would be part of a TLC reality TV show, police said. The couple was often emailed by a person claiming to be a TLC representative but never met with them, according to court documents.
In March 2023, Mejia asked the Cuadras to provide her inventory goods for the show, according to the probable cause statement. The couple sent her dozens of items worth over $46,000, which included several designer purses and shoes, police said.
By August, Mejia had stopped communicating with the Cuadras, so they emailed TLC asking about the delay with the show, police said. That’s when a Warner Bros. Global Security investigator informed them that they had been scammed by Mejia, according to court documents.
“We were heartbroken because we genuinely believed these people,” Kenneth Cuadra told KTRK. “We genuinely believed these people were our friends.”
Three other clothing resellers approached police in November regarding Mejia’s scam, saying she promised the show featuring Latina women would pay them thousands of dollars. Two individuals each sent Mejia $500 for “lawyer fees,” and another was told to pay $500 per family member who wanted to take part in the show, according to court documents.
Court documents indicate the three resellers were given almost all of their money back, but the Cuadras’ cash and merchandise was never returned.
Police said Mejia admitted to taking the money and was working on paying people back.
Mejia was arrested and posted a $10,000 bond, according to court records.
McClatchy News attempted to reach Mejia, but she did not immediately respond. Attorney information for Mejia was not listed.
She is scheduled to appear in court on April 2.
This story was originally published February 27, 2024 at 6:34 PM with the headline "Woman swindles thousands by promising clothing resellers a reality TV show, cops say."
