Queenpins true story: What happened to the real-life people behind the movie?

Bell plays a bored and frustrated housewife trapped in a loveless marriage, who launches a counterfeit coupon scheme with her friend, who is portrayed by Kirby Howell-Baptiste.

The pair travel to Mexico to bribe an employee in a coupon printing factory to send them discarded coupons, and then sell them for profit back in Phoenix, Arizona.

The duo target brands such as Unilever and Procter & Gamble, raking in millions within months.

But it’s not long before the scheme catches the attention of a supermarket loss-prevention officer, Ken (Paul Walter Hauser), as well as a postal inspector (Vince Vaughn).

So, is the unlikely tale inspired by a true story? Read on for everything you need to know about the real-life figures behind the movie.

Queenpins true story: Who are Connie Kaminski and JoJo Johnson?

While Queenpins is loosely based on the real story of a multimillion-dollar couponing scam, certain details have been altered, and the characters at the heart of the film – Connie Kaminski and Joanna 'JoJo' Johnson – are fictional.

The real scam involved not two but three women who lived in Phoenix: ringleader Robin Ramirez, Marilyn Johnson and Amiko 'Amy' Fountain.

The trio ran a $40 million-dollar counterfeit coupon scheme, selling fake coupons made overseas on eBay and a website, SavvyShopperSite, for profit.

"These aren't '50 cent off' coupons. These are 'free item' coupons," Police Sergeant Dave Lake later said. "For Iams, you get this coupon from her for $10 and you can get a $70 item... If you can get an unlimited number of those, think how this grows."

"These people aren't buying a few coupons from this site," Officer James Holmes added. "They're buying bunches, and they're redeeming them in bunches."

Speaking about the true story behind the film, co-writer and co-director Aron Gaudet previously told The Hollywood Reporter: "The framework, the scam is really true to what happened, how they got these counterfeit coupons.

"They sold them off of this website, similar to what we do. Postal inspectors were involved. They made all of this money and bought sports cars and guns and all of these sorts of things that are similar to what happened."

He added: "The characters themselves are complete creations. That was something where we just really wanted to say something with these characters, and wanted them to be lovable with people rooting for them, and it felt like the easiest thing to do was to take that framework but then create our own story and our own characters within that framework of the scam."

What happened to the real-life Queenpins?

The trio weren’t discovered until Procter & Gamble, one of the companies they targeted, launched an investigation after discovering fake vouchers in circulation during a routine audit.

Procter & Gamble hired private investigators and turned to the Coupon Information Corporation, before bringing in Phoenix Police, who conducted an eight-week investigation.

In 2012, police raided Ramirez’s home and seized more than $25 million worth of fake coupons, as well as $2 million in other assets, including 22 guns, cash, 21 vehicles and a speed boat.

Ramirez, then 40, Fountain, then 42, and Johnson, then 54, were arrested and charged with counterfeiting, illegal control of an enterprise, forgery, fraudulent schemes and artifices and trafficking in stolen property.

In 2013, Ramirez pleaded guilty to counterfeiting, fraud and illegal control of an enterprise. A forgery charge was dropped.

Ramirez was sentenced to 24 months, as well as seven years' probation.

Meanwhile, Fountain and Johnson pleaded guilty to a single charge of counterfeiting and served three years' probation.

Queenpins is available to watch now on Netflix. Sign up for Netflix from £4.99 a month. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.

Check out more of our Film coverage or visit our TV Guide and Streaming Guide to see what's on tonight.

Try Radio Times magazine today and get 10 issues for only £10 – subscribe now. For more from the biggest stars in TV, listen to The Radio Times Podcast.