Woman arrested after making up fake TLC show to swindle thousands of dollars from retailers

Mona Mejia, who previously went viral for her successful resale business on Poshmarket, has been accused of an elaborate scheme tied to a fake TLC reality show in an attempt to get free clothes.

Monette “Mona” Mejia, who was previously known for her clothes re-selling business on Poshmark, has been arrested and accused of swindling tens of thousands of dollars from resellers by telling them she was starring in an upcoming reality TV show on TLC.

According to a probable cause affidavit, the investigation into Mejia began when Kenneth and Loretta Cuadra, who own a resale clothing and accessories store called First Dibs, filed a complaint against Mejia on September 18, 2023.

The Cuadras said that in December 2022, Mejia contacted them about participating in a “fashion reality show” on TLC in which Mejia claimed she had been asked to star, claiming the show would be featured on “Good Morning America.” They revealed they immediately trusted her due to the many reputable publications that had written about her, including Business Insider and the New York Times, ABC Houston reported.

According to court documents, Mejia told the couple she was looking to have a store to film at and had other consignment stores interested, offering $5,000 store credit and a $4,000 incentive, so they had to make up their mind.

“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 said.

Couple reportedly gave away designer clothes to Mejia

Court documents state Loretta and Kenneth provided Mejia with inventory for the show valued at $46,000. Some of the designer items included Christian Louboutin shoes, Gucci, and Chanel bags.

Mejia accepted the deal on Feb. 25, 2023, and said TLC would be in touch with them shortly. According to the Cuadras, they started getting emails from TLC about what they would pay them for using their location and for their involvement in the show.

However, the situation took a sour turn when at least one meeting that was supposed to include the Cuadras and TLC got canceled. In response, Mejias said the network had approved the Cuadras for 4-5 episodes of the show, but said that to “seal the deal,” the Cuadras “were to pay a total of $100,000 to TLC.” When they refused, Mejias allegedly returned and said she got the network down to $20,000.

Police said the Cuadras ended up giving Mejias $6,773 in money for this scheme and $38,715 in merchandise, none of which had been returned, “even when the scam was found out.”

“We were heartbroken because we genuinely believed these people,” Kenneth said. “We genuinely believed these people were our friends.”

All funds that were transferred via Zelle were linked to a phone number that police called in December 2023 and which Mejia allegedly answered. After being advised of the investigation into her conduct, Mejia allegedly claimed that she was the one who had been scammed.

Mejia said that someone she “did not know” had offered her a TV show and she decided to “share” that information with several “friends of mine online,” police wrote.

Mejia was booked into the Harris County Jail and released after posting a bond of $10,000.