A northwest Indiana woman has been charged with more than 40 felonies in connection with a fraud and forgery scheme involving clients of a Merrillville law firm, Indiana State Police said.
Heather Ann Textor, 41, of Lowell, was charged with 42 felonies and three misdemeanors following a three-year investigation. The charges are listed below:
- Fraud against a financial institution – Level 5 Felony- Five counts
- Forgery – Level 6 Felony – 13 counts
- Counterfeiting – Level 6 Felony – Two counts
- Fraud (Between $750 and $50,000) – Level 6 Felony – Five counts
- Fraud (Enhancing circumstances)- Level 6 Felony – Seven counts
- Theft (Value $750 to $50,000)- Level 6 Felony- Seven counts
- Fraud – Level 6 Felony – Three counts
Authorities said an investigation began after suspicious documents were submitted to the Indiana State Police Expungement Unit.
During the…
THE HASHFLARE “CLOUD MINING” PONZI SCHEME (GLOBAL/ESTONIA)
Date: February 13, 2025 (Guilty Pleas) Perpetrators: Sergei Potapenko and Ivan Turogin
Case Description: This $577 million cryptocurrency fraud remains one of the largest digital asset scams in history, with major legal developments concluding in 2025. Potapenko and Turogin operated “Hashflare,” which they marketed as a massive cryptocurrency mining operation. Hundreds of thousands of victims worldwide purchased “mining contracts,” believing they were renting hash power to mine Bitcoin. In reality, the duo was running a sophisticated Ponzi scheme.
They created fake customer dashboards that showed “real-time” mining profits, but the money being paid out was simply the capital of newer investors. They laundered the proceeds through shell companies to purchase luxury real estate and a fleet of high-end vehicles. After a massive international investigation involving the FBI and Estonian authorities, the pair agreed to forfeit over $400 million in assets. This case underscores the “Cyber-enabled Fraud” warning issued by the FATF in early 2026: as technology evolves, the scale of fraud moves from local millions to global billions in the blink of an eye.
Link to Original: ACFE – High Profile Fraud of 2025