Heather Ann Textor, 37, of Lowell, has been charged following an Indiana State Police investigation into alleged fraud to financial institutions, fraud, forgery, counterfeiting and theft involving a Merrillville law office. The affidavit says the incidents occurred between approximately November 2019 – October 2025. Textor was a legal secretary at the law office.
The affidavit says the investigation followed a suspected fraudulent expungement petition that a Gary man hand-delivered to the Indiana State Police Expungement Unit on October 24, 2023. He also provided three purported expungement petitions and two Indiana State Police expungement letters. The affidavit says the unique expungement ID number on one completion letter returned to a different person, and personnel with the Lake and Porter county clerks’ offices said they had no expungement orders with the listed cause numbers or the man’s name on file.
The man told investigators that in November 2019 he paid “Heather” $1,000 in cash for a retainer. He later paid an additional $600 and a $26 filing fee. The affidavit says the firm’s records showed that $626 was receipted and deposited into the firm’s account, while the $1,000 payment was “nowhere to be found” in its accounting records. The receipt book covering that payment was missing. The man told investigators the same “Heather” gave him the three purported petitions on separate days after he watched her print them at the law office. Judges whose signatures appeared on the documents told investigators they had not signed or authorized the signatures.
The affidavit describes other payments that the law office said were unaccounted for. One client showed investigators three receipts for payments totaling $1,600; the firm’s records did not account for those payments. Investigators also reported finding four large reusable shopping bags in an upstairs storage space. The bags contained office files and personal effects, including three purported expungement orders bearing another client’s name and the missing receipt book covering the Gary man’s payments. A spiral notebook in one bag contained handwritten credit-card numbers, expiration dates and security codes.
In one alleged transaction, a client gave Textor debit-card information for a $375 payment toward a $750 retainer. The affidavit says $24.84 was processed through the law office’s credit-card machine and $350.16 was transferred to Textor’s personal PayPal account. In another transaction, a client paid $1,000 by debit card. The affidavit says $37.58 was credited to the law office and $962.42 went to Textor’s personal PayPal account. The law office told investigators it had never created a PayPal business account and did not accept PayPal payments for legal services.
Another client paid $850 through a Cash App account Textor identified as the law office’s business account. The law office told investigators it had never created a business Cash App account. The client said Textor told her she would “email the court to take care of it, everything would be okay and not to worry.” The affidavit says the client was later cited for driving while suspended in Valparaiso, Munster and Lowell, and her car was towed after each stop. On August 13, 2023, a license-plate-reader alert indicated she was wanted on a Porter County failure-to-appear warrant for driving while suspended. She was taken to the Lake County Jail and extradited to the Porter County Jail the next day. The affidavit lists her total monetary loss as $2,210, including the $850 payment and towing bills.
The affidavit also describes three bond-assignment forms that a client said she had not signed. The client had paid $1,200 in cash, but the law office’s records showed $600 credited to her account. Another client paid $980 for an expungement and later received documents that court officials said were fraudulent, along with a purported letter from an attorney for a federal employment matter. In a separate matter, a client received a purported specialized-driving-privileges order bearing a judge’s stamped signature. The judge told investigators the signature stamp had been used without permission. The law office’s records showed that client’s $763 payment had been accounted for.
Investigators also reviewed a $2,172.92 unpaid Staples balance charged to the law office’s credit card. The affidavit lists two iPad minis and other items among the purchases. The law office said some purchases were items used by the firm, but Textor did not have permission to use its credit card for purchases for her personal use.
Lodged in the Lake County Jail.
Charges filed October 14, 2026:
Fraud, victim is a financial institution — Level 5 felony (5 counts)
Forgery, with intent to defraud — Level 6 felony (13 counts)
Counterfeiting — Level 6 felony (2 counts)
Fraud, loss between $750 and $50,000 — Level 6 felony (5 counts)
Fraud, enhancing circumstances apply — Level 6 felony (7 counts)
Fraud — Level 6 felony (3 counts)
Theft, value between $750 and $50,000 — Level 6 felony (7 counts)
Fraud — Class A misdemeanor
Theft — Class A misdemeanor (2 counts)
