An Indiana woman is accused of taking money from people who wanted their criminal records cleared, then giving them fake court documents that made it look like the job was done. State police say some victims later discovered their records were still intact, and one man found out when he tried to buy a gun.

Heather Anne Textor, 41, of Lowell, faces 42 felony charges and three misdemeanor charges. Investigators say she worked at the Merrillville law firm Weiss, Schmidgall and Hires, P.C., where police say she created fake expungement orders and forged judges’ signatures.

Sgt. Glenn Fifield says the scheme had serious consequences for people who trusted Textor to clear their records.

“They went to jail because of this woman and her actions,” Fifield said.

In one case, Fifield says a victim spent an entire week in the Lake County Jail waiting to be transferred to another county where a warrant had been issued. The person believed the criminal record had been cleared, but it had not.

Investigators say the scheme first came to light when a man tried to buy a firearm and failed a background check. He thought a previous conviction had been expunged, but it was still on his record.

Fifield says the documents Textor allegedly provided looked legitimate, even though the expungements had never been approved by a judge.

“The victims were given these documents, fully thinking that they had done the right thing,” Fifield said. “The judge has never signed his expungement.”

Police say people paid Textor cash for the service and received paperwork that falsely indicated their records had been cleared. Investigators found no corresponding cases in the law firm’s computer system.

Fifield says investigators uncovered a pattern of alleged fraud that stretched across about five years. Text messages saved by several victims helped investigators piece together what happened.

“This person had no care for the victims that she was taking advantage of,” Fifield said.

Textor faces five counts of fraud involving a financial institution, 13 counts of forgery, two counts of counterfeiting and five counts of fraud involving between $750 and $50,000. She also faces three misdemeanor charges.

Although the investigation lasted about three years, Fifield says police believe more victims could still come forward. Some people did not discover the alleged fraud until years after they paid Textor.

“We believe that there are other victims out there. They do not know they’re victims yet,” Fifield said.

Textor was arrested Wednesday afternoon on a warrant, according to state police.

The law firm is not accused of wrongdoing and is cooperating with investigators.