Four Waco, Tex. area women were arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit identity theft in a scheme involving stolen Fingerprint Applicant Services of Texas (FAST) applications required by licensing and certification entities such as the Texas Education Agency.

The indictment alleges that from March 10, 2008, to July 27, 2008, one of the women was employed as a Live Scan Operator by Integrated Biometrics Technology (IBT), a company located in Waco that conducted fingerprint and background security clearances for applicants. These applications included personal information such as social security numbers and dates of birth. When the woman left IBT, she allegedly stole thousands of background check applications she had processed, in violation of company policy that required her to destroy them. The indictment further alleges that the defendants used the stolen information to fraudulently obtain credit cards, open accounts and obtain goods and services from businesses throughout the United States.

If convicted on the conspiracy charge, each defendant faces up to 15 years in federal prison.