Knox County Sheriff deputies made a “significant bust” Wednesday afternoon, arresting four people who were attempting to fraudulently obtain $150,000 in diamonds from a local company.

New Sheriff Tom Spangler made the announcement at a news conference and said the white collar bust was a part of a string of similar crimes in the Southeast.

“There have been some cases that have been going on on the East Coast, the Southeast if you will,” he said. “This is not the only time this has been going on. These people are obviously involved in other cases and that’s why this case is going to continue for a while.”

Spangler said the process began Tuesday when an off-duty officer at Kimball's Jewelers was approached by the store owner about a phone call he received from a diamond broker. The broker, Spangler said, wanted to know if the owner had purchased the order of $150,000 in diamonds being shipped to his business.

No such purchase had been made by the store.

Knox County deputies were able to locate the shipping company and set up surveillance at the company's pickup area. This morning, a suspect came to pick up the package and was arrested. Three more were arrested elsewhere.

Ariana Jenkins, Octavia Smith and Corey Smith from Florida, and Quintaisha Torshe-Sullivan, who has addresses in Georgia and Tennessee, were arrested. The group had scammed the broker and used the jewelry store’s information to place the false order.

Spangler said the crime was about identity theft.

“People can get information off our smart phones, if you will,” he said. “You know how apps are today … the identity theft goes to show you how easy it is for someone to get a hold of $150,000 worth of diamonds. That’s how careful you have to be with these things, not only on your phone when you’re ordering things but also when you’re dealing with somebody.”

Spangler did not say where the diamonds were shipped from or where they were shipped to. He did not name the off-duty officer.

“It’s a convoluted situation right now, so they’re still working on this which is why some of the information you are getting right now (is incomplete). We can’t give out everything just for the fact that (the investigation) is still ongoing," said Spangler.

He said he wasn’t sure if the diamonds were stolen, but said the four suspects were planning on selling them..

The four were all charged with computer crime over $60,000, identity theft and attempted theft over $60,000.