A Wake County man has been arrested following a months-long fraud investigation involving nearly half a million dollars in losses to Duke Energy, authorities said.
The Wake County Sheriff’s Office said Duke Energy contacted investigators on July 22 after discovering that numerous accounts had been opened in the names of living and deceased customers without their knowledge. The fraudulent activity resulted in an estimated $495,904 in losses to the company.
After what deputies described as an extensive investigation, arrest warrants were issued for 36-year-old Rafael Stefan Williams. He faces four counts of obtaining property by false pretense valued at $100,000 or more, one additional count of obtaining property by false pretense, five counts of financial transaction fraud, five counts of accessing computers, and 19 counts of identity theft…