They were paid to do HVAC repairs but never did the work, officials say

Two North Carolina heating and air repairmen are accused of fraud after police say they were paid for work they never completed.

Gregory Brian Craft, 37, of Pittsboro was charged with one felony count of obtaining property by false pretense and one misdemeanor count of failure to do work after being paid, according to the Chatham County Sheriff’s Office. Craft runs Craft Refrigeration Heating and Cooling from his home in Pittsboro, according to the address listed on the business page on Facebook.

Craft was hired in November 2016 to do some heating and air work in Sanford.

The victim paid for the service with a credit card and claimed Craft later charged an additional $1,137 without permission. The Chatham County Sheriff’s Office received the fraud report on April 27.

Craft claimed he provided an invoice for the $1,137 to pay for the necessary repairs he had completed, according to the sheriff’s office.

The sheriff’s office consulted with an independent heating and air company to evaluate the claim, and it determined that the work charged on the invoice had been completed or needed to be done.

Craft is scheduled to appear in Chatham County District Court in Pittsboro on Oct. 23.

He was convicted on three counts of identity fraud in Granville County in late 2004, state records show.

Further east, the Craven County Sheriff’s Office is investigating multiple fraud cases involving Aaron Sutton, 30, of New Bern.

Sutton received money from clients for heating and air repair work, and replacement parts he agreed to install, but never did, according to the Craven County Sheriff’s Office.

Sutton is facing multiple counts of felony of obtaining property by false pretense and felony of exploit disable or elderly trust, WITN reported.

This story was originally published August 30, 2017 at 12:41 PM with the headline "They were paid to do HVAC repairs but never did the work, officials say."