Former Washington Adjuster Pleads Guilty to $135,000 Theft

Former Nationwide Insurance claims associate Fariborz Romeo Rahrovi, 40, in November pled guilty in King County Superior Court in Washington to two counts of theft, criminal conspiracy and money laundering related to the theft of an accident victim’s $525,000 insurance settlement.

Rahrovi is scheduled to be sentenced at on Dec. 19 in King County Superior Court. He faces up to 12 months in prison.

He was charged after an investigation by Insurance Commissioner Mike Kreidler’s Special Investigations Unit. Rahrovi allegedly worked in cahoots with Seattle private law attorney Edward Joseph Callow, who represented the victim. Nationwide paid Callow’s client a $25,000 advance and a $500,000 settlement in 2010. Callow allegedly altered documents to show his client that Nationwide paid a $250,000 settlement, of which the client agreed to pay 33 percent in attorney’s fees.

Ultimately, Callow paid his client roughly one-third of the total settlement, according to the investigation.

Rahrovi pocketed $135,000 for his role in the scam, according to court documents. Callow kept the remaining $225,000.

Nationwide fired Rahrovi in November 2012. He was charged in December 2013 and pled not guilty to the charges in January. Callow pled guilty to five felonies and in August was sentenced to 24 months in prison and ordered to pay $167,500 in restitution to the victim.

Callow has been in jail since March, when he was detained after fleeing to Taiwan in December 2013 following charges being filed. Callow has since been disbarred and is serving his sentence in King County.