Spotsylvania man receives 28 months for nearly $200K insurance fraud

July 31--A Spotsylvania jury has recommended a 28-month prison for a county man who defrauded an insurance company out of nearly $200,000 in disability payments while he was working in another state.

Farshad Bigdeli, 60, was convicted last week of three counts of obtaining money by false pretense. He will be formally sentenced on Sept. 27 in Spotsylvania Circuit Court.

According to the evidence presented by prosecutors Ryan Mehaffey and John Hyde, Bigdeli worked as an engineer for Volkert & Associates in Northern Virginia from 2006 to 2008. He was making about $91,000 a year when he was fired.

Bigdeli filed a claim in June 2009 with the company's long-term disability provider, Unum Insurance Co. Unum approved the claim after learning that Bigdeli had been diagnosed with epilepsy and agreed to pay him 60 percent of his former salary.

The next year, according to the prosecution evidence, Bigdeli took a job in North Dakota making $110,000. He continued collecting disability even though his new salary and job made him ineligible. He worked in North Dakota until August of 2011.

Mehaffey said Bigdeli was questioned about his employment status several times over the years and repeatedly denied having a job. He collected payments until about the middle of 2014.

Unum representatives decided to do a more thorough check after Bigdeli called them and asked about having his disability payments increased. They learned about his employment in North Dakota and Virginia State Police special agent Christopher Brennan headed the ensuing investigation. It showed that Bigdeli had received $198,392 more than he should have.

Bigdeli testified that he was confused about the disability process and was not trying to deceive anyone.

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