WSP searches records at Valley car lot office
Pair accused of embezzlement in California
Suspected embezzlement at a California car dealership led the Washington State Patrol to a Spokane Valley car lot Tuesday evening.
The WSP served a search warrant at 7814 E. Sprague Ave. to look for business records for the car dealership Paiman Rahbarian ran with his brother in Sacramento, Sgt. Dave Bolton said.
The WSP arrested Rahbarian last week after California officials issued a warrant listing 24 counts of fraud.
Rahbarian, 40, was apparently trying to start a car dealership at the Sprague location, Bolton said.
Rahbarian’s brother, Shayan Rahbarian, was arrested in California on Sept. 26. The two are accused of obtaining 192 used cars worth more than $4 million from an auto auction yard but never paying the auction yard, according to the California Department of Motor Vehicles.
Paiman Rahbarian was arrested last Wednesday and extradited to California on Tuesday morning, according to law enforcement.
Rahbarian was the general manager at Suzuki of Sacramento, according to the DMV. The dealership closed in July 2007, when the DMV started investigating the Rahbarian family, according to a news release.
Authorities searched the family’s home and businesses in March, and in September the DMV obtained a restraining order on the family that prevents them from liquidating their assets, according to the DMV.