Insurance Scam Involving Bear Costume Lands Three
- Three people were convicted and jailed for staging an accident while one wore a bear suit to scam insurers. - Officials say the scheme caused $141,839 in insured losses to multiple companies. - Prosecutors warned insurers about staged-accident schemes leading to prison ( patch.com ).
Three Southern California residents were sentenced after prosecutors said they used a bear costume to fake damage inside luxury cars and file insurance claims. (nbcnews.com) Alfiya Zuckerman, 39, of Valley Village, Ruben Tamrazian, 26, of Glendale, and Vahe Muradkhanyan, 32, of Glendale pleaded no contest to felony insurance fraud and each got 180 days in a weekend jail program plus two years of supervised probation. (ktla.com) California investigators said the group sought payouts after claiming a bear damaged a 2010 Rolls-Royce Ghost near Lake Arrowhead on Jan. 28, 2024, then linked that claim to two more vehicles: a 2015 Mercedes G63 AMG and a 2022 Mercedes E350. (nbcnews.com) The California Department of Insurance said the three claims produced $141,839 in losses to insurers, turning what looked like wildlife damage in the San Bernardino Mountains into a criminal fraud case. (abc7.com) The case moved because one insurer flagged the footage as suspicious. Detectives then asked a California Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist to review the video, and the biologist concluded the “bear” was a person in a costume. (nbcnews.com) Investigators later served a search warrant and said they found the bear suit at the suspects’ home, along with metal hand tools used to mimic claw marks on seats and doors. (nbcnews.com) Officials called the investigation “Operation Bear Claw,” a reminder that insurance fraud cases often start with ordinary claim reviews rather than dramatic undercover work. California’s fraud system also relies on insurers and the public to submit suspected fraud reports to the state. (nbcnews.com) (insurance.ca.gov) Two defendants were ordered to repay more than $107,000 combined: Zuckerman $55,360 and Tamrazian $52,268. Muradkhanyan’s restitution amount had not been set in the reports published after sentencing. (ktla.com) A fourth defendant, Ararat Chirkinian, 39, of Glendale, still faces a preliminary hearing scheduled for September. The fake bear is out of the case, but the court process is not. (nbcnews.com)
