Bear Suit Scam Nets 3 Arrests
- Three arrested for insurance fraud using fake bear costume. - Scheme caused $141,839 in losses to insurers. - 'Clearly a human' ruse fooled no one for long patch.com.
Three Southern California residents were sentenced after prosecutors said they used a bear costume to fake animal attacks inside luxury cars for insurance payouts. (apnews.com) The California Department of Insurance said the scheme centered on a January 2024 claim from Lake Arrowhead, where the group reported that a bear had damaged a 2010 Rolls-Royce Ghost. Investigators later tied the same pattern to claims involving a 2015 Mercedes G63 AMG and a 2022 Mercedes E350. (patch.com) Authorities said the fraudulent claims produced $141,839 in losses to insurers. The department said the defendants staged videos of the supposed attacks and submitted them as evidence for reimbursement. (cbsnews.com) The case moved from odd claim to criminal prosecution after investigators asked a California Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist to review the footage. The biologist concluded the animal in the videos was “clearly a human in a bear suit,” according to the insurance department. (patch.com) Detectives later served a search warrant and recovered the bear costume, which investigators said had metal claw-like tools attached to it. The department nicknamed the case “Operation Bear Claw.” (foxla.com) Alfiya Zuckerman, Ruben Tamrazian and Vahe Muradkhanyan pleaded no contest to felony insurance fraud charges and were sentenced to 180 days in a weekend jail program and two years of supervised probation. Tamrazian was ordered to pay $52,268 in restitution, while Muradkhanyan’s restitution amount had not been set in the reports published this week. (foxla.com) A fourth defendant, Ararat Chirkinian, has not been sentenced and is scheduled for a preliminary hearing in September 2026. All four were identified by the state in November 2024 after the arrests. (patch.com) Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said in the department’s release that the case showed investigators would pursue fraud even when the story sounded implausible. In this one, the supposed bear turned out to be the easiest part to disprove. (nbcnews.com)
