Bear Suit Scam Nets Arrests in LA
- Three individuals arrested for staging an insurance fraud using a fake bear suit. - The scam caused $141,839 in losses to insurance companies. - Officials called it 'clearly a human in a bear suit' in their probe patch.com.
Three Los Angeles County residents were sentenced in April after prosecutors said they used a bear suit to fake damage inside luxury cars and file false insurance claims. (cbsnews.com) Alfiya Zuckerman, 39, Ruben Tamrazian, 26, and Vahe Muradkhanyan, 32, pleaded no contest to felony insurance fraud and were sentenced to 180 days in custody through a weekend jail program. They were also placed on two years of supervised probation. (cbsnews.com) California investigators said the group submitted claims in 2024 tied to a 2010 Rolls-Royce Ghost, a 2015 Mercedes G63 AMG, and a 2022 Mercedes E350. The claimed losses totaled $141,839. (cbsnews.com) The case started after insurers received video that supposedly showed a bear climbing through the vehicles in the San Bernardino Mountains. State investigators opened “Operation Bear Claw” after the footage raised doubts. (nbcnews.com) Investigators sent the video to a biologist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, who concluded it was “clearly a human in a bear suit,” according to the California Department of Insurance. Detectives later served a search warrant and found the costume at a suspect’s home. (nbcnews.com) The case landed at a moment when real bear encounters are familiar in California mountain and foothill communities, where animals have been known to enter homes, rummage through trash, and climb into backyards. That made a bear-damage claim plausible enough to submit, even though investigators said this one was staged. (nbcnews.com) Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said the case was a reminder that insurance fraud investigations can start with referrals from companies that spot unusual claims. California’s insurance department says suspected fraud reports from insurers can trigger a formal state investigation. (cbsnews.com; insurance.ca.gov) Two defendants were ordered to pay nearly $108,000 in restitution, and a judge had not yet set Muradkhanyan’s restitution amount as of April 16. A fourth suspect, Ararat Chirkinian, 39, is scheduled to return to court in September 2026. (cbsnews.com) The state’s closing image was the simplest one: a seized bear costume, a stack of rejected claims, and a fraud case that ended with weekends in jail instead of a payout. (nbcnews.com)
