Bear Suit Scam Nets Arrests, $142K Loss

Three Los Angeles County residents were sentenced in April after prosecutors said they used a bear suit to fake attacks on luxury cars and collect insurance money. (nbcnews.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 a weekend jail program plus two years of supervised probation, according to the California Department of Insurance. (cbsnews.com) State investigators said the group submitted claims in 2024 for damage to a 2010 Rolls-Royce Ghost, a 2015 Mercedes G63 AMG and a 2022 Mercedes E350. Insurance companies paid out $141,839 on the claims. (patch.com) The case started with a January 2024 claim that said a bear climbed into a Rolls-Royce in Lake Arrowhead and tore up the interior. Investigators later found two more claims filed with different insurers that used the same date and similar video from the same mountain area. (patch.com; abcnews.com) Insurance fraud cases often turn on whether a loss was staged, not whether damage exists. In this one, the damage was real enough to photograph, but investigators said the “bear” in the videos was a person wearing a costume. (nbclosangeles.com) Investigators brought in a California Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist, who said the videos showed no signs a real bear had been inside the cars. NBC Los Angeles reported the expert noted there was no bear saliva, hair or urine, and that the scratches did not match a bear’s claws. (nbclosangeles.com) Detectives then served a search warrant and found the costume they believed was used in the scheme. Patch reported that investigators also found sharp “meat shredding” claws attached to the suit. (patch.com) The California Department of Insurance called the investigation “Operation Bear Claw” and said insurers had flagged the claims as suspicious. The San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office is prosecuting the case. (nbclosangeles.com) A fourth defendant, Ararat Chirkinian, 39, has a court hearing scheduled for September 2026. Zuckerman and Tamrazian were also ordered to pay nearly $108,000 in restitution, while Muradkhanyan’s restitution amount has not yet been set. (cbsnews.com) The videos were supposed to prove a wild-animal loss in the San Bernardino Mountains. Instead, they became the evidence prosecutors used to show a staged claim. (patch.com; nbcnews.com)