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Four Los Angeles residents are accused of defrauding insurance companies by claiming a bear broke into and damaged a luxury car, but investigators believe the wild animal was actually a costumed human. Confirmed.
In an operation aptly named “Operation Bear Claw,” the California Department of Insurance said Ruben Tamrazian, 26, of Glendale. Ararat Chirkinian, 39, of Glendale. Vahe Muradkanyan, 32, of Glendale. Alfiyah Zuckerman, 39, of Valley Village, is charged with insurance fraud and conspiracy.
The group allegedly provided the insurance company with surveillance video taken in January at Arrowhead Lake in the San Bernardino Mountains, showing a bear traveling inside a Rolls Royce and two Mercedes cars. It is said that the video showed him being there.
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The bear costume used in the alleged insurance fraud case. (California Department of Insurance/FOX News)
The California Department of Insurance (CDI) provided photos of damage to the vehicle, which appeared to include claw marks on the seats and doors.
The first video footage shows a “bear” getting into a 2010 Rolls-Royce Ghost and moving around inside the vehicle.
“Further review of the video revealed that the bear was actually a person wearing a bear costume,” CDI said in a news release. “Detectives discovered two additional claims from two different insurance companies for the suspect on the same date of loss and at the same location.”
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Some people have been arrested on suspicion of insurance fraud. (California Department of Insurance/FOX News)
These claims involved two different vehicles: a 2015 Mercedes G63 AMG and a 2022 Mercedes E350. Officials said the suspects appeared to be wearing costumes that made it look like a bear had once again broken into the vehicle and caused damage to the vehicle.
To confirm that the bears in the videos were not actually wild animals, CDI invited biologists from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to examine the three videos.
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The agency said biologists concluded it was a person wearing a bear costume. The bear costume was discovered during a search of the suspect’s home.
The insurance company was allegedly defrauded of the equivalent of $141,839.
