According to the California Department of Insurance, the defendants, Alfiya Zuckerman, 39, Ruben Tamrazian, 26, and Vahe Muradkhanyan, 32, used the costume to damage a 2010 Rolls-Royce Ghost and two Mercedes vehicles before submitting video “evidence” to multiple insurance companies claiming a real bear was responsible.
The scam, dubbed “Operation Bear Claw” by state investigators, began with a suspicious claim filed in January 2024 in Lake Arrowhead in the San Bernardino Mountains.
The group told insurers a bear had entered the parked Rolls-Royce and caused interior damage. They provided security camera footage showing the “bear” rummaging through the vehicle.
Further investigation revealed two additional claims filed on the same date and at the same location involving the Mercedes vehicles, each accompanied by similar video footage.
A biologist from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife reviewed the videos and confirmed the animal was “clearly a human in a bear suit.”
“Clearly a human in a bear suit.” Officials say four California insurance scammers have been arrested after dressing in bear costumes to vandalize luxury cars.pic.twitter.com/lv4LDHmXY0
— Breaking911 (@Breaking911)November 14, 2024
4 people collected $141,839 from insurance companies by dressing up as a bear
This might be the craziest fraud case of the year
One of them put on a bear costume and climbed inside a Rolls Royce Ghost
Source: The Gateway Pundit
