Talk about a bear-faced lie! In a wild scheme, a person donned a bear costume and caused a grizzly amount of damage to cars, hoping to paw off the blame on real bears.
The four individuals involved in the scheme presented video footage as proof, thinking their plan was unbearably clever. But the authorities at the California Department of Insurance (CDI) weren’t fooled by the fur-midable disguise, and an insurance fraud case was swiftly opened.
Operation Bear Claw
That department uncovered an audacious scheme, dubbed “Operation Bear Claw,” and on Wednesday announced four Los Angeles residents — Ruben Tamrazian, 26, of Glendale; Ararat Chirkinian, 39, of Glendale; Vahe Muradkhanyan, 32, of Glendale; and Alfiya Zuckerman, 39, of Valley Village — have all been charged with insurance fraud and conspiracy to allegedly defraud three insurance companies of nearly $142,000.
The “damage” inflicted was on their own luxury vehicles — a Rolls-Royce and two Mercedes — in the San Bernardino Mountains.
Insurance Fraud: Bear of a Scheme
The submitted claim videos raised some eyebrows at the department. After reviewing the “proof,” questions were raised about the legitimacy of the bear. To help confirm whether it was actually a bear in the video, CDI officials asked a biologist from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to review the evidence and alleged bear videos.
According to CDI’s statement, “[the biologist] also opined it was clearly a human in a bear suit. After executing a search warrant, detectives found the bear costume in the suspects’ home.”
Authorities also issued a warrant for a fifth suspect, who has not been named, which is still outstanding.
