Four people have been arrested in Los Angeles for an alleged scam where they dressed up in a bear costume and faked a string of attacks in order to cash in on insurance claims.
Ruben Tamrazian, 26, Ararat Chirkinian, 39, Vahe Muradkhanyan, 32, and Alfiya Zuckerman, 39, were all charged with insurance fraud and conspiracy charges for allegedly swindling insurance companies out of $141,839, the California Department of Insurance announced on Wednesday.
The bizarre scheme allegedly involved someone dressing up as a bear and trashing three cars, before filing claims to three different insurance companies.
The CDI said that its investigation began after the suspects filed a claim on January 28, 2024 in Lake Arrowhead alleging that a bear entered a 2010 Rolls Royce Ghost and damaged the inside.
As part of the claim, the suspects submitted video footage of the so-called bear along with photos of scratch marks on the seats and doors.
In the video, released by authorities, a person wearing the bear costume is allegedly seen inside the car.
After determining that the bear was actually a human inside a costume, investigators then found two additional insurance claims with two different insurance companies, the CDI said.
The two claims were for a 2015 Mercedes G63 AMG and a 2022 Mercedes E350, both involving the same suspects, the same date of the alleged incident and the same location.
A biologist from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife Department was brought in to examine all three videos submitted as part of the claims and determined that the bear was a human in disguise.
“It was clearly a human in a bear suit,” the CDI said.
Authorities then found a bear costume, after executing a search warrant at one of the suspect’s homes.
The Independent contacted the CDI for further information.
