Three Southern California residents have been convicted for orchestrating a bizarre insurance fraud scheme that involved staging fake bear attacks on luxury cars for insurance payouts, state officials said Thursday.
Dubbed “Operation Bear Claw,” the scheme was investigated by the California Department of Insurance after suspicious claims were filed alleging that a bear had damaged high-end vehicles in the Lake Arrowhead area, north of San Bernardino.
Investigators found a group of four people, three from Glendale and one from Valley Village, had filed insurance claims alleging that a bear had destroyed their luxury vehicles. They provided video evidence and were eventually paid over $141,000 for the damages.
But investigators later found that the “bear” in the videos was actually just a person in a bear costume. All four were arrested in 2024, and three were sentenced this week, according to the Department of Insurance.
Alfiya Zuckerman, 39, of Valley Village, and Ruben Tamrazian, 26, of Glendale, both pleaded no contest to felony insurance fraud for destroying insured property. Each of them received 180 days in jail – served through a weekend program – and two years of supervised probation. They were also ordered to pay more than $50,000 in restitution.
Meanwhile, Vahe Muradkhanyan, 32, also of Glendale, pleaded no contest and was sentenced to 180 days in jail under the same weekend program. He will also get two years’ probation, but restitution is yet to be determined. The fourth defendant, Ararat Chirkinian, 39, is scheduled to return to court in September.
Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said in a statement his department “uncovered the facts, exposed this scam and helped bring these defendants to justice.”
This article originally published at Three Californians who shredded luxury cars in bear outfits convicted of insurance fraud.