Three Southern California residents are heading to jail after pulling off one of the more creative insurance scams in recent memory. They put someone in a bear costume, filmed them trashing luxury cars, and then filed insurance claims saying a real bear did it. It did not work.
The scheme, which authorities dubbed “Operation Bear Claw,” began unraveling when an insurance company grew suspicious of a January 28, 2024 claim tied to a 2010 Rolls-Royce Ghost parked near Lake Arrowhead, California. The policyholders said a bear climbed inside and scratched up the interior, and they even submitted video footage to back the claim, according to ABC7. The insurance company passed the footage along to state regulators, who launched their own investigation.
Investigators weren’t convinced. They sent the video to a biologist at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, who told them it was “clearly a human in a bear suit.” Detectives then executed a search warrant and recovered the actual costume from the suspects’ home, Fox Business reported.
The scheme went beyond the Rolls Royce
The fraud didn’t stop at one car. Investigators uncovered two more claims tied to the same date and location, this time involving a 2015 Mercedes G63 AMG and a 2022 Mercedes E350, each submitted to different insurance companies. The same person in the same bear suit, same spot, same day. The total damage across all three fraudulent claims came to $141,839.
Three people have now been sentenced: Alfiya Zuckerman, 39, of Valley Village; Ruben Tamrazian, 26, of Glendale; and Vahe Muradkhanyan, 32, of Glendale. All three pleaded no contest to felony insurance fraud. Each received 180 days in jail (served through a weekend program), two years of supervised probation, and was ordered to pay restitution. Zuckerman’s restitution was set at $55,360 and Tamrazian’s at $52,268, per the California Department of Insurance. Muradkhanyan’s restitution amount is still being determined.
A fourth suspect, Ararat Chirkinian, 39, of Glendale, has not yet been sentenced. His case is scheduled to return to court in September 2026 for a preliminary hearing.
Insurance commissioner responds
California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara did not hold back in his public statement following the sentencing. “What may have looked unbelievable turned out to be exactly that, and now those responsible are being held accountable,” Lara wrote. “Insurance fraud is a serious crime that drives up costs for consumers, and no scheme is too outrageous for us to investigate.”
The case is a reminder that insurance companies do scrutinize claims closely, especially when the story involves a bear breaking into a luxury vehicle. It is not entirely unlike the kind of bizarre behavior that sometimes ends in real criminal consequences, even when the scheme seems too absurd to take seriously.
Insurance fraud costs American consumers billions each year. Schemes like this one, however outlandish, contribute to rising premiums across the board. California officials have made clear they take even the most creative cases seriously, as this group is now learning on their weekends behind bars. For more on how legal cases with unexpected twists can spiral quickly, see this earlier story about a former Virginia official charged in a shocking crime.
