California men use bear costume to pull off bizarre insurance fraud plot

LOS ANGELES, Calif. (KRCR) — Four Los Angeles men have been charged with fraud after claiming a bear caused damage to their luxury vehicles, but they were actually using a bear costume to fake the attacks for insurance payouts.

According to the Department of Insurance (DOI), 26-year-old Ruben Tamrazian, 39-year-old Ararat Chirkinian, 32-year-old Vahe Muradkhanyan and 39-year-old Alfiya Zuckerman have all been charged with insurance fraud and conspiracy after their bear video came to light as nothing more than a grizzly attempt at fraud.

California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said the DOI began investigating the alleged bear attack after an insurance company suspected fraud. The four men told the insurance company that on January 28, 2024, in Lake Arrowhead, a bear entered their 2010 Rolls Royce Ghost and caused interior damage to the vehicle.

The four then shared a video with the insurance company of the alleged bear attack, where you can see a man in a bear costume crawl into the vehicle and do the damage himself.

Scrutiny around the video caused speculation in the company, Lara stated that an investigation into the questionable video proved the bear was actually a person in a bear costume.

During the investigation, Lara said that the detective found two additional insurance claims with two different insurance companies for the suspects with the same date of loss and at the same location. Each claim involved two different vehicles, a 2015 Mercedes G63 AMG and a 2022 Mercedes E350. Lara said that in all the videos what appeared to be a man in a bear costume would enter and damage the vehicles.

The DOI hired a biologist to confirm that no real bear was present during the incident. The biologist from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife confirmed with the DOI that it was "clearly a human in a bear suit," after reviewing the footage.

Finally, officials got a search warrant for the suspect's home where detectives located the infamous bear costume used in the plot.

"The insurance companies were defrauded of $141,839, because of the alleged fraud committed by the suspects. Department detectives were assisted by the Glendale Police Department and the California Highway Patrol. The San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office is prosecuting this case," said Lara.