Suspects caught in ‘man in suit’ insurance scam

Four people have been arrested after allegedly submitting fake insurance claims claiming that a bear damaged the interior of three luxury cars.

Video footage submitted to insurers as evidence shows what appeared to be an animal climbing into the front seat of a Rolls Royce, then slamming into the back.

The photos led California Department of Insurance investigators to suspect that, after executing a search warrant, they found a bear costume at the suspect’s home.

“After reviewing the video, the investigation determined that the bear was actually a person wearing a bear costume,” the department said in a press release.

Four Los Angeles area residents have been charged with insurance fraud and conspiracy after receiving $141,839 (£111,619) in insurance payments.

Arrested in what investigators are calling “Operation Bear Claw” are: Ruben Tamrazian, 26; Ararat Chirkinian, 39; Vahe Muradkhanyan, 32; and Alfiya Zuckerman, 39.

There are three incidents where the suspects filed insurance claims for cars that were damaged by a bear, said the investigators.

The first claim was in January, when the suspects allegedly said a bear got into a 2010 Rolls Royce Ghost – worth about $100,000 – and damaged its interior.

The mysterious nighttime footage shows the bear spending around 30-45 seconds in the car, roaming the front and back, before falling out of the open passenger door.

Photos of the damage show claw marks on the leather seats and a leather lining on one of the doors.

There were two additional insurance claims filed with two different insurance companies, each with the same date of loss, the same address and the same alleged bear injury.

Those cases include the 2015 Mercedes G63 AMG and the 2022 Mercedes E35.

To confirm that the video showed a person in a costume and not a bear, department officials asked for help from a biologist with the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, who determined that “it was clearly a person in a bear suit”.

The Glendale Police Department and the California Highway Patrol assisted in the investigation, the state Department of Insurance said.

The San Bernadino County District Attorney’s Office is prosecuting the cases.