Los Angeles County suspects in alleged fake bear insurance claims case appear in court

Four Los Angeles County residents charged with insurance fraud and defrauding an insurer for allegedly staging fake bear attacks on their vehicles and collecting insurance payouts appeared in court on Monday for a preliminary hearing.

Out on bail, the four defendants waived their right to a speedy hearing

Their alleged scheme, referred to as "Operation Bear Claw," resulted in insurance companies Bristol West, Progressive and State Farm paying out more than $300,000 in reimbursements.

Ruben Tamrazian, Ararat Chirkinian, Vahe Muradkhanyan, and Alfiya Zuckerman were arrested in November 2024 after investigators with the California Department of Insurance found their claims to be fraudulent.  

They claimed that a bear damaged a 2010 Rolls-Royce Ghost, a 2015 Mercedes G63 AMG, and a 2022 Mercedes E350 on Jan. 28, 2024 in Lake Arrowhead.

They sent in video to support their insurance claims, but "upon further scrutiny of the video, the investigation determined the bear was actually a person in a bear costume," the CDI said. 

Investigators even went to the lengths of asking a biologist from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to review video of the bear attacks, who said it was "clearly a human in a bear suit."

The bear costume was recovered at the suspects' home by detectives assisting in the investigation.

Photos provided by insurance investigators showed surface-level scratch marks on the seats and door panels of the cars. It was later determined that the scratches were made from metal cooking tools, meat claws, which were also recovered from the suspects' home.

All four defendants are facing three counts each of insurance fraud and defrauding an insurer. They are expected back in court on October 16th.