Video captured a person dressed in a bear costume allegedly attempting to damage a luxury vehicle. (CA Department of Insurance via Vimeo)
Three Los Angeles-area residents were recently convicted in an unusual insurance fraud scheme using a person in a bear costume to fake attacks on high-end vehicles to collect insurance payouts.
As part of the California Department of Insurance’s Operation Bear Claw, Alfiya Zuckerman, 39, of Valley Village; Ruben Tamrazian, 26, of Glendale; and Vahe Muradkhanyan, 32, of Glendale, pleaded no contest to felony insurance fraud and were sentenced to 180 days in jail and two years of supervised probation and were ordered to pay restitution.
A fourth suspect, Ararat Chirkinian, 39, of Glendale, is scheduled to return to court in September for a preliminary hearing.
The bear costume used in the alleged January insurance scam. (California Department…
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