Men caught wearing bear costumes and attacking cars for insurance

CALIFORNIA: Three individuals have been sentenced to jail in the United States after staging fake bear attacks on luxury cars to claim insurance payouts.

Alfiya Zuckerman, Ruben Tamrazian and Vahe Muradkhanyan pleaded no contest to felony insurance fraud and were each sentenced to 180 days in jail. A fourth accused, Ararat Chirkinian, is due to face a preliminary hearing in September.

Authorities said the group submitted videos of staged incidents to multiple insurance companies, claiming that a bear had entered and damaged their vehicles. The scheme was uncovered after investigators noticed unusual movements by the supposed animal in one of the recordings.

The case was flagged when State Farm Insurance received a claim involving a 2010 Rolls-Royce Ghost, accompanied by footage of a bear inside the vehicle. A claims investigator found the movements inconsistent with an actual animal.

Further analysis, including input from a biologist at the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, confirmed that the figure in the video was a person wearing a bear costume.

The investigation, named Operation Bear Claw, led to the arrests and subsequent convictions. Officials said insurance fraud cases like this increase costs for consumers and will continue to be pursued.