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4 Los Angeles residents stand accused of defrauding insurance coverage firms once they claimed a bear broke into their luxurious vehicles and broken autos, however investigators decided the wild animal was a human in costume.
In what was aptly dubbed “Operation Bear Claw,” the California Insurance coverage Division mentioned Ruben Tamrazian, 26, of Glendale; Ararat Chirkinian, 39, of Glendale; Vahe Muradkhanyan, 32, of Glendale; and Alfiya Zuckerman, 39, of Valley Village, are all going through costs of insurance coverage fraud and conspiracy.
The group allegedly supplied insurance coverage firms with surveillance video taken in January in Lake Arrowhead within the San Bernardino Mountains that allegedly confirmed a bear transferring inside a Rolls-Royce and two Mercedes autos.
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The bear costume used within the alleged insurance coverage rip-off. (California Division of Insurance coverage / Fox Information)
The California Division of Insurance coverage (CDI) supplied pictures of the injury contained in the vehicles that gave the impression to be claw marks on seats and doorways.
The footage from the primary video reveals the “bear” getting right into a 2010 Rolls Royce Ghost and transferring across the inside.
“Upon additional scrutiny of the video, the investigation decided the bear was truly an individual in a bear costume,” the CDI mentioned in a information launch. “Detectives discovered two extra insurance coverage claims with two completely different insurance coverage firms, for the suspects with the identical date of loss and on the identical location.”
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Arrests have been made in reference to the alleged insurance coverage fraud. (California Division of Insurance coverage / Fox Information)
These claims concerned two completely different autos, a 2015 Mercedes G63 AMG and a 2022 Mercedes E350. The suspects once more appeared to make use of a fancy dress to make it look as if a bear entered and broken these autos, authorities mentioned.
To verify the bear seen within the video was not, in actual fact, the wild animal, the CDI introduced in a biologist from the California Division of Fish and Wildlife to assessment the three movies.
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The biologist concluded it was somebody sporting a bear go well with, the division mentioned. The bear costume was discovered throughout a search of the suspects’ house.
The insurance coverage firms have been allegedly defrauded to the tune of $141,839.