“This was great work done by CDI detectives and their law enforcement partners as well as a CDFW biologist.  This case depicts the lengths that unscrupulous individuals will go to fraudulently obtain money by submitting false claims to insurance companies.”

CSLEA President Alan Barcelona

LOS ANGELES— On April 16, 2026 the California Department of Insurance (CDI) announced that a bizarre insurance fraud scheme involving a bear costume, luxury vehicles, and falsified damage claims has ended in convictions for three Los Angeles area residents following a CDI  investigation dubbed “Operation Bear Claw.”

The defendants used a person in a bear suit to stage fake attacks on high-end vehicles, then submitted fraudulent claims seeking payouts from insurance companies.

Sentencing outcomes include:

• Alfiya Zuckerman, 39, of Valley Village, pleaded no contest to felony insurance fraud (injuring or destroying insured property). She was sentenced to 180 days in jail (to be served through a weekend jail program), two years of supervised probation, and ordered to pay $55,360 in restitution.
• Ruben Tamrazian, 26, of Glendale, pleaded no contest to felony insurance fraud (injuring or destroying insured property). He was sentenced to 180 days in jail (weekend jail program), two years of supervised probation, and ordered to pay $52,268 in restitution.
• Vahe Muradkhanyan, 32, of Glendale, pleaded no contest to felony insurance fraud (presenting a false insurance claim). He was sentenced to 180 days in jail (weekend jail program), two years of supervised probation, with restitution to be determined.
• Ararat Chirkinian, 39, of Glendale, is scheduled to return to court September 2026 for a preliminary hearing.

The investigation began after an insurance company flagged a suspicious claim tied to a January 28, 2024, incident in Lake Arrowhead. The suspects claimed a bear entered their 2010 Rolls Royce Ghost and caused interior damage, submitting video footage to support the claim.

Upon further review, CDI detectives determined the “bear” in the video was a person wearing a bear costume. Investigators later uncovered two additional fraudulent claims submitted to separate insurance companies involving the same date and location, this time tied to a 2015 Mercedes G63 AMG and a 2022 Mercedes E350.

To further verify the deception, a biologist from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife reviewed the footage and concluded the animal shown was clearly a human in a bear suit. Detectives later executed a search warrant and recovered the costume from the suspects’ home.

The total loss to the insurance companies was $141,839.

CDI was assisted by the Glendale Police Department and the California Highway Patrol. The San Bernardino County District Attorney’s Office is prosecuting the case.