Putting somebody in a bear suit, having him tear up high-end luxury cars in California, and then trying pull off insurance fraud by claiming an actual bear damaged the cars is both weird and hysterical, experts told Cowboy State Daily.
Further, the attempted scam had no chance of succeeding, a federal bear biologist and Wyoming insurance agent said.
“That’s a new one on me. That’s crazy,” said Jeran Artery. “And yet, the longer I’m in this business and work with people, I realize people are crazy.”
He’s worked for New York Life insurance for 30 years, and said he’s seen people try to lie or fudge details on numerous occasions.
“We’ve seen just about everything,” Artery said.
Or at least he thought they had.
Artery admitted to never hearing of anybody taking it to the level of donning a bear costume, vandalizing cars, and then trying to claim a bear did it.
“I have not seen or heard anything like that. That’s the most ridiculous one I’ve ever heard,” he said.
While the bear suit appears cheap, the damage caused by those wearing wasn’t, with damages estimated at more than $141,000.
‘Operation Bear Claw’
In what California Department of Insurance officials called “Operation Bear Claw,” four Los Angeles-area residents were arrested Wednesday on allegations of insurance fraud and conspiracy, according to the agency.
The suspects, all from California, include Ruben Tamrazian, 26, of Glendale; Ararat Chirkinian, 39, of Glendale; Vahe Muradkhanyan, 32, of Glendale; and Alfiya Zuckerman, 39, of Valley Village.
A warrant was issued for an unnamed fifth suspect, who was still at large.
The investigation was launched after an insurance company became suspicious of video of a “bear” tearing up a car. The video was provided as part of an alleged insurance claim, the Department of Insurance reported.
The suspects tried to claim that the video depicted a bear breaking into a 2010 Rolls Royce Ghost on Jan 28.
‘Oops’
But it’s painfully obvious that the “bear” in the video is fake, Frank van Manen, a U.S. Geological Survey bear biologist, told Cowboy State Daily.
“Even with a costume that closely resembles a bear, it would be near impossible to mimic the natural movements of the animal,” he said. “As was the case here, most experts would be able to tell from video footage that it was actually not a bear.”
But the costume the California grifters used wasn’t exactly top-notch, said van Manen, who is the supervisory research wildlife biologist for the Interagency Grizzly Bear Study Team.
“In this instance, it was a combination of a marginal costume and unnatural movement that gave it away,” he said.
The would-be scammers couldn’t even get the alleged claw marks right, van Manen said.
“Also, the damage from the fake claw tools showed clean, parallel marks that did not resemble a natural pattern,” he said. “And, most importantly, one of the claw mark patterns on the car seat clearly showed damage from six instead of five claws – matching one of the tools in the photo.”
“Oops,” van Manen added.
‘They Just Don’t Get It’
The scammers at least based their story on a feasible scenario. Bears will occasionally rip vehicles apart, van Manen said.
“Bears can cause significant damage to vehicles, particularly when it involves food-conditioned animals seeking human foods left unattended in a vehicle or camper,” he said. “Occasionally, bears may puncture tires of vehicles or rip up seats on ATVs, etc., even when there is no food reward involved. However, these are relatively rare events.”
People who make any sort of claim must be prepared to back it up with facts and evidence, Artery said. The insurance company won’t just take your word for it that a bear trashed your Rolls Royce.
“I trust you, but we’re going to verify that,” he said. “We have people, and we’re going to send them out and make sure we’re not being lied to.”
In other words, it was foolish for the California scammers to ever think that shenanigans in a cheap bear suit were going to yield a hefty payout
“People must think, like, these insurance companies are really stupid,” he said. “They don’t get it, They just don’t get it.”
Contact Mark Heinz at mark@cowboystatedaily.com
Mark Heinz can be reached at mark@cowboystatedaily.com.
