Three Southern California residents were sentenced to jail after orchestrating an elaborate scheme to defraud insurance companies by staging fake bear attacks on luxury vehicles. Ruben Tamrazian and Vahe Muradkhanyan each received 180 days in jail and were ordered to pay over $50,000 in restitution for submitting fraudulent claims about bear damage to their cars.

The scheme involved a person wearing a bear costume using meat-shredding tools to create claw marks on the vehicles before filing claims with three different insurers. The California Department of Insurance launched "Operation Bear Claw" after an insurance company flagged suspicious footage showing what appeared to be a bear rummaging through a 2010 Rolls-Royce Ghost. Investigators discovered nearly identical videos of supposed bear break-ins at two Mercedes-Benzes on the same date.

A California Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist reviewed the footage and confirmed the animal was "clearly a human in a bear suit." The defendants were arrested in November 2024 after detectives found the elaborate costume and meat claws during a search warrant execution. Alfiya Zuckerman also received a 180-day sentence, while a fourth defendant faces a September court hearing.