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(Courtesy: California Department of Insurance)

LOS ANGELES – California Department of Insurance officials say a bear attack incident in the state was actually an insurance scheme.

In a statement released Nov. 13, agency officials say four people from the Los Angeles area have been arrested in connection with the alleged scheme. They were identified as:

• Ararat Chirkinian, 39 years old
• Vahe Muradkhanyan, 32 years old
• Ruben Tamrazian, 26 years old
• Alfiya Zuckerman, 39 years old

Insurance Department officials said the suspects claimed on Jan. 28 that a bear entered a 2010 Rolls-Royce Ghost in the Lake Arrowhead area and caused interior damage to the vehicle.

“They provided video footage to their insurance company, which pointed to the alleged bear in the vehicle,” a portion of the statement reads. “The Department’s investigation began after an insurance company suspected fraud.”

Investigators say they later determined the bear was actually a person dressed in a bear suit.

“Detectives found two additional insurance claims with two different insurance companies, for the same suspects with the same date of loss and at the same location,” a portion of the statement reads. “Each of these claims involved two different vehicles, a 2015 Mercedes G63 AMG and a 2022 Mercedes E350, and the suspects again appeared to use a bear suit to make it look like a bear had come in and damaged those vehicles. They provided the video footage. and other insurance companies to justify their claims.”

Conformable The Kelly Blue Bookthe typical list price for a used 2010 Rolls-Royce Ghost is around $82,000. An accurate purchase price was not available as some vehicles have too few sales to establish such a price.

According to the statement, a Department of Fish and Wildlife biologist also reviewed the video of the bear, and the biologist “also believed it was clearly a man in a bear suit.”

When investigators executed a search warrant at the suspects’ home, they found a bear suit.

“Insurance companies were defrauded of $141,839 due to the alleged fraud committed by the suspects,” a portion of the statement reads.

The four suspects are charged with insurance fraud and conspiracy.