Los Angeles County Suspects in Alleged Fake Bear Insurance Claims Case Appear in Court

Four Los Angeles County residents charged with insurance fraud and defrauding an insurer for allegedly staging fake bear attacks on their vehicles and collecting insurance payouts appeared in court on Monday for a preliminary hearing.

Ruben Tamrazian, Ararat Chirkinian, Vahe Muradkhanyan, and Alfiya Zuckerman were arrested in November 2024 after investigators with the California Department of Insurance found their claims to be fraudulent. They claimed that a bear damaged a 2010 Rolls-Royce Ghost, a 2015 Mercedes G63 AMG, and a 2022 Mercedes E350 on Jan. 28, 2024, in Lake Arrowhead.

Read the full news article. KCAL News (CBS) Los Angeles, August 4, 2025

NICB assisted the investigation.