LOS ANGELES (Kashmir English): Three US men have been sentenced after they were found guilty of staging fake bear attacks on luxury vehicles in an attempt to claim insurance payouts.
The incident happened in the U.S. state of California. The convicted individuals — Alfya Zuckerman, Ruben Tamrazian, and Vahe Muradyan — were sentenced to six months in jail after being found guilty of insurance fraud.
A fourth suspect, Ararat Cherkinian, is scheduled for a preliminary hearing in September.
According to prosecutors, the group submitted video evidence to three different insurance companies featuring alleged “bear attacks” on their vehicles.
However, investigators later found that the video featuring bear damaging a Rolls-Royce was actually a person wearing a bear costume and moving in a human-like manner.
California Insurance Department
Commissioner California Insurance Department, Ricardo Lara, confirmed the findings in a statement, saying that what initially appeared unbelievable turned out to be a fraud scheme.
He said that insurance fraud is a serious crime that, he added, ultimately increases costs for consumers. He further said that no case is too small to escape investigation.
