Three people in California have been sentenced in relation to a bizarre insurance fraud operation that involved dressing up in a bear suit and damaging luxury cars. The California Department of Insurance dubbed the investigation "Operation Bear Claw."
The investigation began after an insurance carrier flagged a suspicious claim related to a January 2024 incident in Lake Arrowhead in which a 2010 Rolls Royce Ghost received interior damage from what the claimants said was a bear. Upon further review, investigators determined that the "bear" in the videos submitted along with the claim was actually a person in a bear costume. The investigation later revealed two additional fraudulent claims submitted to other insurance companies that allegedly occurred on the same date and at the same location involving two Mercedes.
The Department of Insurance even brought in a biologist from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to review the footage, who also concluded that the "bear" in the video was a human. Detectives later found the bear costume at the suspects' home during the execution of a search warrant.
Two Los Angeles-area men and one woman pleaded no contest to charges of felony insurance fraud. They were sentenced to a weekend jail program, followed by probation, with two of them ordered to pay more than $50,000 in restitution. A fourth person will appear in court in connection with the scheme in September.
"What may have looked unbelievable turned out to be exactly that — and now those responsible are being held accountable," California Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said in a release. "My Department's investigators uncovered the facts, exposed this scam, and helped bring these defendants to justice. Insurance fraud is a serious crime that drives up costs for consumers, and no scheme is too outrageous for us to investigate."
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