Fraud might be a crime , but it ’s hard to deny it inspires some creative thinking – and in the case of an say insurance policy fraud scheme that took place in California before this yr , “ creative thinking ” can mean dressing up in a bear costume , ruining your own car , and ending up in handcuffs .
That ’s according to the California Department of Insurance ( CDI ) , which recentlyannouncedthat four citizenry from the Glendale and Valley Village areas had been arrested on suspicion of insurance shammer and conspiracy after fudge bear attacks on their luxuriousness cars . The investigation leading to those arrests has been knight “ Operation Bear Claw ” .
Three freestanding claims for the apparent attack on January 28 , 2024 , were made , with the suspects submittingvideo footageto their unlike insurance policy companies showing a “ bear ” damaging theircars – a 2010 Rolls Royce Ghost , a 2015 Mercedes G63 AMG , and a 2022 Mercedes E350 .
Imagine not knowing about the insurance fraud thing and just stumbling upon this.Image credit: California Department of Insurance viaFlickr(CC BY-NC-ND 2.0)
They managed to claim a whopping $ 141,839 from their insurance company – but one of the company distrust something suspect was lead on , and describe the pillowcase involve the Rolls Royce to CDI .
There , section police detective reason out that the “ bear ” in the TV was really a someone in a bear costume . They then find the other two policy claim , and the similar footage that was bow alongside them – they ’d expose an say , and quite frankly bonkers , insurance pseudo scheme .
Before acting on their findings , it was important to get an expert vox populi . After all , to some , the footage might look middling realistic . To California Department of Fish and Wildlife ( CDFW ) biologist Kevin Howells , however , it was bear - ly credible .
“ As soon as the bear descend into frame , to me , it was pretty quick and evenhandedly obvious that it was not , ” Howells say theWashington Post . accord to Howells , there was “ seeable drop-off in the wooing ” and the damage to the cars was far too neat to have been triggered by an real bear .
The so-called fraudsters probably should ’ve consulted a biologist too , or y’know , done a quick Google search on bear anatomy , because some of the supposed bear scratches were a serial of six line – despite the fact that carry only have five toes . If you ’re hold out to pretend to be a bear , at least do it well .
With their own evidence and Howell ’s opinion in hand , it was enough to justify the execution of a search countenance of the suspects ’ homes , where detective subsequently uncovered the bear costume that appears to have been used in the system .
The four suspects involve were nail on November 13 , and now await prosecution by the San Bernardino County District Attorney ’s Office .
Call that Claw and Order .
