This scheme to defraud insurance companies is one they haven’t seen before but the adjusters weren’t fooled for an instant. Bears are getting blamed for a lot of mayhem that they aren’t responsible for. First, it was a murder, now it’s car vandalism. Three related incidents in California ended in criminal prosecution.
Insurance scheme blames bear
This insurance fraud scheme didn’t go off the way it was planned. From time to time, bears do break into California cars. Usually, they smell food inside. Once they get in, they often get trapped. And angry. That usually results in a totaled vehicle.
When the owner of a Rolls-Royce made a damage claim, the insurance adjuster simply couldn’t believe the video which went with it. The special effects were glaringly obvious in the homemade and fraudulent production. Police soon learned about two more luxury vehicle bear damage claims.
When the California Insurance Department found out about what happened, they started “Operation Bear Claw.” After investigation, “four Los Angeles residents were arrested Wednesday.”
The criminals haven’t been named but their scheme was calculated to defraud “three insurance companies out of nearly $142,000 by claiming a bear had caused damage to their vehicles.”
Bear attacks on cars aren’t unheard of in the San Bernardino Mountains. The group thought a video would expedite the processing of their claims but instead, it exposed their scheme.
In January, one of the accused submitted the claim involving the Rolls-Royce. The video was intended to support the claim for “scratches on the seats and doors.” It’s easy to see that it wasn’t a real bear, only “someone in a bear costume.”
Detectives find more
The insurer of the Rolls-Royce contacted police and detectives soon discovered two additional claims. They were each with a separate insurance company. These two involved Mercedes models and listed the same “date of loss” and happened “at the same location.” They also got copies of the bear video.
Whoever cooked up the scheme had no idea how thorough insurance investigations are. Video or not, the damage didn’t look anything at all like what a real bear would make.
The first thing the adjusters did, which they would have done even without the video to enhance the scheme, was call in a biologist. One from the California Department of Fish and Wildlife started laughing as soon as he saw the flick, instantly concluding it was “clearly a human in a bear suit.”
Trapped and angry bears don’t make a few timid little scratches here and there. They shred everything from the upholstery to the steering column. Cracked and broken windows along with dents and even holes ripped in the body are common.
It wasn’t difficult for the investigators to get a search warrant. When they raided the suspect’s home they found the bear costume.
Whoever was wearing it and the ones who put him up to the scheme will all be in hibernation for a long while. In a nice cozy prison cell.
