A man has appeared in court charged with a deadly case of insurance fraud after driving his car off a dock with his two autistic sons inside.
According to ABC 7 News, the accused Ali Elmezayen is alleged to have deliberately drove his Honda Civic off the Dock at the Port of Los Angeles with his two sons 13-year old Elhassan and 8-year old Abdelkrim inside the car who later drowned.
It is understood that their mother Rehab Diab was also inside the car but managed to survive after bystanders managed to rescue her.
ABC 7 News reports that prosecutors in the case are arguing that Elmezayen an Egyptian immigrant planned to drive off the Dock in order to claim the $260,000 insurance premium.
Prosecutors claim that Elmezayen planned the act for years after it was uncovered that he had paid $6,000 a year in under the table income to insure his family.
The court also heard that Elmezayen who earned $30,000 a year from his job also beat Diab and threatened her family by stating that he would either bury her alive or send her home in a coffin before declaring that he wanted to have a second wife.
However despite the prosecutions claims, the defence drew question on the defendants wife by stating that she was undocumented and previously married a homeless man in order to gain legal status.
They also stated that she claimed her former husband abused her in order protect her from deportation.
Elmezayen is also scheduled to appear before court for the murder of his sons following the current case.