A married couple have been found guilty of staging a car crash in order to commit insurance fraud.
Police and two insurance companies began investigating the pair after their involvement in a crash on Duffy's Eucumbene Drive in February 2020.
On Wednesday, an ACT Supreme Court jury found Rabea Fares and Lina Faris guilty of numerous charges, including attempting to, by deception, dishonestly obtain a financial advantage from someone else.
Faris told authorities she had been driving an Audi SUV at the speed limit and in the middle of the road when she "felt a big bang behind her".
Prosecutor Morgan Howe told jurors this was a lie, with police evidence indicating the Audi was stationary and parked to the side of the road on impact.
"This was not an organic car accident but, rather, a staged car accident," Mr Howe said last week in his opening address.
The husband and wife filed claims for the Audi, which was insured for $55,000, and third party claims for injuries suffered.
The prosecution case was that Faris, the driver, and Fares, the passenger, knew a BMW sports car would crash into the rear of their car.
Adam Hasan Kilani, the man driving the BMW, had worked with Fares and call records showed the two men spoke on the phone hours before the crash and in the weeks leading up to it.
Kilani previously pleaded guilty to attempting to, by deception, obtain a financial advantage from someone else, and dangerous driving.
While Kilani gave trial evidence that appeared to support the defence cases, Mr Howe described him as an "entirely unreliable witness" who was at times at odds with call records and previous admissions.
Faris and Fares were both found guilty of being "knowingly concerned" with Kilani's fraudulent claim, meaning they "connected themselves or involved themselves with that offence".
"The only rational reason why someone would involve themselves in a staged car crash is if they too would gain some kind of financial benefit," the prosecutor said.
Barrister Dean Ager, representing Faris, said there was no evidence the woman knew Kilani, of "any plan" he had to run into her car, or that he would make his own insurance claims.
"Do not assume a husband tells his wife everything," the barrister said at the conclusion of his closing address.
Mr Ager also told jurors Faris' changing versions of circumstances surrounding the crash could be explained by memory loss suffered from a whiplash injury or because she was a "poor historian".
Fares' barrister, Todd Pickering, told jurors the man's painting business was successful and he had no financial motivation to stage a crash and defraud insurance companies.
"He's doing quite well, financially," the barrister said.
"It doesn't make any sense."
Mr Pickering also said Fares and Kilani did not contact each other after the crash, which was "not consistent with some kind of staged accident".
The case is set to appear before a registrar next week to be given a sentencing hearing date.
