A man who staged a car crash to get a substantial insurance payout is behind bars, after a judge found his account of events vague and unlikely.
In 2020, Adam Hasan Kilani deliberately crashed his over-insured BMW convertible into another car in a premeditated plan to claim more than $132,000 from an insurance company.
The man has pleaded guilty to attempting to obtain a financial advantage by deception and a charge of dangerous driving.
In an ACT Supreme Court decision published on Monday, Justice David Mossop highlighted the "deception and dishonesty" of Kilani's conduct.
The fraudster was sentenced to 17-months imprisonment to be suspended after eight-months, upon him entering into a good behaviour order.
Justice Mossop also noted that the staged crash involved a "substantial degree of premeditation".
"The evidence as to the circumstances of the accident, namely, sudden braking followed by unavoidable impact, was implausible and inconsistent with the objective evidence," he said.
"[The crash] involved the diversion of resources by police, ambulance and fire brigade, and involved undermining the system of motor vehicle insurance through the making of a false claim."
Kilani deliberately crashed his convertible into an Audi owned by co-offenders Lina Faris and husband Rabea Fares on Duffy's Eucumbene Drive in February 2020, as part of a joint scheme to defraud insurance companies.
Kilani's BMW convertible, which he had bought about 12 months before the crash for $25,000, was "very substantially over-insured" for $132,100.
An independent assessor valued the car worth between $32,000 and $42,000.
Kilani told police he had crashed into the back of Faris and Fares' car as it was driving, but an expert's opinion concluded the Audi had been stationary at the time of the crash.
Kilani originally argued he had no connection to Faris and Fares, but text messages and phone logs admitted in court showed the men had done several painting jobs together, and they had spoken on the phone hours before the crash.
A court heard Kilani's recounting of the crash was "self-serving" and he blamed his co-offenders for the conception, planning, and execution of the offence.
Kilani also admitted to having given a completely false story to police and an insurance investigator about his sister driving the car and him only being a passenger.
Fares and Faris were both found guilty of multiple charges in early 2024. Fares was handed a two-year prison sentence, while Faris narrowly avoided time behind bars. She was sentenced to an intensive correction order.
