In April 2015, Ali F. Elmezayen, 45, drove a vehicle – with his wife and two sons inside – from a port in Los Angeles to San Pedro Bay. Elmezayen escaped through his open window to the underwater car. His ex-wife, Rabab Diab, could not swim, but survived when a fisherman near her threw a lifeguard.
The couple’s sons, 13-year-old Elhassan and 8-year-old Abdelkrim, drowned. Both children were said to have autism, the release reads.
U.S. District Judge John F. Walter called Elmezayen’s plan “evil and devilish.”
“The only regret the accused has is that he was caught,” Walter said.
Prosecutors have discovered the children’s deaths are part of an extensive insurance scheme by Elmezayen. Between July 2012 and July 2013, he bought more than $ 3 million in life and accidental life insurance policies on himself and his family from eight different companies.
The Justice Department says Elmezayen started buying this policy the same year he filed for bankruptcy. He paid more than $ 6,000 a year to these policies.
Prosecutors found that after purchasing the policies, Elmezayen repeatedly called the insurance companies to verify that the policies were active and that they would pay benefits if his ex-wife died in an accident. Elmezayen sometimes even pretended to be his ex-wife because he took out policies in her name, the release reads.
Elmezayen drove off the quay in the port of Los Angeles 12 days after the two-year combat period on the last of his insurance policies expired, the release reads.
“Elmezayen then raised more than $ 260,000 in insurance proceeds from Mutual of Omaha Life Insurance and American General Life Insurance for the accident insurance for death insurance he entered into in the children’s lives,” the statement read.
He used some of the money to buy real estate in Egypt and a boat, according to the release.
“It is inconceivable that any father would risk the lives of his family for his own financial gain,” said Ryan L. Korner, special agent charged with the IRS Criminal Investigation.
FBI agents arrested Elmezayen in November 2018, the release reads. He has remained in federal custody since his arrest.
As part of his sentencing, Elmezayen also had to repay $ 261,751 to the insurance companies he defrauded, according to the release.