In this Thursday, April 9, 2015 photo, divers emerge from the water as debris believed to be from a car floats to the surface where a car went off the berth and into the water at the San Pedro Slip, across... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this Thursday, April 9, 2015 photo, divers emerge from the water as debris believed to be from a car floats to the surface where a car went off the berth and into the water at the San Pedro Slip, across from Ports O'Call in San Pedro, Calif. U.S. prosecutors have charged an Egyptian father with fraudulently... (Associated Press) 
 
 In this Thursday, April 9, 2015 photo, divers emerge from the water as debris believed to be from a car floats to the surface where a car went off the berth and into the water at the San Pedro Slip, across from Ports O'Call in San Pedro, Calif. U.S. prosecutors have charged an Egyptian father with fraudulently... (Associated Press) In this Thursday, April 9, 2015 photo, divers emerge from the water as debris believed to be from a car floats to the surface where a car went off the berth and into the water at the San Pedro Slip, across... (Associated Press) 
 
 LOS ANGELES (AP) — An Egyptian man was held without bail Tuesday on federal charges of fraudulently collecting insurance payouts after driving his severely autistic children to their deaths when he sped off a pier into the Port of Los Angeles. 
 
 Ali Elmezayen (EL-mah-ZION) plotted for over two years before launching his plan into action April 9, 2015, when he barreled down a commercial fishing dock in San Pedro, turned his Honda abruptly toward a parking space and gunned the engine, federal authorities said. 
 
 "Witnesses heard the tires of the car screech loudly and saw the car accelerate before it flew off the edge of the wharf, crashed into the water and immediately sunk," FBI agent Matthew Parker wrote in an affidavit in support of Elmezayen's arrest last week. 
 
 Elmezayen, 44, did not enter a plea in the case in U.S. District Court, but he has told investigators and others he may have accidentally accelerated instead of hitting the brake, according to court papers. He blamed the city, Honda, and Jiffy Lube and others for negligence, but his lawsuit was tossed out. 
 
 The Los Angeles County district attorney declined to bring charges in the deaths because of insufficient evidence. A police mechanic found evidence that the brake pedal didn't properly work, but couldn't tell if that was the case before the tragedy or because of salt water corrosion. 
 
 While a county prosecutor said the father's explanation could create reasonable doubt, they suggested police tell federal prosecutors about evidence of insurance and other fraud. 
 
 Federal investigators said they found that Elmezayen spent about a quarter of his reported $24,000 salary to insure himself, his longtime partner and three sons for $6 million. 
 
 Elmezayen repeatedly called insurers to confirm they wouldn't automatically investigate a claim made more than two years after a policy was written, federal prosecutors said. 
 
 The deadly plunge occurred two years and 12 days after the final policy took effect, authorities said. 
 
 Elmezayen's car window was open, and he surfaced within 30 seconds and swam to a ladder on the pier. His partner, Rabab Diab, couldn't swim, but she was rescued by a fisherman after surfacing and screaming, "My kids, my kids." 
 
 "The poor lady was screaming hysterically," said fisherman Ray Prince shortly after the incident. "I thought she was going to drown." 
 
 Two boys, Abdelkarim, 8, and Elhassan, 13, couldn't swim and were strapped in child seats. They were pulled lifeless from the car by rescue divers and died from drowning. 
 
 Elmezayen collected more than $260,000 in insurance payouts for the deaths and wired more than $170,000 back to his native Egypt, prosecutors said. 
 
 Prosecutors argued that Elmezayen should not be free awaiting trial because he was likely to flee to his homeland. They also argued he still posed a danger to Diab because he had intended to kill her and still pays premiums on her life insurance policy and that of another son, who was at camp when his siblings were killed. 
 
 A public defender representing Elmezayen argued that nothing had happened to Diab and the other son in over three years. He asked to have Elmezayen use $250,000 in equity in two houses he owns to secure his bond. 
 
 Elmezayen and Diab came to the U.S. in 2000 and overstayed their tourist visas, prosecutors said. Both married other partners in hopes of becoming permanent residents. Elmezayen has acknowledged his was a sham marriage. 
 
 Judge Alka Sagar said Elmezayen lacked credibility and she denied bail, in part, because of what she called the "ghastly scheme to obtain insurance benefits." ||||| LOS ANGELES – A Hawthorne man is due in court this afternoon after being arrested last week on federal charges that allege he intentionally drove his domestic partner and two severely autistic children off a pier into the ocean to collect proceeds on accidental death insurance policies he had purchased on their lives. 
 
 Ali F. Elmezayen, 44, is scheduled to appear before a United States Magistrate Judge, who will consider a motion by prosecutors to have him held in jail without bond. 
 
 Elmezayen was arrested on November 7 by special agents with the FBI after being charged with defrauding insurance companies. Elmezayen made his initial appearance on November 8, when he was ordered held without bond pending this afternoon’s detention hearing. 
 
 According to a criminal complaint, Elmezayen purchased several accidental death insurance policies providing more than $6 million in coverage on himself, his domestic partner and his children in 2012 and 2013. Elmezayen allegedly paid nearly $6,000 a year for these policies – even though he was earning less than $30,000 a year – and he called at least two of the insurance companies to confirm they would not investigate claims made two years after the policies were purchased. 
 
 On April 9, 2015 – two years and 12 days after he bought the last of his insurance policies – Elmezayen drove a car with his partner and two youngest children off a wharf at the Port of Los Angeles. Elmezayen swam out the open driver’s side window of the car. His partner, who did not know how to swim, survived when a nearby fisherman threw her a flotation device. The two children, ages 8 and 13, were unable to escape the car and drowned. 
 
 Elmezayen then collected more than $260,000 in insurance proceeds from American General Life Insurance and Mutual of Omaha Life Insurance on the accidental death insurance policies he had taken out on the children’s lives, according to the complaint. In addition to posing as his domestic partner in communications with the insurance companies without her knowledge, Elmezayen allegedly made several false statements, including stating that the cause of his children’s deaths was accidental and that he had no other insurance policies on his children. 
 
 “This case alleges a calculated and cold-hearted scheme to profit off the deaths of two helpless children,” said United States Attorney Nick Hanna. “The alleged conduct shocks the conscience, and we will use every tool available to us to ensure that justice is done.” 
 
 “The defendant is accused of orchestrating a scheme to defraud insurance companies by taking the lives of his vulnerable young sons,” said Paul Delacourt, the Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office. “The defendant faces serious consequences as we seek justice on their behalf.” 
 
 “IRS Criminal Investigation is proud to flex our financial fraud expertise in bringing this alleged killer to justice,” stated R. Damon Rowe of IRS Criminal Investigation’s Los Angeles Field Office. “Would-be fraudsters should be warned that it is very difficult to profit from death and steal from life insurance companies with impunity.” 
 
 The criminal complaint specifically charges Elmezayen with mail fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft for posing as his domestic partner in calls to the insurance companies. 
 
 A criminal complaint contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt. 
 
 During last week’s court hearing, a preliminary hearing was scheduled for November 23, and Elmezayen was ordered to appear for an arraignment on November 29. 
 
 If he were to be convicted of the charges in the complaint, Elmezayen would face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison for each of the fraud counts. The charge of aggravated identity theft carries a mandatory consecutive sentence of two years in prison. 
 
 This case is being investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and IRS Criminal Investigation. The federal investigators received substantial assistance from the Los Angeles Police Department, the Los Angeles Port Police and the Los Angeles City Attorney’s Office. 
 
 The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Alex Wyman and David Ryan. 
 
 Assistant United States Attorney Michael Sew Hoy of the Asset Forfeiture Section obtained a seizure warrant that led to the seizure Thursday of approximately $80,000 from an Elmezayen bank account.
– What at first appeared to be a tragic accident is now labeled a "coldhearted scheme." Two children, ages 8 and 13, died on April 9, 2015, when the car their father was driving sped off a Los Angeles wharf and sank. Ali Elmezayen, whose window was open, quickly emerged, followed by his domestic partner, Rabab Diab, but their severely autistic children, strapped in the back seat of the 1998 Honda Civic, were pronounced dead once divers freed them. Prosecutors now say it was a double murder planned by Elmezayen, 44, for more than two years, per the Washington Post. In 2012 and 2013, Elmezayen allegedly purchased several accidental death policies providing more than $6 million in coverage for his family, costing him 20% of his annual salary, which was less than $30,000, per a DOJ release. Prosecutors say he even confirmed that claims wouldn't be investigated after two years. The crash allegedly came two years and 12 days after the last policy was bought, per the AP. "The alleged conduct shocks the conscience," says US attorney Nick Hanna. The problem is that the evidence may not prove murder. Elmezayen, who initially speculated about an "evil inside of me that pushed me to go," later said the car's brakes failed, and saltwater corrosion has made it difficult to determine their condition at the time of the crash, per the AP. Citing insufficient evidence of murder, the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office has instead charged Elmezayen with mail fraud, wire fraud, and aggravated identity theft, alleging he posed as Diab in interactions with insurance companies. Held without bail, Elmezayen faces up to 20 years in prison for each fraud count if convicted. (Cops say a mom's "moment of frustration" led to her toddler's death.)