Divers investigate spot where Ali F. Elmezayen drove his car with his kids into the water at the San Pedro Slip, CA

A Los Angeles man has been charged with killing his family when he deliberately drove his car with his severely autistic children and domestic partner into the ocean on April 9, 2015.
Ali F. Elmezayen, was ordered to remain His intention was to collect insurance money remains behind bars after a Los Angeles judge ordered him to stay put Tuesday.

Ali F. Elmezayen, 44, allegedly killed his two children, ages 8 and 13, when he drove his car off of a Los Angeles wharf. Elmezayen had purchased “several accidental death insurance policies” amounting to $6 million covering himself, his kids and his domestic partner, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Central California.
He paid $6,000 a year to maintain that coverage, despite earning less that $30,000 a year.
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’s domestic partner, who reportedly couldn’t swim, was also a passenger in the car. She was rescued by a fisherman who witnessed the crash.

Both children drowned. The deaths of Elmezayen’s children paid him $260,000, according to his insurance companies.

Rescuers with the Los Angeles Fire Department pull Elmezayen’s two boys from the submerged vehicle from the San Pedro Slip on, April 9, 2015.

The defendant prosecutors said 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.
He also impersonated his domestic partner in communications with the insurance companies without her knowledge. He proceeded to make 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.
“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.”
“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.”
Though the alleged crime happened in April 2015, Elmezayen wasn’t arrested until last week when the FBI made its move.

The 13-year-old boy died and his brother was in critical condition after the family car plunged into the ocean at the LA Port on Thursday, April 9, 2015

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.