A married couple allegedly staged a car crash in order to defraud multiple insurance companies, a court has heard.
"This was not an organic car accident but, rather, a staged car accident," prosecutor Morgan Howe said on the first day of an ACT Supreme Court trial.
Rabea Fares and Lina Faris have each pleaded not guilty to, among other charges, attempting to, by deception, dishonestly obtain a financial advantage from someone else.
In his opening address on Tuesday, Mr Howe outlined the prosecution's case against the couple.
Jurors heard that Fares, as a passenger, and Faris, as a driver, made a "number of insurance claims" after being involved in a car crash on February 27, 2020.
The pair claimed a silver BMW sports car ran into the back of their Audi SUV while they were driving on Eucumbene Drive in Duffy.
"This collision was not an accident," the prosecutor said.
Mr Howe said the married couple were "dishonest and deceptive in a number of fundamental respects" regarding the crash.
Faris told police she had been driving the Audi at the speed limit in the middle of the road when she "felt a big bang behind her".
A police officer, who conducted a collision analysis, presented evidence on Tuesday that suggested the Audi had been stationary at the time of the crash.
Mr Howe said the prosecution accepted Faris and Fares, who were treated by paramedics and taken to hospital, had been injured as a result of the crash.
"By deliberately participating in the collision, they were not then entitled to make claims as a result of injuries suffered," the prosecutor said.
The day after the crash, the woman lodged a claim with Suncorp Insurance relating to the damaged Audi.
She and Fares both later lodged third party insurance claims with NRMA Insurance in relation to their injuries.
The court heard both insurance providers launched investigations into these claims.
A woman who said she saw both the vehicles in question prior to the incident on Eucumbene Drive gave evidence on Monday.
That witness said she came across the BMW first, the car was driving below the speed limit and it eventually pulled over so she could overtake.
She soon after drove up behind the Audi on the same road and it was also driving below the speed limit before it eventually pulled over.
The woman told the court she later that day drove past the crash in question and saw those two same vehicles had been involved.
The trial is set to hear evidence from a man and woman who police were initially told had been the driver and passenger of the BMW at the time of the crash.
Mr Howe said that second woman would give evidence she had not driven the BMW, despite what she told police, but that she had driven a third car to the scene after the crash.
The prosecutor also said phone records would show the second man had been in contact with either Faris or Fares hours before the crash and in the two weeks previous.
