Street-racing isn't smart at the best of times, but a brother and sister from California are facing prison for their apparent attempts to cover up a high-speed prang - which was caught on camera and posted to YouTube.
According to California insurance investigators, 21-year-old Jay Chen had claimed that on 16 March last year his sister had smashed his brand-new Nissan GT-R sports car - billed as the "first true supercar for anyone, anytime, anywhere" - while driving on an interstate.
Twenty-nine-year-old Tracy Chen had corroborated the story, but Jay later withdrew the $76,000 claim, saying that he'd pay for the repairs himself.
However, less than three months later, Jay reportedly submitted another claim for damage to the car - this generation of which has earned itself the nickname 'Godzilla' - stating that he'd been driving it on a different California highway.
But investigators became suspicious of the second claim when they heard that the damaged car had, in fact, been languishing in a local repair shop since the original incident.
A bit of investigation soon turned up a video posted to YouTube on the date of the original incident, which appears to show Jay Chen's car involved in a night-time street race along a mountain road - before leaving the road and sustaining damage consistent with the claim.
Now Jay Chen has been charged with six felony counts of car insurance fraud, and Tracy Chen with a single count - with each count potentially punishable by a five-year jail term and $10,000 fine.
Speaking to the San Gabriel Valley Tribune, California State Insurance Commissioner spokesperson Jason Kimbrough said that the video was "key" to building the case.
"Sure enough, the video pops up and people start putting the pieces together," he added.
