A Sydney man faced court today after allegedly staging car crashes to fraudulently claim $390,480 from an insurer.

Fake identities were used to obtain third party insurance on a vehicle that would then hit two parked cars, it is alleged. 

Between 2019 and 2022, 16 crashes involving 45 vehicles in the Canterbury-Bankstown area were identified as probably being staged.

Police arrested the 66-year-old from Lakemba at Sydney Airport on July 25. He was charged with two counts of dishonestly obtaining financial advantage by deception and bailed to appear at Bankstown Local Court today.