A road crash involving a $1m Ferrari Enzo has turned into a wide-ranging criminal case with the alleged driver, Bo Stefan Eriksson, 44, pleading not guilty this week to embezzlement, grand theft, drunken driving and weapons charges.

An investigation followed after prosecutors disbelieved the Swedish businessman's claim that he had been the passenger in the car, which crashed at 162mph on Malibu's Pacific coast highway, California, in February.

He is now on bail, possibly facing 14 years in jail, with charges including one of theft over bringing cars into the US which he had leased in Britain.