Fraud charge laid against driver in web fender bender

The Ajax man at the centre of an Internet storm caused by a fender bender caught on a dashboard camera has been charged by police in the collision.

Raguruban Yogarajah is charged with fraud over $5,000, attempted fraud and public mischief.

“I know I’m innocent,” he said Tuesday. “I guess we’ll have to wait and go through all this to prove (it).”

Yogarajah was involved in a collision on Highway 401 last month in rush hour traffic when his Acura TSX rolled backwards and bumped Herman Sham’s Subaru Legacy. Sham had a dash camera and recorded the incident.

Sham posted the video to YouTube with the title “The reason why you need a dash camera (scam foiled).” It caused an uproar, with commenters unleashing their fury at Yogarajah.

As the incident attracted increasing attention online, web vigilantes searched his licence plate. In online forums, they boasted about visiting his house at night, phoning the bank where he works and postering his neighbourhood with insulting photographs.

Sham has said he strongly disagrees with those actions, and only posted the video because he wanted other drivers to protect themselves.

OPP Sgt. Dave Woodford said the public mischief charge relates to Yogarajah’s claim to police at the time that it was Sham who hit him.

Yogarajah previously told the Star he wasn’t sure who was responsible for the collision until he saw the video himself. He said his car is manual, and he rolled backwards accidentally when he distractedly took his foot off the brake.