York Regional Police has laid fraud charges against four suspects who are accused of staging a collision in the Township of King in January.
The incident happened on Jan. 10 at around 8:30 p.m. in the intersection of Weston and Lloydtown-Aurora roads.
Police say they were called to a hit-and-run at the intersection where injuries were reported.
Const. Andy Pattenden said when police arrived at the scene they found a damaged Volvo station wagon with two female victims still inside complaining of injuries. The occupants of the Volvo had to be extricated from the vehicle by firefighters and were taken to hospital.
The driver of the Volvo told police at the scene that they had been struck by a pick-up truck in the intersection before the vehicle fled the scene.
Investigators said that once they obtained video surveillance of the intersection from a nearby business, they were able to determine that the collision was staged and that a hit-and-run did not take place.
“The accused in this case also went so far as to contact their insurance company, make false claims and try to get money from their insurance company for this collision,” Pattenden said.
Investigators said four suspects have been arrested in connection with the incident.
Fatin Elias, 46, Jourjeet Shahara, 52, Samid Shahara, 47, and Salam Shahara, 34, all of Toronto, have been charged with fraud over $5,000, conspiracy to commit an indictable offence, false pretence, utter forged documents, public mischief and obstruction of police.
