RCMP Cpl. Houman Shoaai is suing Manitoba Public Insurance over an accident claim from July 2009. (Facebook)

A Mountie accused of attempted fraud after claiming he lost control of his SUV and ended up in a lake says he was humiliated and embarrassed by the insurance company's investigation into the incident.

Cpl. Houman Shoaai, 39, has initiated a lawsuit against Manitoba Public Insurance (MPI), court documents obtained by CBC News show.

The officer claims he was driving his Hummer H3 when he swerved to miss a deer on a road, lost control and wound up in a lake near the community of Elphinstone, where he is posted.

The RCMP announced Wednesday that Shoaai has been charged with attempted fraud over $5,000 in connection with the incident that occurred July 7, 2009, about 260 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg.

An initial investigation into his $20,750 insurance claim, conducted by MPI, found inconsistencies and led to a further investigation.

Ultimately, Crown prosecutors recommended charging Shoaai on April 22. MPI sought an independent Crown opinion in the case, police said.

'Unsavory individual'

But in the lawsuit filed by Shoaai on March 11 — more than two months before he was criminally charged — the officer alleges that the public insurer's investigation violated his privacy and caused him "humiliation and embarrassment" when a female friend was approached regarding the probe.

The lawsuit claims that MPI illegally ran his name through a national police database "or other police sources" and obtained a financial background check without his consent.

Shoaai also alleges that the insurance investigator assigned to the case approached his friend and told her he was an "unsavoury individual."

She was told he "had a record for spousal abuse and had escaped conviction by taking out a $20,000 loan and paying off the complainant," the lawsuit alleges.

Financial woes alleged

The insurance investigator is also alleged to have disclosed that Shoaai "was deeply in debt," and proceeded to provide the woman with intimate details about his personal finances.

Shoaai's relationship with the woman has been "adversely affected," the documents said.

MPI denied Shoaai's insurance claim in a Feb. 3 letter, saying he had wilfully made a false statement to the public insurer.

Shoaai disputes this and claims that MPI refuses to provide the proof that he did.

The allegations in the lawsuit have not been proven in court and no statement of defence has been filed yet. No court date to hear the lawsuit has been set.

Shoaai is seeking reimbursement from MPI for the Hummer, along with undisclosed damages for breach of contract and for acting in a "high handed and arrogant" manner.

He is scheduled to make his first court appearance in Minnedosa on the attempted fraud charge on June 29.

RCMP said Shoaai has been assigned to desk duties while an internal disciplinary review of his performance takes place.