Shocking twist in Aussie tourist’s Bali GoFundMe plea: Indonesian cops tell a VERY different story about Benji Ward after kind Australians forked out $40k

An Australian tourist left with life-changing injuries after a head-on motorbike collision in Bali was the one at fault, Indonesian police say. 

Benji Ward, 24, suffered a serious head injury and broke four bones – including the tibia and fibula of his right leg, which pierced the skin – in the head-on crash at 2am last Thursday in the North Kuta district of Bali’s Badung Regency.

Well-wishers have donated over $40,000 after a GoFundMe page was set-up by Mr Ward’s friend and OnlyFans model Bailey Scarlett to raise funds for his surgery and medical evacuation back to Melbourne.

A now-deleted update on the page suggested Mr Ward had been injured in a hit-and-run, a claim he echoed in comments from his hospital bed made four days ago. 

‘They’re (the police) trying to find the Russian guy who hit me because he also hit another person on the same night and broke his arm,’ Mr Ward said.

But now Daily Mail Australia can reveal that there was no hit-and-run, according to local police.

Instead, Mr Ward signed a ‘peace agreement’ through an intermediary on Monday to pay compensation to the Russian driver, Dmitry Akimenko, to avoid being charged with a traffic offence.

Benji Ward (pictured), 24, suffered a serious head injury and broke four bones, including the tibia and fibula of his right leg, which pierced the skin, in the head-on crash at 2am on Thursday in the North Kuta district of Bali’s Badung Regency

Well-wishers donated over $40,000 after a GoFundMe page was set-up by Mr Ward’s friend and OnlyFans model Bailey Scarlett to raise funds for his surgery and medical evacuation back to Melbourne 

Mr Ward, who was riding a Yamaha NMax with a 155cc engine in the early hours of the morning, allegedly tried to overtake another rider when he passed into a lane of oncoming traffic. He then collided with Mr Akimenko’s Kawasaki Ninja.

Mr Ward was left with extensive injuries, while Mr Akimenko suffered relatively minor knee injuries. 

Daily Mail Australia understands that Mr Ward has agreed to pay just over $1,000 to cover Mr Dmitry’s medical expenses and $3,500 to pay for the damage to his bike.

‘It was not a hit-and-run crash, and both parties has decided to resolve the case with peace agreement,’ Badung Police chief Teguh Priowarsono said.

It is not suggested that Ms Scarlett knew that the hit-and-run did not take place when she set up the GoFundMe. 

Daily Mail Australia approached Mr Ward and Ms Scarlett for comment about the new revelations. 

A now-deleted update on the page suggested Mr Ward had been injured in a hit-and-run (pictured), a claim he echoed in comments from his hospital bed made four days ago (below)

An update on the GoFundMe page, which suggested Mr Ward was involved in a hit-and-run and that police were looking for the other driver, has been deleted. 

On Monday, Ms Scarlett shared a breakdown of Mr Ward’s current medical costs on the GoFundMe page and claimed the total bill so far was $39,000.

The same day, Mr Ward shared a Australian Air Ambulance aeromedical retrieval quote for $180,750 to his Instagram stories.

‘Some people have the audacity to try say I’m trying to make money off the flight home so here you go,’ he captioned the post.

‘Don’t think in the situation I’m in this is necessary but some low life’s clearly have nothing better to do then (sic) talk s***.’

On Monday, Mr Ward shared this update from his hospital bed

He also hit back at critics who apparently suggested he was trying to make money off his flight home 

Mr Ward required an urgent blood transfusion and underwent surgery to have a a metal halo splint drilled into his right leg.

‘Everything’s all good, the surgery went well,’ said Mr Ward from his hospital bed four days ago.

‘I’ve got another surgery in three weeks, I’ve got a Halo on at the moment and there’s no bleeding from the brain – all the blood from my head has stopped so it’s all looking positive.’

He also thanked friends and family who had donated.

Ms Scarlett, who is an OnlyFans model and influencer, has form for representing Australians in Bali suffering some form of medical crisis.

She previously acted as a de facto media spokesperson for the family of baby ‘Lucky’.

Mr Ward (pictured left) will have a metal halo brace drilled into his leg requiring him to use a wheelchair for months 

Bailey Scarlett, an OnlyFans model and actress, set-up the GoFundMe page for her friend Mr Ward. She also acted as a de facto media spokesperson for Baby Lucky’s parents Honey and Pan Ahimsa in February. It is not suggested that Ms Scarlett knew that the hit and run did not take place when she set up the GoFundMe

In February, the family captured the nation’s hearts when Lucky’s mum, Honey Ahimsa, launched a desperate bid to charter a medical evacuation.

Her then-seven-week-old daughter needed to fly back to Australia for life-saving care not available in Indonesia.

Ms Ahimsa, a wellness influencer and mother-of-two originally from Melbourne, said doctors in Bali gave her baby a 50 per cent chance of survival.

Almost $200,000 was raised in a matter of days by kind-hearted donors who rallied behind the stranded family as Lucky battled sepsis, severe pneumonia, lung failure and RSV-bronchiolitis.

She was flown to Brisbane on a medevac flight in February, and doctors treated her successfully.

A few months later in July, Daily Mail Australia revealed Ms Ahmisa and her partner Pan, along with Lucky and their other young child, have returned to Bali where they are renovating a house.