Bogus ‘teenage’ doctor tells court he's 22 years old

Kingsley Leeto Chele, who posed as a teenage medical doctor and allegedly defrauded investors, has told the court that he is actually 22 years old. 

Chele, who initially told the police he was 17 years old after his arrest on October 2, made a brief appearance in the Pretoria magistrate’s court E on Monday on charges of fraud and car theft. 

State prosecutor Delia Bosman told the court that Chele had undergone an age assessment test with a district surgeon which revealed that he was in his 20s. Chele was rearrested last Monday after he escaped from police custody when he was being investigated for fraud he committed in Tshwane. 

Bosman then asked Chele how old he was and he told her he is 22. 

“We need to keep the matter together as possible so if we can move this matters to Wednesday, we need to combine this charge sheet [fraud] with the escaping [from police custody] matter,” she said.

In his last court appearance last Wednesday, Chele told the court that he’d use a private lawyer.