Bogus doctor dupes health workers of more than R1.2m

The man who pretended to be a doctor has allegedly stolen more than R1.2m from his victims who are mostly health workers. 

More fraud cases have been opened against the alleged imposter who goes by the names Dr Kingsley Leeto Chele or Dr KJ Ncube by people he allegedly duped into investing into his nonexistent Dr King Pharmacy business in Pretoria.  A source close to the case said Chele, whose real identity is still being verified, now faces eight counts of fraud – five more were added since his last court appearance at the Pretoria magistrate’s court last week. He also faces one count of car theft and another of escaping from police custody two weeks ago. 

“Five more people, all nurses, have come to the police to open cases against this guy. Most of the victims started coming out when Chele’s pictures were being circulated by the media. There are four other cases that are yet to be registered and the police are trying to assist those victims so that by the time he [Chele] appears in court again later this week there will be at least a total of 14 cases levelled against him.” 

According to the police, Chele stole a total of R1.26m from his victims in Johannesburg and Pretoria, with R740,000 allegedly defrauded from the five people who opened cases last week. The largest amount he allegedly stole from an individual was R330,000.

Chele, who lived in Ruimsig, Roodepoort, has been posing as a doctor and using two SA ID documents which both claim that he was born in 2006. Police said he started advertising his business of selling sick notes on social media in 2019.

He was arrested on October 2 after three cases of fraud were opened against him in Pretoria in June. He escaped from police custody on October 11 when police took him to his apartment to itemise his assets after the Asset Forfeiture Unit had seized the VW GTI Golf he had bought from the alleged proceeds of crime. 

Magistrates have been treating him as a minor as per his IDs and last week he was taken to a district surgeon who estimated him to be between 20 and 24 years old. 

Yesterday, he appeared in court and magistrate Desiree Stigling asked him how old he was to which he responded he was 22 years old. 

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

Sowetan understands that Chele’s fingerprints have been sent to Interpol to verify his real name, place of birth and criminal history. He had previously told the police he was born in Zimbabwe. 

“We want the court to treat him as an adult because of the age on his ID. He has been accommodated at a police station in Tshwane but from tonight he will be sent to Kgosi Mampuru Prison to be with other men his age,” said the source.

Sowetan visited his alleged business last week which turned out to be the home of an SA National Defence Force captain in Thaba Tshwane Military Area which accommodates staff from 1 Military Hospital.

At his Ruimsig apartment police found scrubs, signed sick notes and coats bearing logos of the Gauteng department of health. He had told his neighbours that he was a former street kid who received a bursary to study medicine at Oxford University in the UK.