Kingsley Chele, who is facing charges of impersonating a medical doctor and fraud, was on Wednesday dumped by his lawyer over nonpayment.
Adv Abel Ramokoma told the Pretoria magistrate's court that he would no longer be representing the accused.
"Your worship, I would like to render an application to withdraw from this case on record, this includes the fraud cases," he told magistrate Desiree Stigling. He later told Sowetan that his withdrawal from the case was because of lack of communication. "We have withdrawn because of lack of instructions and he [Chele] has not made payments, so I cannot continue to handle the matter if payments are not done; this is not a pro bono arrangement," he said.
Chele is facing numerous charges of fraud, car theft and escaping police custody two weeks ago. The cases were handed over to his new defence counsel who asked the court for a postponement so that he can familiarise himself with the cases.
State prosecutor Delia Bosman said they also had intended to ask for the matter to be postponed as they were waiting for identity verification of the accused.
"The state cannot proceed with bail application because the identity of the accused is questionable. The police have now involved Interpol to help with the verification of the accused, and they [Interpol] have indicated to us that we will get the results on November 1," she said.
In the previous court appearance, the state informed the court that it was in possession of two SA identity documents belonging to Chele. The state said it cannot use the department of home affairs alone for verification in case Chele is not an SA national. The state said it has 13 dockets against him.
Chele was arrested on October 2 for posing as a medical doctor who also used his Facebook to lure health workers to invest in his nonexistent pharmaceutical business. According to a police insider, he has allegedly taken more than R1,2m from his victims. He also faces a charge of vehicle theft and another of escaping from police custody two weeks ago before he was rearrested last week.
He has presented himself as a 17-year-old, but a district surgeon test done last week on him estimated him to be in his early 20s.
Lawyer dumps fake doc over nonpayment
State awaits ID verification results from Interpol
Image: SUPPLIED
Kingsley Chele, who is facing charges of impersonating a medical doctor and fraud, was on Wednesday dumped by his lawyer over nonpayment.
Adv Abel Ramokoma told the Pretoria magistrate's court that he would no longer be representing the accused.
"Your worship, I would like to render an application to withdraw from this case on record, this includes the fraud cases," he told magistrate Desiree Stigling. He later told Sowetan that his withdrawal from the case was because of lack of communication. "We have withdrawn because of lack of instructions and he [Chele] has not made payments, so I cannot continue to handle the matter if payments are not done; this is not a pro bono arrangement," he said.
Chele is facing numerous charges of fraud, car theft and escaping police custody two weeks ago. The cases were handed over to his new defence counsel who asked the court for a postponement so that he can familiarise himself with the cases.
State prosecutor Delia Bosman said they also had intended to ask for the matter to be postponed as they were waiting for identity verification of the accused.
"The state cannot proceed with bail application because the identity of the accused is questionable. The police have now involved Interpol to help with the verification of the accused, and they [Interpol] have indicated to us that we will get the results on November 1," she said.
In the previous court appearance, the state informed the court that it was in possession of two SA identity documents belonging to Chele. The state said it cannot use the department of home affairs alone for verification in case Chele is not an SA national. The state said it has 13 dockets against him.
Chele was arrested on October 2 for posing as a medical doctor who also used his Facebook to lure health workers to invest in his nonexistent pharmaceutical business. According to a police insider, he has allegedly taken more than R1,2m from his victims. He also faces a charge of vehicle theft and another of escaping from police custody two weeks ago before he was rearrested last week.
He has presented himself as a 17-year-old, but a district surgeon test done last week on him estimated him to be in his early 20s.
Bogus doctor dupes health workers of more than R1.2m
Bogus ‘teenage’ doctor tells court he's 22 years old
Bogus doctor ‘should be treated like a child'
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