A BOGUS Gauteng 'doctor' looks set to lose the VW Polo used to swindle unsuspecting victims keen to invest in a phantom pharmacy project until he ran out of luck two years ago.
'Dr' Kingsley Leeto Chele or 'Dr' KJ Ncube was arrested in June 2023 after two cases of fraud were registered at the Sunnyside and Klipgat police stations.
Upon his arrest in October that year, he managed to escape after a few days in police custody while officers were cataloguing his household items at his residence. He was nabbed after police launched a manhunt.
The alleged con artist's modus operandi involved operating mainly on Facebook, where he targeted women by misrepresenting himself as a doctor or a pharmacist and scamming them of their hard-earned money.
Chele operated through contacting health professionals on the social media platform pretending to seek investors while he swindled them out of thousands of rands for projects that did not exist.
After he was arrested the investigating officer in the case approached the National Prosecuting Authority’s Asset Forfeiture Unit to assist in attaching his property believed to have been accumulated as proceeds of crime including the 2023 VW vehicle.
Earlier this month, National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) Shamila Batohi published a preservation of property order in terms of the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (Poca) granted by the Gauteng High Court in Tshwane, deputy Judge President Aubrey Ledwaba.
The beige Volkswagen Polo (Model VW 27X-POLO) has been held at the Aeroton police pound, south of Johannesburg, since it was seized by police in June 2023.
According to Judge Ledwaba’s order, the NDPP applied for and was granted a preservation of property order in terms of Poca.
"This notice is addressed to Kingsley Leeto Chele, who is currently detained at Kgosi Mampuru correctional facility in Pretoria and to all persons who may have an interest in the property,” states the order obtained by Batohi.
The notice also indicated that any person who may have an interest in the property should understand that it is now at risk.
"You are advised to obtain legal advice on whether your interest can be protected and, if so, on how to protect it. You are notified that the NDPP will, within 90 days of publication of this notice, apply to the high court under section 48 of the Poca for a forfeiture order.
"The preservation order will remain in force until the application for a forfeiture order is finalised, and until any forfeiture order that is made is satisfied,” Batohi explained.
Two months ago, Chele, who was initially released on R1 500 bail, appeared before the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court but was rearrested after being accused of swindling another woman of her R750 000 pension payout.
He also faces charges of fraud and corruption alongside three current and former Department of Home Affairs officials implicated in running a fraudulent ID syndicate, through which Chele is alleged to have obtained his identity document.
Another accused in the matter is the bogus doctor's father, 60-year-old Isaac Puseletso Chele.