A man claiming to be a doctor or a pharmacist to scam women out of their hard-earned money has been re-arrested after escaping from police custody earlier this month.

Lyttelton police have been on the hunt for the alleged fake doctor, known as ‘Dr Kingsley Leeto Chele’ or ‘Dr KJ Ncube’, since his court appearance on October 2.

Lieutenant Colonel Mavela Masondo says the accused was re-arrested early yesterday morning in Vosloorus in Ekurhuleni.

“The arrest was [as] a result of information and a tip-off received from one of the media houses, following a media statement issued about the wanted fugitive. The management of the police in Gauteng appreciates the role played by the media, in particular, and the community in general, in the fight against crime.”

Masondo says the suspect, whose country of birth has yet to be confirmed, was expected to appear in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on October 17.

“A charge of escaping from custody will be added to the charges he was already facing.”

Masondo explains that Chele was arrested because he had been masquerading as a doctor and targeting women.

“He targets women by misrepresenting himself as a doctor or pharmacist and scamming them [out] of their hard-earned money.”

Masondo says Chele would contact health professionals on Facebook and engage them, pretending to seek investors.

He added that the modus operandi involved swindling his victims out of thousands of rands for non-existent projects.

“He was arrested by the police on October 2, on two cases of fraud registered in Sunnyside and Klipgat in June.”

Chele was denied bail when he last appeared in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court, and was being held in custody.

Masondo says Chele escaped when police were cataloguing his household items at his residence. He has been on the run since.

Police seized some of Chele’s assets, via the Asset Forfeiture Unit, on October 11.

Chele says property and a 2023 Volkswagen Golf GTI were attached, as they were believed to have been accumulated from the proceeds of his crimes.