Authorities in South Africa have arrested a TikTok star who allegedly lied about being a health care provider and used the social media platform to offer medical recommendation and likewise promote medicine. In response to BBC, Matthew Lani, who had hundreds of followers on the video-sharing social media platform, was arrested on Sunday night time on the Helen Joseph Hospital within the metropolis of Johannesburg.
Lani allegedly tried to evade safety by concealing his look. He was reportedly in a surgical masks and in possession of a stethoscope. Lani was in the end apprehended by police after he tried to flee by means of a toilet window.
In a press release, the Gauteng province Division of Well being stated Lani normally went to the hospital he was arrested to “curate deceptive content material beneath the pretence that he was a professional physician.” His TikTok followers have been practically 300,000 earlier than his account was taken down. He, nevertheless, created one other account that has garnered over 50,000 followers.
Lani’s arrest comes after authorities launched a manhunt for him a number of weeks in the past after doubts have been raised about his {qualifications}. Lani had claimed he graduated from the College of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg with a medical diploma. However the college denied his declare whereas the Division of Training additionally stated the suspect didn’t purchase his school-leaving certificates.
Lani additionally lied to authorities by claiming his actual title was Dr Sanele Zingelwa. The precise Dr Zingelwa has since reported Lani for fraud. Lani’s arrest additionally provides as much as a number of different suspects who’ve been apprehended for falsely claiming to be docs. The nation’s Ministry of Well being says that authorities have made about 124 arrests of such nature.
As beforehand reported by Face2Face Africa, South African authorities equally arrested a person swindling folks of their monies “by misrepresenting himself as a health care provider or a pharmacist.” The suspect, who glided by the title Dr. Kingsley Chele or Dr KJ Ncube, was arrested following a manhunt after he escaped custody.
Police in a press release stated the suspect’s modus operandi concerned establishing contact with “well being professionals on Fb and interesting them, pretending to hunt buyers whereas he swindled them out of hundreds of rands for tasks that didn’t exist.”
