TikToker Matthew Lani arrested for fraud after claiming to be a doctor online and trying to sneak into hospital

A TikTok user who pretended to be a doctor and used his page to share medical advice, and then attempted to sneak into a hospital dressed in medical scrubs and wearing a stethoscope has been arrested for fraud.

Matthew Lani, who had hundreds of thousands of followers on TikTok, claimed to be a doctor and used his social media platform to share medical advice with his followers. He also allegedly sold medication to people. His arrest comes just days after another fake TikTok doctor who gave medical advice to 243,000 followers and posed for photos in scrubs was fined $13,000 (around £10,710) in Australia.

Lani, who is from South Africa, was arrested on Sunday (29 October) when he tried to enter Helen Joseph Hospital in Johannesburg, South Africa's biggest city and capital of Gauteng province. He was reportedly caught trying to sneak past security while dressed in medical scrubs and wearing a surgical mask and a stethoscope in an attempt to make himself look like a real doctor.

According to a report from South African news outlet News 24, medical professionals at the hospital had caught him trying to gain access to the casualty ward previously and feared that he would try again. Gauteng province's Department of Health released a statement saying Lani frequently used the Helen Joseph Hospital in Johannesburg where he was caught to "curate misleading content under the pretence that he was a qualified doctor".

Lani had almost 300,000 followers on TikTok before his account was closed. He then opened another one, which has more than 50,000 followers. At the time of writing, NationalWorld has seen that TikTok has multiple Matthew Lani accounts, many of which appear to show Lani dressed in medical scrubs as a profile picture. Some of these do appear to be fan accounts, rather than pages which have been started by Lani himself.

The Department of Education in South Africa states that Lani does not have any medical qualifications, and he did not even obtain his school-leaving certificate. Lani, however, insists that he received a medical degree from the University of Witwatersrand in Johannesburg. The institution says this is not the case.

Lani’s arrest for fraud brings to the end a manhunt for him, which had lasted several weeks, after questions arose over his qualifications. When he was arrested he allegedly tried to mislead authorities by saying his real name was Doctor Sanele Zingelwa, a second-year medical intern at the Tembisa Provincial Tertiary Hospital. The true Dr Zingelwe then opened a criminal case against Lani, accusing him of fraud.

Lani, who has denied prescribing anyone any medication, is the latest person to be arrested on charges of impersonating a doctor in South Africa. There have been about 124 such arrests over the last three years, according to the Ministry of Health.