Following the positive response to my earlier post on Joseph Obi, I've decided to continue with some sequels, my aim being to write a series of posts this week culminating in the "ultimate", definitive guide to the man who claims to be the "internet's most famous doctor". In this second of a series of undecided length (hey it's my blog, I make the rules), I take a look through his business interests and partners. Some of this stuff is truly worrying.

"I warmly invite you all to (profitably) make history with me . . ." - Joseph Obi [1].

So far, I've looked at Joseph's residences, while Tim Ireland at Bloggerheads has poured over his websites, as well as investigating his legal advisor (don't whatever you do call her a solicitor). Quackometer have already looked briefly at Obi's Irish business interests, but I want to try and go a little bit further down that path.

Wellness Clinics (Gateshead, UK) [URL | Unregistered Trader? ]
In my previous post I discovered that Obi's residential address is listed in Yellow Pages as the business address of Wellness Clinics, along with a mobile phone number (for those outside the UK, all UK numbers prefixed with 07- are mobiles) [2].

"Wellness Clinics" has a website which sells e-books for £5.50, covering such topics as "Self Medication Script For HIV & AIDS", in which (under a shit-load of disclaimers), he is basically giving self-help instructions [3]. More on these another time. What, if anything, goes on at the business address? I honestly don't know. What I do know is that a search of Companies House (the UK register of companies), reveals that the company is not registered [4]. A search on Google for the mobile number likewise reveals nothing, except that it is listed on various Newcastle and Gateshead business directories.

This is the corporate equivalent of vapourware. What we basically have, is Obi selling PDFs from a website. I wonder what would happen if you turned up at the address he advertises looking for treatment? I'm not sure I want to know.

Royal College of Alternative Medicine (Dublin, Ireland) [URL | Registered Company ]
Obi's main stated business activity is his position as Provost and CEO of the Royal College of Alternative Medicine, in Ireland [1]. Just in Ireland? No. RCAM's website states that they supervise clinics in Manchester, London, Belfast, Edinburgh, Paris, Chicago, Toronto, Dubai, Karachi, and probably Peckham [5].

Obi states on his LinkedIn profile that the business has 11-50 employees, and the website certainly seems to push (rather self-consciously) the image of a Big Business. So let's look at Ireland's version of companies house [6]. In fact, Quackometer have beaten me to it, but I got hold of the records myself to confirm. See Quackometer for the details [7], but in summary the company has two registered directors - Joseph Obi and a "Dr. Andrew Ifeanyi Obi" - uses fake addresses (and one registered to a mail-holding firm), and turns over several hundred pounds a year only. Not a big business, and not very legitimate looking either.

Quackometer have already established from this that Obi may be in serious breach of CRO regulations for supplying false addresses, so I'll leave that and look at this new character, Dr. Andrew Obi. Or maybe not, because frankly, he doesn't seem to exist at all. A google search for "Andrew Ifeanyi Obi" returns nothing, and if we shorten it to Andrew Obi one of the most prominent results is - in a beautiful twist of irony - a copy of a 419 scam [8]. Another permutation, "Dr. Andrew Obi", returns one site... yes, you can probably guess which one [9]. A search of the U.K. Electoral Roll at 192.com does produce one Andrew Obi, a guy who's lived in London the last 6 years or so [10].

There's something else that doesn't exist either, something that's a little bit more serious. Obi lists a number of Fellows on his website, and at least some of these are actually real, for example Dr Arien van der Merwe presents her FRCAM qualification on her own site [11]. These fellowships are supposed to cost 9,999 euros each, but remember the accounts filed with CRO showing only a minimal amount of cash flow? Did Dr. Arien van dew Merwe pay for her FRCAM? If so, where did the money go?

To be continued...

[1] LinkedIn profile of "Professor" Joseph Obi.

[2] Wellness Clinics' listing on Yellow Pages.

[3] Wellness Clinics' website.

[4] Search for Wellness Clinics at Companies House.

[5] See here at the RCAM website (one of several URLs with the same material on it.

[6] Company Register Office

[7]Joseph and Andrew Obi - International Men of Mystery (Quackometer).

[8]"Andrew Obi"'s 419 scam here.

[9]List of Mentors (RCAM).

[10] Search for Andrew Obi at the UK's scariest website, 192.com.

[11] Van der Merwe lists her FRCAM "qualification" here