Joseph Chikelue Obi, self-styled caped crusader (and owner of a domain name so big he has to give out business cards two of a time) claims to run a spectacularly profitable college of alternative medicine, to cruise the country in limousines, and to have oodles of cash to spend on litigation. Is it true? I managed to dig up some intriguing facts. (Those who aren't familiar with the story behind this see www.quackometer.net, the site he attempted to have censored).

It seems that there is only one Joseph C. Obi to appear on the U.K. electoral registry, from which I was able to obtain his address and postcode. Printing it all here would be an invasion of privacy so I won't, but this Joseph Obi is listed as living at an address in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear [1], where he has lived since 2003.

Now, this could conceivably be a different Joseph C. Obi, but the Gateshead address is backed up by his own website. Records he produces to support his receipt of a degree at Dundee confirm that he lived in Gateshead in 2003 [2] (and you can also see the originals still at the University of Dundee site [3]). This could still be coincidental, but it's pretty unlikely. An investigation at Bloggerheads reveals some of the websites he runs are also registered to an address in Gateshead (7, Mersey Place) [4]. According to the electoral register, this isn't his current address (active since 2003), but the residential address he inhabited back in 2002 [1].

So, armed with what seems 95% certain to be his current address and postcode, I did some Googling. "Up My Street" tells us that house prices in his street are around £75k - for non-UK residents reading, that's extremely low in Britain [5]. If he's making a fortune from his businesses, he isn't spending it on his house, and I don't think there can be an awful lot of room for his limo.

A second revelation comes from UK online business directory Yell.com, which reveals that his address is home to the "Wellness Clinics". And then finally, here is the clincher - Wellness Clinic is referenced on the ACAM website giving Obi's name, and the latest registered residential address from the electoral roll [6].

So my little investigation came full circle. In summary, Obi is currently advertising an alternative "clinic" operating at his residential address in a fairly poor housing estate in Gateshead. The amazing life he portrays on his sites is a some kind of fantasy, and he's certainly not a wealthy entrepreneur with friends in high places.

What next? Well I've got a dodgy back, and Gateshead isn't too far from Cambridge. The fact that he could be offering medical advice to people is worrying, and it'd be interesting to see what's going on up there.

All of the information above is freely available from public sources, often published by Obi himself. I chose not to post his actual address here because I thought it would be unfair invasion of privacy, but he has happily posted it himself to promote his own clinics and services.

EDIT (26/2/2008 12.41): "Manic" over at Bloggerheads has commented that: "I note in your post that properties where The Obi One is currently living cost "around 75k". Yesterday I tripped over the sale price of his old property... http://www.houseprices.co.uk/e.php?q=NE8+3ST&n=10&f=pd... which was just under 75k (£74,950)". £75k wasn't a bad estimate then! Cheers Manic.

[1] You can search the electoral register at 192.com.
[2] See (one of) his (many) blog(s) here - Dr . Joseph Chikelue Obi Did Graduate.
[3] Graduation Lists 2002 (University of Dundee).
[4] Meet Joseph Chikelue Obi and his army of supporters (Bloggerheads).
[5] UpMyStreet
[6] Find A Doctor (ACAM).