A Winnipeg-based company that has touted its ability to improve the lives of Multiple Sclerosis patients through stem cell therapy is now under the microscope after allegations of fraud from a client.

The CEO of Regenetek Research Inc. has been collecting thousands of dollars from Canadian patients looking for help. Some of the patients are now questioning the research and credentials of the man they know as “Dr. Doug.”

One of them is Lee Chuckry, 47. He has been living with MS for nearly two decades.

“MS just keeps progressing, that’s what it does. Hopefully I could stop it. That was my ultimate goal,” Chuckry said in an interview with CTV News.

His efforts led him to Regenetek, and its CEO: Doug Broeska.

In testimonials, MS patients attributed miraculous medical improvement to experimental stem cell therapy. For $35,000, Regenetek patients were flown to India for the procedure.

Chuckry was one of the participants. But when he returned home, he says his symptoms worsened.

When he started digging deeper, he said, he found the doctor he’d put his faith in wasn’t what he claimed to be.

“I’m going to call Doug a con artist,” Chuckry said. “You are preying on people who are desperate. They are looking for hope of any sort.”

Chuckry and at least one other patient have gone to the RCMP. They allege Broeska, who claims to hold a PhD and a Bachelor of Science, is a fraud who is operating as a medical researcher without proper credentials.

None of the allegations have been proven in court, and Broeska has not been criminally charged.

The University of Manitoba where Broeska claimed he received his degree and doctorate from has said there is no record of him graduating.

In a statement to CTV News, Regenetek wrote that “its clinical study is being mischaracterized in the media.”

The email offered no comment and no response from Broeska.

No stem cell therapy has received Health Canada approval for treatment of Multiple Sclerosis.

While clinical trials are underway in Canada, doctors do not require patients to pay thousands of dollars to take part.

With a report by CTV News’ Jill Macyshon