A Massachusetts spa owner is in hot water for allegedly injecting her clients with fake Botox and other cosmetic products. On Friday, federal officials arrested and charged 38-year-old Rebecca Fadanelli with various charges related to the alleged fraud.
According to the charge documents released Friday by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, Fadanelli has been running this alleged scheme since at least March 2021. She is accused of importing fake Botox, Sculptra and Juvederm (the latter two products are dermal fillers) from China and Brazil and uses these products in thousands of injections at the two spa locations it owns in Randolph and South Easton, Massachusetts.
Officials say she completed more than 1,600 Botox appointments and more than 1,000 appointments with these fake products between March 2021 and March 2024. Prosecutors say Fantanelli was paid a total of more than $900,000 for the injections. Additionally, she is accused of lying to her clients and employees about her credentials, claiming she was a nurse when she was only licensed as a beautician. She also reportedly told prosecutors that she never injected the customers herself, but other employees reportedly said otherwise.
“For years, Ms. Fadanelli allegedly endangered unsuspecting patients by posing as a nurse and then administered thousands of illegal, counterfeit injections,” Assistant United States Attorney Joshua S. Levy said in a statement by the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts. “The type of fraud alleged here is illegal, reckless and potentially life-threatening.”
Fadanelli was formally charged with one count of unlawful importation, one count of sale or distribution of counterfeit drugs, and one count of sale or distribution of a counterfeit device. She was arrested and made her first appearance in federal court on Friday.
Botox is commonly used to safely reduce wrinkles and treat other medical conditions, such as chronic migraines. While it’s possible that Fadanelli’s customers have avoided harm from her products, fake Botox can certainly be a risky bet. Earlier this April, the Food and Drug Administration he warned the audience that it had received recent reports of unsafe counterfeit botox found being used in several states. People injected with these products reportedly experienced symptoms soon after, including blurred or double vision, difficulty swallowing, dry mouth, constipation, incontinence, and weakness, some requiring hospitalization.
“Drugs purchased from unlicensed sources may be incorrect, adulterated, counterfeit, contaminated, improperly stored and transported, ineffective, and/or unsafe,” the FDA noted.
Federal prosecutors are asking people who believe they may have received fake injections from Fadanelli or at its spas since 2021 to contact and fill out a questionnaire provided on the FDA’s website, with a link here.
