A Massachusetts spa owner is in trouble for allegedly injecting her clients with Botox and other counterfeit cosmetic products. On Friday, federal officials arrested and charged Rebecca Fadanelli, 38, with several counts related to the alleged scam.

Depending on the load documents As made public on Friday by the US Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts, Fadanelli had been executing this alleged scheme since at least March 2021. She is accused of having imported counterfeit Botox, Sculptra and Juvederm (the last two products are dermal fillers) from China and Brazil and using these products in thousands of injections at the two spas he owns in Randolph and South Easton, Massachusetts.

Authorities say he completed more than 1,600 Botox appointments and more than 1,000 filler appointments with these fake products between March 2021 and March 2024. Prosecutors say Fadanelli was paid more than $900,000 for the injections in total. Additionally, she is being accused of lying to clients and her employees about her credentials, allegedly claiming she was a nurse when she was only licensed as an esthetician. She also allegedly told prosecutors that she herself never injected clients, but other employees allegedly said otherwise.

“For years, Ms. Fadanelli allegedly put unsuspecting patients at risk by posing as a nurse and then administering thousands of illegal and counterfeit injections,” Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy said in a statement. statement from the United States Attorney’s Office for the District of Massachusetts. “The type of deception alleged here is illegal, reckless and potentially deadly.”

Fadanelli has been indicted on one count of illegal importation of unlawful goods, one count of sale or distribution of a counterfeit drug, and one count of sale or distribution of a counterfeit device. She was arrested and made her initial appearance in federal court on Friday.

Botox is commonly used to safely reduce wrinkles and treat other medical conditions, such as chronic migraines. While Fadanelli’s customers may have avoided the harm caused by their products, counterfeit Botox can definitely be a dangerous gamble. In early April, the Food and Drug Administration warned the public which had received recent reports about the discovery and use of counterfeit and dangerous Botox in several states. People injected with these products reportedly developed symptoms soon afterward, including blurred or double vision, difficulty swallowing, dry mouth, constipation, incontinence and weakness, and some required hospitalization.

“Drugs purchased from unlicensed sources may be misbranded, adulterated, counterfeit, contaminated, improperly stored and transported, ineffective, and/or unsafe,” the FDA said.

Federal prosecutors are asking people who believe they may have received counterfeit injections from Fadanelli or at its spas since 2021 to contact and complete a questionnaire provided on the FDA website, linked here.