Woman accused of administering thousands of illegal, counterfeit Botox and filler injections

BOSTON (WBZ) – A Massachusetts woman is accused of performing thousands of illegal botox and filler injections over the past three years.

Rebecca Fadanelli, 38, was arrested Friday morning and appeared in court in Worcester.

Fadanelli presented herself as a nurse to her clients at Skin Beaute Med Spa.

However, the feds said the esthetician had not been licensed or certified since March 2021, when she administered thousands of illegal counterfeit Botox, Sculptra and Juvederm injections that she imported from China and Brazil.

According to prosecutors, her clients paid her over $900,000.

The charging documents say FDA criminal investigators were tipped off by a client who had a bad reaction with bumps on her lips and tingling after Fadanelli injected her with lip fillers in 2022.

The client never received a copy of the prescription for the substance injected into her, even though she requested one.

Agents then discovered that Homeland Security Investigations was investigating Fadanelli.

Customs and Border Patrol had confiscated international packages sent to them because they suspected the packages contained illegal prescription drugs.

Agents say Fadanelli was also caught with illegal injectables at Logan Airport while returning from Brazil.

When authorities searched the spa locations in Randolph, Massachusetts, and South Easton, Massachusetts, they said they found the counterfeit cosmetics.

Fadanelli later admitted to the Feds that she purchased the injectable drugs through Alibaba from a Chinese supplier, but did not know whether they were approved by the FDA.

In court Friday, Fadanelli did not enter a plea.

She faces up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine on charges of unlawfully importing goods.

She also faces up to 10 years in prison and an additional $250,000 fine on the charge of knowingly selling or dispensing a counterfeit drug or device.

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