South Shore med spa owner pleads guilty to administering thousands of fake Botox and other treatments

A Stoughton woman who owned and operated two local med spas pleaded guilty Tuesday in federal court in Boston to charges tied to thousands of alleged injections she performed using counterfeit cosmetic products.  

Rebecca Fadanelli, 40, admitted to importing and administering fake versions of Botox and other injectable treatments she was not licensed to use, according to a statement from Massachusetts U.S. Attorney General Leah Foley’s office. 

Fadanelli, owner of Skin Beaute Med Spa in Randolph and South Easton, received more than $1 million from clients for these procedures, Foley’s office said. 

She pleaded guilty to four counts of importing merchandise contrary to law, two counts of selling or dispensing a counterfeit drug, and two counts of selling or dispensing a counterfeit device, according to court records. 

Since at least March 2021, Fadanelli, who also goes by Rebecca Daley and Rebecca Hawthorne, imported counterfeit versions of Botox, Sculptra, and Juvéderm from China and Brazil and used them in thousands of procedures, according to charging documents. She also falsely told clients and employees that she was a nurse, when in fact she was an aesthetician without a license to perform injections or administer prescription drugs. 

Investigators estimated Fadanelli conducted more than 1,600 Botox appointments, nearly 1,000 filler procedures, and about 100 Sculptra treatments from March 2021 to March 2024. 

The case was already being looked into when a client filed a complaint with the FDA following a lip filler procedure in September 2022. 

According to court documents, the client reported developing “bumps” in her lips and “tingling” in her forehead. Fadanelli had told the client she was a nurse before injecting her lips with an unknown substance and did not give a copy of the prescription to the client when asked. 

Between November 2023 and March 2024, agents seized at least six parcels shipped from China to Fadanelli or her employees containing products labeled as Botox, Sculptra, and Juvéderm intended for injection. 

Authorities determined the products were misbranded and unapproved, according to charging documents. 

Representatives from AbbVie Inc. — the parent company of Allergan, which manufacturers Botox and Juvéderm — and Galderma, which makes Sculptra, confirmed the products were counterfeit, according to investigators. 

Investigators had also found Fadanelli entering the country at Boston’s Logan International Airport with prescription drugs and vials of liquid in 2023, the documents said. 

Additional client complaints resurfaced in March 2024, including reports of drooping eyes, lumps in lips, and hardened or sunken areas following procedures, according to charging documents. 

When agents searched the Skin Beaute Med Spa businesses in June 2024, Fadanelli allegedly told them a certified nurse is the only person who administers the drugs. A former employee, however, told investigators that Fadanelli administered the drugs and would say she’s a nurse.

During an interview with investigators, Fadanelli admitted she was not a nurse and said she does not administer injectable drugs to clients. However, Fadanelli confirmed that she purchased injectable drugs and devices from Alibaba, a Chinese-owned online marketplace that connects businesses with suppliers, and sometimes would resell them to others. 

Furthermore, she told agents she did not know whether the products were approved by the FDA and said she stopped ordering them after being notified they were “not allowed.” 

Fadanelli was arrested and charged in November 2024. She is scheduled to be sentenced July 1, court records show. 

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