Methuen Woman Indicted For Offering To Perform Cosmetic Injections

BOSTON – A Methuen woman was charged today in connection with offering buttock and lip augmentation injections in exchange for money.

Valentina Perez Tavarez, a/k/a Rossi Tavarez, 37, was indicted with receipt in interstate commerce of a misbranded cosmetic device and offered injection of that device for pay. Tavarez is scheduled for an initial appearance before U.S. District Magistrate Court Judge Judith G. Dein on April 29, 2014.

The Indictment alleges that between February and September 2011, Tavarez offered buttock and lip augmentation injections with a substance she referred to as “Metacor” and “Metacrill” in exchange for money. Tavarez referred to the substance as the “best stuff” that lasts “forever.” Tavarez offered to charge $700 per injection. The substance was a liquid contained in a bottle labeled “Estetical Plus 100% Natural.” The bottle bore a written description in Spanish that referred to its content as massage oil and provided directions for external skin application. The bottle did not provide any information or directions for using the substance for subcutaneous injections. The bottle had been shipped from Colombia via Federal Express. Tavarez was not a licensed physician or nurse.

If convicted, Tavarez faces a maximum sentence under the statute of one year in prison, one year of supervised release, and a $10,000 fine.

United States Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz; Mark Dragonetti, Special Agent in Charge of the Food and Drug Administration, Office of Criminal Investigations, New York Field Office; and Bruce M. Foucart, Special Agent in Charge of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations in Boston, made the announcement today. The case is being prosecuted by Maxim Grinberg of Ortiz’s Health Care Fraud Unit.

The details contained in the indictment are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.