His Nip/Tucks Mangled Patients
A phony physician admitted in a Kew Gardens courtroom last Friday, Sept. 7, that he performed plastic surgery on women recruited from a Corona beauty salon which left them disfigured, law enforcement sources said.
Carlos Arango entered a guilty plea before Queens Supreme Court Justice Dorothy Chin-Brandt to a felony count of unlicensed practice of a profession. He is scheduled to be sentenced later this year to six months in prison, followed by five years’ probation.
Additionally, Attorney General Eric Schneiderman noted, Arango will also be ordered to pay $8,700 in restitution to the victims of the scheme.
Arango and two other individuals- William Ordonez, who remains at large; and licensed physician Marlon Castillo, who is awaiting trial- were charged in April for performing invasive cosmetic surgical procedures on women recruited from the Bellisima Salon located at 51-03 108th St. in Corona between April and December 2011.
Schneiderman stated that the operations- which were performed without general anesthesia being administered to the clients-left the patients physically damaged.
“Arango lured unsuspecting patients with bargain prices for very complex medical procedures, putting his own greed ahead of the health and safety of his victims,” Schneiderman said in a press release.
In recruiting the victims from the Corona spa, Arango reportedly claimed to be a doctor and offered to perform procedures such as liposuction for discounted costs. The criminal complaint noted that the operations took place at the OnShape Medical Spa in Stamford, Conn. and the Riosa Surgical Spa on West 106th Street in Manhattan.
After the surgeries took place, law enforcement sources said, Arango re- ferred the patients back to Bellisima Spa to undergo special massages.
Schneiderman thanked the state Department of Education, the Connecticut Department of Public Health and the Stamford, Conn. Police Department for their assistance in the investigation and prosecution of the case.
Investigator Sylvia Rivera and Analyst Justin Tatham conducted the investigation under the supervision of Supervising Investigator Michael Ward, Deputy Chief of Investigations John McManus, Deputy Chief Investigator John Reidy and Chief Dominick Zarella.
Criminal Prosecutions Bureau Assistant Attorney General Arielle Singer prosecuted the case under the supervision of Deputy Bureau Chief Stephanie Swenton, Bureau Chief Gail Heatherly and Executive Deputy Attorney General for Criminal Justice Nancy Hoppock.
