A man and a woman were arrested Wednesday after authorities said they performed illegal cosmetic surgeries in unhealthy conditions, leaving patients disfigured.
Ha Nguyen, 48, and Zbigniew Makowski, 62, were arrested earlier this week after a former patient alerted health authorities. The woman had received what was meant to be a facelift and a tummy tuck.
Instead, she was left with disfiguring marks across her face and under her navel, California Medical Board spokeswoman Candis Cohen said.
“She had scars across both of her eyebrows and under her lip,” Cohen said. “She had a 1-inch by 3-inch scar on both sides of her face. That's the result of a botched facelift. She's disfigured as a result of this.”
The woman also had a 15- to 18-inch scar under her navel, the result of a botched tummy tuck, Cohen said.
According to a search warrant affidavit, the woman who alerted authorities said Nguyen was performing cosmetic surgery in her own home and also received welfare.
Four children were taken from Nguyen’s home by child-welfare officials, authorities said.
The house was unclean, with used and unused needles spread around and easily reachable by children. One of the four children was 1 years old.
Makowski is suspected of being Nguyen's accomplice. He may have transported patients to the house, authorities said.
The California Medical Board said Nguyen was not licensed as a physician in the state. She placed at least one ad in a Vietnamese-language paper, advertising tattoos for eyebrows, lips and eyeliner.
The nine additional victims that Cohen said are considering pressing charges are Vietnamese.
Nguyen and Makowski could be charged with child endangerment, practicing medicine without a license, conspiracy to practice medicine without a license and improper collection, handling and storage of biological specimens.
They were expected to be arraigned Friday. Both were in jail Thursday; Nguyen in lieu of $150,000 bail, Makowski in lieu of $50,000 bail, according to a jail spokesman.