AVENTURA, Fla. – A 56-year-old man was apparently a doctor in Brazil but not in Florida, leading to his arrest after cops caught him performing multiple cosmetic procedures without a license at an Aventura office, according to an arrest warrant.
João Batista Cunha de Araujo, who police said went by “Dr. João Araujo,” is facing more than a dozen felony charges.
Recommended Videos
According to the Aventura Police Department warrant, detectives received two tips from Miami-Dade Crime Stoppers in April 2024 that Araujo was operating an unlicensed medical office called Miami Beauty Academy at 2820 NE 214th St. and “performing medical procedures, to include but not limited to liposuction, ear surgeries, Botox and buttock fillers.”
Authorities said Araujo, of Sunny Isles Beach, advertises himself as a doctor on social media but is not licensed to practice in Florida. They said he operated an adjacent business called Beauty Club Miami.
Police said the tipster told investigators that Araujo was renting out his office to other unlicensed foreign doctors so they could perform procedures and train others on how to perform them.
According to the warrant, an undercover detective set up a sting at Araujo’s business on Jan. 23.
Police said the detective met with Araujo and an unnamed co-defendant for a chin liposuction consultation.
They said Araujo not only recommended liposuction, but a laser procedure. The warrant states that Araujo also suggested that the detective get on weight loss drug Mounjaro.
Authorities said Araujo told the detective that the detective could pay $2,000 for a four-month supply of the drug and come to the office monthly to get syringes to inject it with.
Police said about 25 minutes into the consultation, a licensed physician assistant joined in.
They said they executed a search warrant on the home of Araujo and the co-defendant, who live together, as well as the Aventura business, on March 6.
In addition to various pieces of evidence tying Araujo to unlicensed procedures, including text messages, authorities said they found medications with Portuguese-language labels indicating they were prescribed under various names in Brazil, as well as vials of tirzepatide, the generic name for Mounjaro, in a refrigerator.
Police said they interviewed multiple patients, including one who said Araujo injected her with 17 bottles of filler “in a single sitting” and left her with a “large lump” in her lip.
Some of the fillers also hardened in her cheek and jaw, according to the warrant. Authorities said she went back to Araujo and he injected a substance to dissolve the filler, but some of the hardened filler remained in her face and she was working with a plastic surgeon to remove it.
Jail records show Araujo is facing four counts each of practicing healthcare without a license and practicing medicine without a license, three counts of grand theft and one count each of organized scheme to defraud, unlawful use of a communications device and misrepresentation of a medical license.
As of Wednesday, he was being held in the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center on a $64,500 bond.