A 45-year-old woman who allegedly botched cosmetic procedures on at least 88 patients at a Vienna beauty clinic will not be appearing before the Vienna Regional Court. Her excuse is that she is currently in Iran and unable to travel due to the ongoing war.
The case against Sanaz M. was already quite remarkable. Together with her sister, the Iranian-born woman is accused of running a fraudulent cosmetic practice called “WeUtyful,” located steps from St. Stephen’s Cathedral in the heart of Vienna. Neither woman, according to prosecutors, ever held a legitimate medical qualification.
Despite this reality, the two women allegedly performed complex surgeries and treatments that left dozens of victims injured, disfigured, and in pain.
Nevertheless, both women confidently presented themselves as trained physicians to patients and staff — with Sanaz M. styling herself as “Mrs. Dr. Med.” at every opportunity, despite, as the judiciary alleges, never attending any medical program.
Now, with trial proceedings underway at the Vienna Regional Court, the defendant has sent word that she cannot attend — requesting a rescheduling of her court date “since the accused cannot leave at present.” The woman says she is currently in Iran and cannot leave due to the war.
The explanation has done little to generate sympathy. As her victims’ lawyer, Dr. Alfred Boran, put it, “If this woman apparently prefers to stay in the war zone out of fear of the trial in Vienna, that says a lot about the defendant.”
The 27-page indictment makes clear why facing court in Austria may hold little appeal. Among the allegations documented within it are descriptions of disfiguring and painful outcomes across dozens of patients. One victim, 50-year-old nurse Snezana T., went to the clinic for what she hoped would be a minor rhinoplasty. The procedure left her with lasting physical and psychological damage that she continues to live with today.
Other patient complaints listed in the indictment include “permanent change of facial expressions, drooping eye, a petrified face, etc.”
Lawyers Dr. Alfred Boran and Dr. Christian Werner, who together represent several of the 88 alleged victims, have studied the indictment closely. They note that the actions committed by the two women reveal that “it was intentional serious injury.”
The Vienna public prosecutor’s office also sees the case as a deliberate violation of dozens of patients. Prosecutors allege that the Iranian defendant knowingly accepted the risk of causing serious harm to her patients, concluding that the treatments administered amounted to clear quackery — procedures that were not performed “lege artis,” meaning they fell outside any accepted standard of legitimate medical practice.
Cases involving foreigners working with forged credentials are commonplace in Western nations, but in many cases, these fraudulent degrees are never even uncovered. Just yesterday, Remix News reported on a former Iranian asylum seeker, Taghi B, who is accused of sexually assaulting multiple children and teens during therapy sessions, including a 9-year-old girl. An investigation revealed that the man, who worked in the German city of Nordhausen, used a fake Russian diploma.
