Many of us go to great lengths to look our best, but can the quest for beauty incite enough desperation to commit a crime? That seems to be the case with Maria Chrysson, dubbed the “Beauty Bandit” for ripping off plastic surgeons and dermatologists across South Florida.
Chrysson, seen left in her Miami-Dade mugshots, is accused of writing checks from a closed bank account to “pay” for Botox, fillers, facials and skincare products at various Miami and Fort Lauderdale locations. After being arrested at a cafe on Monday, she’s now being held on $20,000 bond.
Bounced checks aren’t the only way 29-year-old Chrysson attempted to get free treatments. She visited NewBeauty featured dermatologist Dr. Shino Bay Aguilera for injections, but when she left her purse as “collateral” to supposedly go to an ATM, she never returned. Dr. Aguilera found other doctors’ business cards and receipts for similar treatments in the left-behind bag, which is when the staff realized that Chrysson had been telling inconsistent lies to each of them.
But the contents of that bag turned out to be what Dr. Aguilera calls a “Hansel and Gretel trail of breadcrumbs,” which helped lead to her arrest.
Dr. Aguilera, who is glad to see Chrysson in custody but also feels sorry for her, vows to never let something like this happen to his practice again. He hopes the media coverage shows the public what some unscrupulous people will do to keep up with the latest procedures.
“Beauty is a double-edged sword that may cause you to experience both admiration and disappointment,” Dr. Aguilera told us. “The ‘Beauty Bandit’ is a vivid example of that.”
