Botox nurse, 31, is charged with scamming elderly people with hoax phone calls claiming relatives had been in an accident and demanding they send her tens of thousands of dollars
- Paulette Padilla, from Miami, charged with felony fraud, trafficking cannabis and possession of substances with the purpose of trafficking
- She was arrested during ATF raid on her apartment, which uncovered a cache of 170lbs of marijuana
- Padilla works as a registered nurse specializing in Botox and filler injections
- She is accused of swindling more than $40,000 from two elderly women, one of them aged 86, as part of phone scam
- Officials say Padilla would call her victims and claims their relatives had been involved in an accident and were in need of money
A nurse practitioner specializing in Botox and filler injections in South Florida has been arrested for allegedly running a phone scam that conned the elderly into wiring or mailing tens of thousands of dollars.
Paulette Padilla, 31, who works at the Nu You Wellness Center in Coral Gables, is suspected of swindling at least two senior citizens out of more than $40,000 after lying to them that their relatives had been involved in accidents.
Padilla was arrested earlier this week on charges of organized scheme to defraud, as well as counts of trafficking cannabis and possession of substances with the purpose of trafficking.
Miami Botox nurse Paulette Padilla, 31 (pictured left in her mugshot and right), has been charged with felony fraud, trafficking cannabis and possession of substances with the purpose of trafficking
She was arrested during an ATF raid on her apartment on Tuesday, which uncovered a cache of 170lbs of marijuana
Agents with the Bureau of of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives raided Padilla’s apartment in Southwest Miami-Dade on Tuesday and seized 170lbs of marijuana, reported WSVN.
Padilla was released from jail after posting $7,500 bond. She is due back in court on May 13.
According to investigators, an 86-year-old Chicago woman wired $20,000 after a caller frantically told her that a family member had been in a traffic accident. Her family later reported the incident to Bank of America, which investigated the case, reported Miami Herald.
An arrest report said the money was wired to Padilla’s bank account. A bank investigator called Padilla, who described the woman as a friend who sent the money as ‘payment for a Super Bowl party that Padilla was organizing.’
Investigators traced Padilla sending thousands of dollars to her mother and an associate. She also withdrew money from an ATM, the report said.
Padilla, who is a nurse at Nu You Wellness Center in Coral Gables, is accused of swindling more than $40,000 from two elderly women, one of them aged 86, as part of a phone scam
On Padilla’s phone, investigators found evidence that an elderly woman from New York sent $22,000 in the mail to Padilla and her alleged accomplices. The victim was told that a ‘family member had been involved in an accident,’ police said.
According to her biography on the Botox clinic’s website, Padilla is a Board-certified nurse practitioner who earned her nursing degree from Barry University and specialized in aesthetics and anti-aging medicine.
‘She is best known for her gentle touch and precision when it comes to Botox and Fillers,’ the page reads. ‘Her organic and kind personality carries over to her natural approach to her work.’
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