One Miami surgery center, two men accused of unlicensed cosmetic surgeries
Two Doral men who promoted themselves as doctors in Little Havana each practiced without a Florida medical license, police say. Manuel Lazzaro and Wilson Muñoz Suarez faked doctor status on Instagram, Facebook and even, in Lazzaro’s case, with the American Society of Plastic Surgeons.
Police say Lazzaro, 58, and Muñoz, 60, also faked it by performing at least one unlicensed plastic surgery at Miami’s New World Medical & Mystic Cosmetic Surgery, 2020 SW First St.
Under Mystic Cosmetic Center, Inc., New World has held an office surgery registration license since June 8, 2022. State records say Mystic is run by President Maria Gonzalez, vice president Yaritzza Gonzalez and Secretary Domingo Astacio.
Maria Gonzalez and Yaritzza Gonzalez and Jadhiel Reyes are the authorized persons of the LLC that county records show as the owner of the building. New World’s license still bears the building’s address, although workers at the building on Thursday said renovations had been going on for months.
Maria Gonzalez directed all questions to attorney Luis Fernandez, who answered questions about Lazzaro and Muñoz with a text message: “This is an ongoing investigation, and we cannot comment at the present time.”
None of the surgery center owners are in legal trouble. The faux Florida doctors, on the other hand, each listed on the arrest form as “surgical assistants,” face criminal charges.
Lazzaro pleaded not guilty to one count of unlicensed practice of a healthcare profession with injury and was released from Miami-Dade Corrections custody after posting $10,000.
Muñoz posted $13,000 bond after being charged with one count of practicing medicine without a license, as well as one count of domestic violence battery, battery against an elderly victim and two counts of resisting an officer without violence The Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office said when deputies arrived at his home to make the arrest, he “grabbed his mother by her neck in a chokehold position, attempting to use her as a shield.”.
He’ll enter a plea at Friday’s court appearance.
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Lazzaro, social media, surgeon society
Lazzaro’s Facebook page claims he’s a 1983 graduate of the Colegio San Ignacio de Loyola in Caracas, Venezuela, and got his medical degree in 1992 from the Universidad Central de Venezuela. Under work, Lazzaro listed post graduate work as a general surgeon then a plastic surgeon with a specialty in facial reconstruction at Caracas’ Hospital Domingo Luciani in Caracas from 1994-2000. Also, he listed plastic surgeon work at two other Caracas hospitals from 2002 through 2017.
The page’s Live Events lists “Moved to Doral, Florida” in 2017. While the Florida Department of Health’s license verification page says Lazzaro never bothered to get licensed in Florida — just enter the name to find past and present licenses — he did somehow become listed on the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS) website.
ASPS is not to be confused with the American Board of Plastic Surgery.
“Please note that membership in ASPS requires, at the time of application, that the individual be highly trained in plastic surgery, have an unrestricted license to practice medicine or appropriate authorization to practice and be certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery (ABPS) or the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada,” ASPS says, “or meet the certification requirements of their respective countries for those members residing outside of the United States or Canada.”
But Lazzaro’s ASPS entry says he’s a a Doral resident, so he should have to have had a medical license to be a member. His profile page remained up as of Sunday.
ASPS also claims no verification responsibility, stating it “does not undertake to independently verify the information provided by its members that appears in these profiles or current licensure/certification status.”
According to an arrest report, an Orlando area woman saw his Instagram page and “believed [Lazzaro] to be a certified cosmetic surgeon, as advertised on social media.”
The arrest report says she and Lazzaro agreed on a breast surgery. The woman drove down for a Sept. 27 surgery. After some time in a recovery house, she returned to the Orlando area. She started to suffer complications and spoke with Lazzaro, the arrest report said, as well as returned to New World “several times.”
“As a result of the cosmetic surgery by [Lazzaro], the victim suffered permanent disfigurement,” the arrest report said.
WPLG Channel 10 reported Miami-Dade State Attorney’s Office prosecutor Nessa Eth said in bond court, the woman “suffered the loss of her entire nipple” because “her breasts were infected and (he) ignored her complaints and didn’t tell her to go to a legitimate doctor.”
She identified Lazzarro by photograph to the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office on April 8. He was arrested on April 10.
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Wilson Muñoz medical license case
Similar to Lazzaro, Muñoz worked in Colombia out of at least two of his own surgery centers, in Cúcuta and San Cristobal. Though Muñoz shut down his Instagram accounts and includes bare bones facts on his Facebook page, Instagram posts from others show he ran at least one of the Colombia clinics into 2023.
Also, similar to Lazzaro, the online commercial that is a professional social media account got the attention of an Orlando area woman. An arrest report says she spoke to Muñoz, scheduled a consultation and paid a $100 deposit.
When they met at an office space about a mile west of the Miami-Dade Sheriff’s Office, Muñoz “presented himself as a licensed cosmetic surgeon and physically examined the victim alone.”
Muñoz did the surgery at New World on Oct. 12. Two months later, the arrest report said, “after several failed attempt to make contact with (him) about her surgical procedure, the victim discovered that the defendant was not a licensed doctor.”
She came back down to Doral and met with Muñoz again — and video-recorded the meeting.
“Upon confronting (him), she began to explain her concerns about her results,” the arrest report said.
Sheriff’s detectives later saw Muñoz’s since-closed Instagram page and identified him from the photo. He was arrested on March 26.
This story was originally published April 21, 2025 at 5:00 AM.
