US court refuses bail to bogus plastic surgeon Moos

Steven Moos, the bogus plastic surgeon jailed in Dubai for impersonating a top Hollywood doctor and performing operations on his kitchen table, has been denied bail in the US, after the judge called him a "poster child" for flight risk.

Moos, 41, was jailed in Dubai in April but sent back to the US last week, two months before his sentence was to end. Yesterday he appeared in a federal court in Portland, Oregon.

He had pleaded not guilty last week to charges in 2004 of misbranding medication, obtaining controlled substances by misrepresentation and making false statements to the US Drug Enforcement Administration. His lawyer, Stephen Sady, argued yesterday that there was no risk of Moos fleeing as he had no passport, had family in Oregon and was so poor that his family had to pay for his US$1,500 ticket back to the US. Mr Sady said his client had returned to turn himself in to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

But the federal prosecutor, Michelle Kerin, argued that Moos had fled federal charges before and was a fugitive for six years. She said he had not volunteered to leave the UAE as much as its officials were "done with him".

Judge Donald Ashmanskas said no conditions could be fashioned to ensure Moos would not skip bail. "I think he's a poster child for flight, myself," he said.

Moos was arrested in Dubai in February after police caught him impersonating Dr Steven Hopping and performing invasive cosmetic procedures without a license.

He was convicted of forgery and illegal practice in April and sentenced to two months in prison.

In August he was found guilty of endangering life and causing accidental injury, and sentenced to a further five months.

Moos had been a fugitive since July 2004 after a US grand jury indicted him on four counts relating to medical fraud.

It is not clear when he moved to the UAE but police admitted he had been arrested in Sharjah and released on bail.

newsdesk@thenational.ae