The family told investigators they were extremely embarrassed. In retrospect, it seemed so obvious that they were being taken. But Syed was so good at playing the well-connected, world-famous doctor that it's possible he even had himself convinced.
Without that pathological self-assuredness, it's hard to explain Syed's relentless cream-inventing, paper-writing, podium-presenting, and record-keeping. While he should have been hiding, he was telling everyone he met that he was a world-famous dermatologist.
Anthony Tremmaglia
Courtesy of San Francisco District Attorney’s Office
For years, “Dr. Syed” claimed he was a member of the UCSF faculty.
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You might think all of that would make him an easy target for the Medical Board of California. But all that bravado — paired with an international résumé that was hard to verify — seemingly worked in his favor. Few people suspected that somebody would lie so boldly and so often.
In addition to Syed's unyielding confidence and his claims about treating the rich and famous, he looked the part. He cultivated a distinguished appearance, and carried himself in a pleasant, professional manner. Whenever someone of importance approached a table where Syed was sitting, he would stand up as a gesture of respect. "He had excellent bedside and table manners," UCSF dermatologist Aly says.
"Oh my God, the charm," says Amann, Syed's ex-wife. "It was unreal. He made you feel like you were the only person in the world."
Amann says she is now certain he used her for money and housing. She can recall some definite signs that Syed wasn't who claimed to be. One of his sons played soccer, and sprained his ankle during a game. To her surprise, Syed seemed at a loss for what to do. He didn't even know to suggest ice.
"A doctor would know that," she says.
On the morning of Tuesday, Feb. 2, investigators placed Dr. Syed — or whatever his real name was — under arrest.
Syed was charged with 51 felonies: 27 counts of practicing medicine without a license, 23 counts of grand theft by deception, and one count of perjury for lying to the medical board. Of the 27 victims Syed allegedly treated as patients, eight were minors. According to the district attorney's office, he had collected a total of more than $75,000 from the people he had defrauded.
Though Syed should have been stopped years before, his capture was still a proud moment for District Attorney Kamala Harris. She called a special press conference to announce the arrest alongside the medical board investigators. When asked what was in Syed's cream, she triumphantly told reporters: "A bunch of B.S."
There was no mention of the fact that the board had walked away from its first case involving Syed, or that Sapna had filed her police report nearly four years prior. The whole ordeal took so long, D.A. spokesman Brian Buckelew explained, because it was a complex, multiagency, document-intensive, victim-intensive case.
"There are privacy and trust concerns, language and cultural barriers, and multiple medical issues and agencies involved," he said. "Syed made many claims ... requiring a significant, multicountry international investigation in order to prove them false."
Because Syed denied throughout the investigation that he practiced medicine, no precautions were taken to ensure that he was not continuing to do so. Before the raid, there was simply no evidence — other than Sapna's claims — that Syed was treating patients, Buckelew said.
Despite the strikingly similar stories of the people who told investigators they believed Syed was a doctor and paid him to treat them, he has pleaded not guilty. "I think he's been wrongfully accused," says Syed's lawyer, George Lazarus.
Lazarus couldn't answer every question about his "warm and charismatic" client, as he had just recently taken the case. But he did say he believed Syed had a medical degree from the University of Tehran. He also pointed out that Syed had been a medical researcher who had published articles and lectured domestically and abroad.
Then there's the cream. "Customers of his are very upset at the fact that they're not able to get his cream at this point," Lazarus says.
That much is true. One woman who spoke on the condition of anonymity, who helped Syed advertise on Saaz Aur Awaaz, says the cream was the best she ever had. "It made the skin supple. It felt like I didn't need makeup," she says. "Believe me, if you tried that cream, you would love it, too."
Syed's arrest and exposure has left those who trusted him baffled at just how deep his deception went. Did he, they wonder, have any scientific or medical training at all?
During its investigation, the district attorney's office called upon a real doctor, Maryam Asgari, to review Syed's 22 published papers and his evaluations of his patients. She was highly skeptical of the papers and his patient records. In many cases, she wrote that Syed had deviated far from standard practices. But in other instances, she acknowledged, he seemingly performed commonly accepted treatments.
Aly, who had engaged in numerous scientific conversations with Syed, continues to believe his former friend could not have been an outright fraud. "No doubt about it," Aly said. "His science background was solid."
