A Burnaby skin care clinic has moved and changed its name after its owner was charged with sexually assaulting two clients with a weapon during treatments.
Police launched an investigation in 2019, after a woman reported she had been sexually assaulted during treatment at FAB Skin Care at 5481 Kingsway, according to a Burnaby RCMP news release Thursday.
A second victim who underwent treatment by the same practitioner at the clinic came forward in 2021, the release said.
On Monday, 47-year-old Farshad Khojsteh Kashani was charged with two counts of sexual assault with a weapon in relation to the incidents.
The clinic’s website had been taken down by the time the charges were announced, and a Google search produced a phone number for “Wellness Skin Care.”
The NOW called the number and asked the man who answered whether his name was Farshad Kashani.
He said, “Yes.”
When asked whether the clinic had changed names from FAB to Wellness, he said they were the same thing, that FAB was the legal name and Wellness the operating name.
When asked if the name change was related to the charges announced Thursday, he said he didn’t know, that the owner was away traveling.
When asked what his role was in the business, he said he was an assistant.
But a corporate registry search revealed Khojsteh Kashani to be the sole director and CEO of FAB Laser and Skin Care Ltd., the company that owns the clinic, according to the City of Burnaby’s licensing office.
The phone call ended with Khojsteh Kashani hanging up after saying he needed to talk to his lawyer.
Until recently, FAB Skin Care occupied the same unit (207) at 5481 Kingsway as Vancouver Star Laser Centre, and the two businesses shared the same signage, but FAB recently moved to unit 201 and now shares a space with a naturopathic doctor.
Khojsteh Kashani is not listed as a director or officer of Vancouver Star Laser Centre, according to B.C.'s corporate registry, and the two businesses have separate Burnaby business licences, according to the city.
Both FAB and the naturopathic doctor’s office were closed on Thursday afternoon.
Follow Cornelia Naylor on Twitter @CorNaylor
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This story has been changed. Information was added about the ownership of Vancouver Star Laser Centre.
