He was a Miami cosmetic surgeon. Now, he’s accused of murdering a missing lawyer

A doctor whose official license address is a West Miami-Dade plastic surgery center with a spotty record was arrested on a first-degree murder charge in the Tampa-St. Petersburg area Saturday night.

Largo police still haven’t located the body of attorney Steven Cozzi. But, the department said, their investigation of Cozzi as a missing person led to the Tarpon Springs door of Dr. Tomasz Kosowski, 44, as a murder suspect.

Kosowski’s address with the Florida Department of Health remains 8396 SW Eighth St. in Miami-Dade, the address of Xiluet Plastic Surgery. Xiluet has two pending administrative complaints against it, one alleging shortcomings in its office surgery setting and another alleging state inspectors were prevented from entering a year later. Both occurred after the death of a Brazilian butt lift patient. That death didn’t happen under Kosowski’s care.

READ MORE: Xiluet Plastic Surgery blocks state inspectors from entering, complaint says

A Google search turns up pages for Kosowski at Xiluet Plastic Surgery and Kendall Plastic Surgery websites, but both are dead links.

A doctor, a lawsuit and a lawyer

A Pinellas County lawsuit filed by Kosowski in 2019 says he began working for Laufer Institute of Plastic Surgery, based in Dunedin, in 2016. Laufer is one of the defendants in the lawsuit, which centers around payment issues. The lawsuit blames the person handling the billing for insurance problems that affected Kosowski’s payment and customer service and satisfaction.

“As a direct result of (the biller’s) incompetence, and outright lies, as well as that of the remaining Defendants, Dr. K’s reputation has been greatly harmed, which may likely never be rehabilitated,” the lawsuit says. “Dr. K’s promising young career has essentially been obliterated by (the biller’s) actions and inactions as well as those of the other Defendants.”

One of the attorneys representing the defendants in the ongoing lawsuit: Blanchard Law’s Steven Cozzi.

Largo police said they got a call on Tuesday that Cozzi had left his office, but left behind the modern trinity of traveling anywhere — wallet, keys and cellphone. Also, Cozzi’s car was still at the office, and no one saw him leave.

“During the investigation, there was a strong chemical odor in the men’s bathroom of the office and small drops of blood,” Largo police said. “A subsequent forensics investigation revealed a significant amount of blood in the same bathroom.”

Looking into a suspicious person and car seen at the office around that time took the investigation in Kosowski’s direction, police say. After hitting his home with a search warrant, they took Kosowki into custody.

Anyone who knows anything about the case can call Largo police at 727-587-6730.