A phony physician is brazenly breaking the law, practicing laser surgery on hundreds of patients at his swank Manhattan clinic, The Post has learned.

Dean Faiello, CEO of Skin Ovations in upscale Gramercy Park, has no medical license and no medical education, but refers to himself as a doctor and wields high-tech laser wands to do hair removal, facelifts and scar, mole, wrinkle, birthmark and tattoo removal.

A Post investigation of the 43-year-old college dropout found that Faiello:

* Has no state medical or professional license and has grossly overstated his qualifications.

* Was arrested and charged with three felony counts after writing a prescription on a stolen pad. He pleaded guilty to a lesser charge and got three years' probation.

* In two undercover visits by Post reporters, twice offered to remove skin lesions without testing them - a dangerous and potentially deadly mistake.

* Was sued by a former patient who claimed that a year of laser hair-removal treatment produced "zero" results.

What Faiello is doing, said doctors and state medical regulators contacted by The Post, is illegal and dangerous.

"Having a laser in your hand is like having a gun," said Dr. Laurie Polis, a dermatologist for whom Faiello once worked. "You need to know what you're doing."

Daniel Kelleher, investigations director of the state Education Department's Office of Professional Discipline, which looks into such charges, said: "Anyone performing those procedures without a license is engaged in the illegal practice of medicine and posing a substantial and significant danger to a patient."

Kelleher and a spokesman for Attorney General Elliot Spitzer said they could not comment on whether complaints had been made against Faiello.

Of all The Post's findings, experts were most alarmed by Faiello's offer to remove moles, freckles and other pigmented lesions without testing them first.

Doing so, they said, could allow a malignancy to go undetected and metastasize.

"When non-physicians do these procedures, the potential for misdiagnosis is huge," said Dr. Roy Geronemus, a New York dermatologist, laser-surgery specialist and president-elect of the American Society for Dermatologic Surgery.

Polis added, "You can get a mole lasered off by one of these practitioners, and three years later, you're dead of brain cancer."

During one visit by The Post to his Gramercy office, Faiello assured a reporter that a dark, cyst-like lesion could easily be removed with one or two $250 laser sessions.

He did not take a medical history or suggest tests, even when the reporter revealed a history of cancer. Two medical doctors had previously insisted the mark be biopsied.

Another Post reporter visited Faiello to discuss hair and freckle removal. Faiello, who claimed he'd been using lasers for 10 years, suggested laser treatments for both. No exam was performed, and no testing was advised.

On four occasions, Faiello told Post reporters he was a doctor or a dermatologist. He said he had 1,400 patients in his database.

Faiello's Skin Ovations Web site claims he is "one of the foremost specialists" in the laser field and states: "Dr. Faiello . . . has taught doctors from all over the country how to perform laser treatment."

"Dean is certified in laser hair removal, blood-vessel removal, tattoo removal, benign pigmented laser removal and laser facials," the site states.

That's news to state officials.

The FDA classifies hair-removal lasers as prescription devices that can be sold only to doctors, dentists and other licensed practitioners.

New York's state medical board says laser hair removal may be performed only by someone licensed by the state.

Faiello is not licensed to practice medicine in New York, or anywhere else.

The New Jersey-bred scammer left Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute sometime after he enrolled in 1979, according to the school. Their records show he didn't graduate. He never declared a major, and his only listed activity was membership in a fraternity.

Medical officials consider most laser work invasive surgery, and therefore something that requires a medical degree.

"In general, only a doctor can [legally] use a laser to remove hair, pigmented lesions, blood vessels and tattoos," Kelleher said.

Kelleher said practicing medicine without a license is a Class E felony, punishable by one to five years in prison.

That hasn't deterred Faiello. He claims he's a certified professional electrologist (CPE) and allowed to use lasers.

But Faiello's not a CPE.

"Dean Faiello was a CPE in 1993, but he lacked the continuing education credits required to maintain the credential," said Teresa Petricca, executive director of the American Electrology Association, which tests and certifies electrologists. "He has not been a CPE since 1998."

Even if he were, the AEA does not allow laser use.

In addition to Faiello, the Skin Ovations staff includes a doctor - internist Frank Spinelli - who is the center's medical director. (Spinelli refused to take calls from The Post.)

During various consultations with Post reporters, Faiello said he used a variety of powerful painkillers and medicines, including local injections of lidocaine, an anesthetic; nasal sprays of Diprivan, a sedative; and Fentanyl, a synthetic narcotic favored by anesthesiologists that's highly addictive.

To get the prescription drugs used during procedures, Faiello said he relies on Spinelli.

"All our prescriptions are prescribed by a doctor," he said.

In 1998, he was arrested and charged with three felony counts after he allegedly stole prescription pads of dermatologist Polis. Faiello, Polis said, had worked in her SoHo office, assisting on laser procedures and performing laser hair removal under her supervision. The pair had parted ways by the time Polis said she was contacted in 1998 by state officials, who grilled her on why she was writing numerous prescriptions for Faiello.

"The signatures on the scripts were clearly not mine, and they're prescriptions written for drugs I'd never heard of, much less used," Polis recalled.

Faiello, who was charged with possession of a controlled substance, forgery and possession of a forged instrument, pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of possession of a forged instrument. His sentence of three years' probation ended in January 2002.

Faiello launched his own company, Skin Ovations, in 1996, from an office on Park Avenue, then a different office on East 73rd Street. He moved this year to his Gramercy Park duplex office at 117 E. 18th St., where the rent is estimated at about $40,000 a month.

Faiello found himself with another legal headache in 1999, when a former client, Mark Schuckman, sued him for $8,000, claiming an entire year of hair-removal procedures on his back never produced results.

"It didn't work at all," said Schuckman, 49, a former reservations manager for British Airways. "The results were zero." The suit was eventually settled, with Faiello returning $3,250.

Confronted last week outside his office about his credentials, Faiello backpedaled.

"I am not a doctor, and never said I was. My Web site never referred to me as a doctor," Faiello told The Post. "You may have misunderstood me. If I was unclear or made that mistake, I apologize."

But he insisted he was a CPE: "I've been one for 10 years now."

He declined to discuss his arrest, but said: "I have the greatest respect for Dr. Polis, but she was very upset because I left her practice. I was doing treatments, I was pretty successful, and I wanted to start my own business."

To report potential illegal practices of medicine and other licensed professions, call the Education Department hot line at (800) 442-8106.

Additional reporting by Elizabeth Hayt