AUSTIN (KXAN) The CEO of medical training facility MedtoMarket is the second person to face charges related to a case of alleged “experiments” on corpses, according to the Austin Police Department.

The department said Aaron Ali “voluntarily reported to the Travis County jail” on Monday after an arrest warrant was issued for Aggravated Perjury and Abuse of a Human Corpse charges. Ali was released the same day on bond.

“The charges are completely unfounded,” Ali’s attorney Eric J.R. Nichols told KXAN in a statement Tuesday.

Last week, affiliate KXAN was first to report the arrest of Adeline Bui, the owner of Capital Mortuary Services, who is facing corpse abuse and government-record tampering charges. Bui is accused of forging death certificates and running “experiments” on severed limbs.

Court documents outline how MedtoMarket is allegedly involved

Investigators said Bui worked with a medical-training company, MedtoMarket, on the “experiments.” These “experiments,” according to Bui’s arrest affidavit, involved her injecting formaldehyde into arms to see “the effect it had over time on severed extremities.” 

She guessed around 15 bodies were “mutilated and subject to experimentation with the permission of MedtoMarket and was updating the company on the outcomes.”

In a search warrant obtained by KXAN, investigators requested access to two devices, an iPhone and an iPad, believed to have additional communication between Bui and a MedtoMarket official.

In a statement to KXAN last week, MedtoMarket said it “has become aware of certain allegations related to a mortuary MedtoMarket has contracted with in performing its important work and mission. MedtoMarket will cooperate with law enforcement and state regulatory officials as part of any investigation.”

The company also said it is an “approved anatomical facility,” which, according to the Texas Funeral Commission’s (TFSC) statements in the affidavit, would potentially authorize it to perform the embalming actions Bui is accused of doing.

TFSC’s executive director, Scott Bingaman, told police regarding Bui performing them at Capital Mortuary, “it is unlawful for a commercial embalming establishment to use a dead human body for research or educational purposes.”

The full statement from Ali’s attorney provided to KXAN Tuesday is below.

“To some degree, law enforcement investigators have to rely on information provided by others. In this case, it is clear that law enforcement has been provided with incorrect information.

“Contrary to some of the information provided to law enforcement, all of the activities by Dr. Ali and the companies he works with were fully authorized by law. Anatomical facilities work with tissue that is donated by well-meaning donors and their families to serve the interests of medical science and the entire Texas community. Anatomical facilities, which are authorized by Texas law, serve the purpose of allowing first responders, physicians and other health care providers to train using such donated tissue in order to save lives and heal others.

“Dr. Ali’s long career is distinguished by his dedication to the health and well-being of others. This has been shown in the area of anatomical bioskills training, education and research, as well as in his work as a board-certified physician. He is also a responsible and active Travis County citizen and previously served in the United States Army Reserves.

“We look forward to the opportunity to work with law enforcement and the Travis County District Attorney’s Office to ensure that these charges are handled responsibly from this date forward. We believe that these meritless charges should be resolved in the near future.”

Eric J.R. Nichols, Ali’s attorney

No court date is listed for Ali yet. Bui’s next court appearance is currently set for June.

Ali speaking at Texas Senate committee

KXAN learned more about Ali’s business from his testimony at the Texas Capitol earlier this month. For about six minutes, Ali spoke in front of the Texas Senate Committee on Health and Human Services on April 16. He said MedtoMarket is a state approved anatomical facility.

“We work closely with physicians, first responders, military personnel, FBI and other healthcare providers to offer essential cadaver based training,” Ali said to senators.

He spoke on Senate Bill 2721, also known as the Human Dignity Act.

It focuses on regulating the treatment of human remains and anatomical donations for educational and research purposes.

“It institutes inspections. It demands transparency and accountability,” said Texas Sen. Tan Parker.

The bill would set new standards for body acquisition facilities, create a criminal offense for violating the regulations and establish a secure electronic database to track bodies and parts under the Texas Funeral Service Commission.

“One of our primary concerns is the absence of healthcare professionals on the commission,” Ali said.

During Ali’s testimony, KXAN learned more about what he said happens inside MedtoMarket.

“You go to a lecture room where you get lectured by physicians on the procedures you’re going to be working on,” Ali said. “Once they’ve been trained in a didactic room, they change into scrubs, go through locked doors, lock sliding glass doors to a real OR facility that has non porous floors with cadavers that are from authorized facilities and donors.”

When asked about their intake of bodies, Ali claimed to only accept “authorized consented individuals.”

“They have true authorization paperwork for their donation,” Ali said. “They are not unclaimed bodies.”

A senator asked if they do trainings outside the facility. Ali said they only do them in their facility and specifically train physicians, surgeons and first responders.

“We don’t train random people. We don’t have random people come into our facility,” Ali said.

On Tuesday, the committee reviewed SB 2721, made some changes to it and voted to recommend the substitute version to the Senate for further consideration.