Gabriela Perez: The Spa Owner Accused Of Celebrity Credit Card Fraud

Maria Gabriela Perez, 51, was arrested by Secret Service agents at her business, Chez Gabriela Studio in Beverly Hills yesterday, facing two counts of credit fraud. She stands accused of using her celebrity clients' credit card information to charge hundreds of thousands of dollars. Liv Tyler and Jennifer Anniston are among the celebrities who were hit by Perez. Liv had a total of $214, 000 stolen. Also listed on the client list on her website are Cher, Penelope Cruz, Melanie Griffith, Halle Berry, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie and President Bill Clinton among others. Many of the stars listed on her website left her personal endorsements of thanks and friendship. Cher called her an "ass-kicking facialist...the Michelangelo of skin care!" which may be why Perez did not steal from her. (Cher told TMZ she was unsure why she was listed on the affadavit.) Who can you trust if not the lady who pops your zits?  Perez could face a maximum prison sentence of 25 years if she is convicted.

Perez's bio says she was born in "Barcellona" (sic). The misspellnig should have been her clients' first tip off that she is not what she seems. (How much you want to bet she's from Tijuana?) The biography claims that she studied under Elizabeth Arden's protegee Maureen Russel, in New York, then from "Swiss skin care Gurus in Europe", and that she opened her Beverly Hills salon in 1986. Also funny, her website  has a section called "Secrets". The link doesn't work. That's pretty secret.

This morning on Good Morning America, Jennifer Anniston told George Stephanopoulis that she stopped going to Chez Gabriela about five years ago because of some incident that occurred that "was not cool." She also alluded to being unsurprised by this turn of events and said she was not hit as bad as some other of Perez's victims.

Source: AP