A spa owner with a former client list including Liv Tyler, Jennifer Aniston, Cher, Anne Hathaway and Melanie Griffith is set to appear in federal court today on charges stemming from the unauthorized use of clients’ credit cards .
Owner of Chez Gabriela Studio Maria Gabriela Perez is said to have hit Tyler the hardest, with fradulent charges of $214,000. (But when a basic facial costs $3,500, an iffy six figure sum seems a little less bold.) Assistant U.S. Attorney Wesley Hu said the scam was pretty simple:
“After the clients had legitimate services performed at the salon where they ran credit cards, she kept the credit card information and then ran unauthorized charges on the credit cards.”
Jennifer Aniston was interviewed this morning about her dealings with the spa, and said that she stopped patronizing Perez’s establishment a few years back but declined to elaborate on the circumstances:
Aniston said today on “Good Morning America” that she stopped going to Perez’ studio about five years ago.
“We had a situation that was not cool,” Aniston said. “So I stopped going to her. Paid her the money and left.
“I knew something like this would eventually happen.”
Perez faces up to 25 years in jail if convicted.
