The owner of a Beverly Hills beauty spa was arrested on Wednesday on suspicion of taking credit card information from celebrity clients and running up $300,000 in fraudulent charges, according to wire reports.
U.S. Secret Service agents arrested Maria Gabriella Perez without incident at her business, Chez Gabriela Studio on North La Peer Drive, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said. Perez, 51, faces two counts of access device fraud, a charge that carries a maximum sentence of 25 years in federal prison, prosecutors said.
The affidavit in support of the criminal complaint alleges that Perez made unauthorized charges amounting to $68,000 on a credit card belonging to jewelry designer Loree Rodkin. Most of the charges were made from Chez Gabriela Studio. The numbers from Rodkin’s credit card were both ”skimmed” electronically and entered manually, according to the affidavit, which was prepared by Secret Service agent Michael de Geus.
Other alleged victims named in the affidavit include Jennifer Aniston, Anne Hathaway, Liv Tyler, Melanie Griffith, Cher and Scott Speedman. An investigator with American Express also told the Secret Service that he had discovered about $214,000 in fraudulent charges made last year from Chez Gabriela Studio to two AmEx credit cards belonging to Tyler, according to media reports.
Perez already has a rap sheet that includes an arrest in cases involving shoplifting and writing bad checks, according to de Geus. He said a search of legal documents found 20 variations of Perez’s name, all with the same Social Security number.
The affidavit also states that Perez appears to have seven judgments or liens against her and her property.
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