Famecrawler
Lessons Learned from Alleged Celebrity Parent Scammer Maria Gabriela Perez and the Chez Gabriela Studio
The news broke yesterday that Beverly Hills spa owner, Maria Gabriela Perez, had been arrested by the FBI for allegedly ripping off her high profile celebrity customers out of thousands of dollars.
With a list of high-profile celebrity clients including Liv Tyler, Jennifer Aniston, Melanie Griffith, Halle Berry, and Anne Hathaway, all falling vicitim to the scam, we wondered what lessons the rest of us can learn to protect our own finances.
Who is Maria Gabriela Perez and what can we learn from the Chez Gabriela Studio arrest?
Maria Gabriela Perez is the owner of the Chez Gabriela Studio located in Beverly Hills. The spa, which was founded in 1986, specializes in natural skin care and boasts a list of celebrity clients who benefit from a high level of privacy and comfort in Beverly Hills style.
According to the allegations against her, the celebrity clients were victim of a credit card sceme involving bogus charges estimated at $280,000 during a one year period. The unauthorized charges apparently were made manually by the salon’s owner at times when the cards were not present. In effect, the clients placed their credit card information ‘on file’ with the salon for anyone to charge at will.
Perez has been charged with two counts of fraud and faces a maximum prison sentence of 25 years if she is convicted. She denies all charges against her.
An important lesson to us all to check those credit card statements each month and immediately contest any unauthroized charges.
Christopher Rogers 
Shana Aborn 
Joanna Mazewski 
Sunny Chanel 
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