Celeb facialist who scammed Jennifer Aniston, Anne Hathaway, Cher sentenced to home detention

Peter Kramer/AP; Mike Coppola/Getty; & Donna Ward/Getty

Facialist Maria Gabriela apologized to her A-List victims for committing credit card fraud.

LOS ANGELES -- A Beverly Hills facialist got nine months home detention Monday for a credit card scam that burned A-list clients including Jennifer Aniston, Liv Tyler, Anne Hathaway and Cher.

"I'm extremely sorry for what I have done," Chez Gabriela Studio owner Maria Gabriela Hashemipour told a federal judge who also sentenced her to five years of probation.

Hashemipour, 52, cried outside court and hugged relatives. Prosecutors asked for two and a half years in federal prison.

The skin specialist to the stars pleaded guilty to access device fraud in January in a case involving some $300,000 in fraudulent charges.

Authorities busted her in August after Tyler's management company discovered $214,000 in bogus charges allegedly made by the salon to the actress' two American Express credit cards between June and November 2009.

Hashemipour also ran up $68,000 in unauthorized charges on a card that belonged to high-end jewelry designer Loree Rodkin, according to an affidavit in the case.

Most of the charges were made from Chez Gabriela Studio with the numbers from the credit cards entered manually - meaning the plastic wasn't "swiped," prosecutors said.

The victims appeared to be former clients who legitimately paid for some services before the phony charges started appearing on their statements.

Hashemipour's website was full of purported testimonials from the same red carpet beauties she allegedly scammed.

"Thank you for always being so good to me," read a handwritten message on a vintage Aniston head shot.

"Gabriela is my favorite ass-kicking facialist, she is the Michelangelo of skin care," read a message attributed to Cher.

Prosecutors said they had emails from Hashemipour that confirmed her scheme and attempts to make amends with Rodkin.

Hashemipour must also pay restitution to her alleged victims. The judge set a hearing for Oct. 17 to determine the sums.

"My client intends to continue to provide the gift of beauty that she always has," defense lawyer Nina Marino of Kaplan Marino said outside court. "She will comply with all the court's orders."

Before she left, Marino hugged Hashemipour and reminded her that she owed money on her legal bill too.

Ndillon@nydailynews.com

Source: http://feeds.nydailynews.com/~r/nydnrss/gossip/~3/GFfxj4dO2Q4/2011-06-27_celeb_facialist_who_scammed_jennifer_aniston_anne_hathaway_cher_sentenced_to_hom.html

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