Jen Shah was indicted for her alleged role in a long-running telemarketing scheme while filming season 2 of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City — and all eyes are on the Bravo star as she faces up to 50 years in prison.
Bravo viewers met Shah during season 1 of RHOSLC, which filmed in 2019 and aired in 2020. She quickly became a polarizing character on the franchise, with fans questioning her job and need for several assistants.
“People will come to me and I’ll invest in their companies, so we have a got a lot of different investments, all different kinds of things,” Shah said of her career on Access Hollywood’s “Housewives Nightcap” in November 2020. “I’ve been able to do it because what I’ve been able to carve out, the niche I’ve been able to carve out in the direct response marketing world.”
Not long after production began on season 2 of RHOSLC, which also stars Meredith Marks, Whitney Rose, Heather Gay, Lisa Barlow and Mary Cosby, news broke on March 30 that Shah and one of her assistants who appeared on the show, Stuart Smith, were arrested in Utah.
“Jennifer Shah, who portrays herself as a wealthy and successful businessperson on ‘reality’ television, and Stuart Smith, who is portrayed as Shah’s ‘first assistant,’ allegedly generated and sold ‘lead lists’ of innocent individuals for other members of their scheme to repeatedly scam,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said in a press release. “In actual reality and as alleged, the so-called business opportunities pushed on the victims by Shah, Smith, and their co-conspirators were just fraudulent schemes, motivated by greed, to steal victims’ money. Now, these defendants face time in prison for their alleged crimes.”
HSI Special Agent-in-Charge Peter C. Fitzhugh claimed that Shah and Smith “built their opulent lifestyle at the expense of vulnerable, often elderly, working-class people.”
“Shah and Smith objectified their very real human victims as ‘leads’ to be bought and sold, offering their personal information for sale to other members of their fraud ring,” Fitzhugh said. “Working with our partners at the NYPD and the United States Attorney’s Office, SDNY, and with the assistance of HSI Salt Lake City, HSI New York worked to ensure that Shah and Smith will answer for their alleged crimes. As a result, their new reality may very well turn out differently than they expected.”
A source told Us Weekly at the time that Shah is “embarrassed” by the scandal, which included NYPD detectives, Homeland Security Investigations and the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York working together.
“Jen is really humiliated that all of this is happening in the public eye and that it will be shown on Bravo,” the source told Us on March 31, noting at the time that Shah hasn’t “been talking to her castmates or friends” following her arrest.
Scroll through for a breakdown of the charges and everything we know about Shah’s legal drama:
“I own three different marketing companies and we do lead generation, data monetization, customer acquisition. The best way to describe it is, I’m the Wizard of Oz, I’m the one behind the curtain that no one knows exists but I’m the one making everything happen,” Shah told Access Hollywood in November 2020. “So, ads are popping to you guys and they’re like, ‘How the hell do they know I’m shopping at Neiman Marcus?’ That’s me.”
She continued: “If you think about it, you know how much traffic is on the internet every second, all the people clicking. I’m making money on every click, anytime you click on anything I’m getting some money. I think because I’ve been blessed to be successful with my marketing background and my companies, I’ve really found a niche within the direct response marketing world. I’ve been able to branch out and invest in our fashion company, our skincare line, our lash line.”
Rick Bowmer/AP/Shutterstock
According to the press release, Shah and Smith’s alleged involvement in the scheme stems back to 2012. While they were indicted in March 2021, the case dates back to 2019 and 10 others — Anthony Cheedie, Chad Allen, Shane Hanna Cameron Brewster, Kevin Handren, Joseph Ciaccio, Joseh Minetto, Joseph Depaola, Derek Larkin and Mattie Cirilo — who were previously charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing.
Courtesy Jen Shah/Instagram
Shah was booked on conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing and conspiracy to commit money laundering. Both the Bravo star and her assistant face a maximum sentence of 30 years for the wire fraud charges and an additional 20 years for the money laundering charges.
Gabe Ginsberg/Bravo
Us confirmed that the Bravo cameras were rolling on the day of Shah’s arrest.
“Jen was filming with a few of the other women present when she was arrested. The women were completely shocked when Jen was taken away,” the source told Us, noting that the group was gearing up for a trip to Colorado at the time.
Another source told Us on March 31 that the cast “resumed filming after Jen’s arrest” without her.
“Jen’s future this season remains unclear. If she will go back to filming or not, no one is really sure, she hasn’t resumed filming yet,” the source said at the time.
Chad Kirkland/Bravo
Following Shah’s arrest, she appeared before a Utah judge on March 30. The judge set the following conditions for her and Smith: must commit no federal offense upon release, must appear as required, no traveling outside of Utah with the exception of New York City court, no international travel, no contact with co-defendants and no engagement in telemarketing. They were subsequently seen leaving the Utah court and ignored all reporters' questions as they headed to their cars.
Bravo
Shah was set to be arraigned virtually on March 31 but couldn’t dial in because too many people were on the line. Judge Sidney Stein subsequently decided to continue Shah and Smith's arraignment to April 2 at 11 a.m. ET.
Heidi Gutman/Bravofrom Celebrity News – Us Weekly https://ift.tt/3maIF7q
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