Here's Why RHOSLC's Jen Shah Was Just Arrested
Instagram erupted on Tuesday after Real Housewife of Salt Lake City, Jen Shah, got arrested prior to a cast trip. According to Entertainment Tonight, Shah was filming the second season of Bravo's hit series when federal agents tracked her down. The reality star was allegedly on the bus preparing to go to Colorado when she received a phone call from her husband. After quickly telling her castmates that her husband was in the hospital and she needed to leave, Shah left the bus only to be arrested minutes later, the outlet reports.
Yesterday, fans saw photos of Shah leaving the courthouse in Salt Lake City as she awaits trial. Shah and her first assistant, Stuart Smith, are both facing fraud charges centered around a telemarketing scam that impacted hundreds of people — most of them are seniors, CNN reports.
As for the charges, Manhattan U.S. attorney Audrey Strauss released a statement, saying, "Jennifer Shah, who portrays herself as a wealthy and successful business person 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."
Strauss continued, "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."
Jen Shah and her assistant have both been charged
Both Shah and Stuart were released on Tuesday but are due back in virtual court next week, CNN reports. Their release includes terms such as remaining in Utah, refraining from moving $10,000 from their personal bank accounts, and forbidding the pair from engaging in telemarketing during this time. Currently, the two are both facing one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.
According to Entertainment Tonight, Shah has been running her fraud ring since 2012, victimizing hundreds of people by providing services that were said to make their businesses more profitable such as website creation and tax preparation. CNN notes that Shah and Stuart both trafficked lists of names of potential victims that they sold throughout their rings as well. Complete with an offshore bank account, the scheme proves incredibly far-reaching with both Shah and Stuart at the center.
During the season one reunion, host Andy Cohen asked Shah about her "businesses" and received this response, according to CNN, "My background is in direct response marketing for about 20 years, so our company does advertising. We have a platform that helps people acquire customers, so when you're shopping online or on the Internet, and something pops, we have the algorithm behind why you're getting served that ad."