Image Source: Wikipedia, Fox News

The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Jen Shah stands to be sentenced to 50 years of prison. Accused of a telemarketing fraud scheme while the star was shooting on the sets of RHOSLC, the Bravo star is now facing a strong lawsuit demanding that the long run con be exposed. 

Shah had first made their way on the sets of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City back in Season 1. The series had begun filming in 2019 and had premiered in 2020. The star soon was seen to be a polarizing personality and proudly flaunted her big business that required a lot of assistants. 

Talking about her career on Housewives Nightcap in November 2020 on Access Hollywood, she said, "People will come to me, and I’ll invest in their companies, so we have got a lot of different investments, all different kinds of things. I’ve been able to do it because of what I’ve been able to carve out, the niche I’ve been able to carve out in the direct response marketing world.”

The star was joined on screen by Meredith Marks, Whitney Rose, Heather Gay, Lisa Barlow, and Mary Cosby. The production on the series had started for its second season of RHOSLC when news started circling that Shah and assistant were detained. On March 30, along with Stuart Smith, an assistant, Shah was arrested. 

The Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss lifted off the lid of Shah's crime and revealed, “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.

Continuing, they shared, "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.”

Further, the black deals of Shah and Smith's crimes were shared by HSI Special Agent-in-Charge Peter C. Fitzhugh, as they stated that the two “built their opulent lifestyle at the expense of vulnerable, often elderly, working-class people.”

Fitzhugh added, “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.” Furthermore, the HSI shared, “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.”

However, there is not much shared by Shah except the fact that the star is "embarrassed" as told by a source to Us Weekly. The scandal has escalated to a full-fledged case including NYPD detectives, Homeland Security Investigations, and the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, all coming together to expose the fraudulent schemes.

The source told Us Weekly earlier this year on March 31 that "Jen is really humiliated that all of this is happening in the public eye and that it will be shown on Bravo." They also shared that she has refrained from "talking to her castmates or friends" after the arrest took place. 

Here is everything else you need to know about Jen Shah's legal lawsuit and all that is concerned with it. 

First and foremost, Jen was the first person to reveal about her career and posed as a posh housewife from Salt Lake City, a person who needs quite too many assistants. She had said, “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.” Further continuing with her interview on Access Hollywood in November 2020, the star said, “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.”

Talking more about how she can afford her lavish lifestyle, she said, “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." She also added, '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.”

Soon after the star opened up about her multi-billion business, her career was held on a pedestal, and she was accused of conning "hundreds" of people, mostly old or near being a senior citizen. Apparently, the business owner had been selling people false "lead lists" claiming that they were genuine business opportunities. 

Though the schemes were revealed quite recently, a press release has accused Shah and her assistant Smith of running the false business way back in 2012. The case started somewhere around 2019 and resurfaced again in March 2021. The lawsuit also considers ten other people, Anthony Cheedie, Chad Allen, Shane Hanna Cameron Brewster, Kevin Handren, Joseph Ciaccio, Joseph Minetto, Joseph Depaola, Derek Larkin, and Mattie Cirilo. These people have also been accused of dealing with conspiratorial business ideas relating to telemarketing. 

Hence, the March 2021 case has accused Shah of running a fraud telemarketing business that has resulted in money laundering for the star. Thus, the reality TV star now stands to be charged for 30 years in jail for wire fraud charges and another 2020 years behind the bars for money laundering along with her assistant. 

The day Jen was arrested for her wire fraud crimes, she was yet on the sets, and the cameras on the sets of Real Housewives of Salt Lake City were in full swing and were planning on a trip that the women were to take to Colorado. A source told Us Weekly, “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.” 

And yet, following the arrest, the work on the sets continued without much fanfare, and the cast “resumed filming after Jen’s arrest” on March 31, the day of the arrest. The source also added, “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.” 

Shah and assistant Stuart Smith banned from travel and more by Utah judge; Credits: Monsters and Critics

The Utah judge had asked Shah and Smith that they must commit no federal offense, have to appear for the hearings punctually and are not allowed to travel outside of Utah except being allowed to travel to New York City court upon their release. They are also barred from international travel, contacting their co-defendants, and also from engaging in any telemarketing programs.