‘RHOSLC’ star Jen Shah’s arrest and legal drama explained



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Following the The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City The star’s arrest in March, Jen Shah has been classified as an alleged “main participant” in a nationwide telemarketing fraud scheme, according to new court documents obtained by People Friday July 23. Shah and his aide Stuart Smith are both listed as’ Level A ‘defendants in the ongoing fraud case, with federal prosecutors claiming the duo were’ responsible for orchestrating the larger plan ‘and’ providing the leads. who supported ‘telemarketing companies.

“In particular, Jennifer Shah and Stuart Smith got leads [names of potential victims] directly from major sources and provided them, among others, to coaching sales areas operated in Utah and Nevada by [other defendants]The document says, according to the magazine.

Meanwhile, Shah’s lawyer Priya Chaudhry has dismissed the allegations in a new statement to People. “After nearly ten years of investigating and a 12-day trial in which Ms. Shah was never mentioned, the government suddenly rejected this absurd claim,” Chaudhry said. “This is just their latest made-up claim, and like all the others, totally unsubstantiated by evidence. The reality is that she is totally innocent.

Here’s everything you need to know about Shah’s ongoing legal drama.

What is Jen Shah’s job?

The CEO and founder of JXA Fashion, Shah Beauty and The Real Shah Lashes also runs several marketing companies. In a Bustle interview in November 2020, Shah described his work as follows: “Marketing companies have been my core business for almost 20 years. We do direct response marketing, which I would say 90% right now, in 2020, is fully online, but we do a lot of infomercials, direct mail, print, whatever is a direct response, which requires a call to action from a consumer. She deepened her “niche”, comparing herself to the Wizard of Oz. “I’m the person behind the curtain that nobody sees, but nobody knows how things work, it’s me,” she explained.

Fred Hayes / Well done

Why was Jen Shah arrested?

Federal authorities arrested Shah on March 30, charging him with one count of conspiracy to commit telemarketing-related wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. In a press release announcing the arrest, prosecutors said Shah and Smith were engaged in a “coordinated effort to tamper with lists of potential victims” known as “leads.” From there, they would have sold those leads to telemarketing companies who would try to sell business services to the targeted people. The two “received as a benefit a share of the fraudulent income according to the terms of their agreement with these participants”, according to the indictment. Among the “hundreds” of people she allegedly defrauded, many were over 55 years old.

In the statement, US Manhattan attorney Audrey Strauss said: “Jennifer Shah, who portrays herself as a wealthy and successful businesswoman on ‘reality TV’, and Stuart Smith, who is described as the Shah’s “first assistant”, allegedly generated and sold “lead lists of innocent individuals to be repeatedly defrauded by other members of their scheme. In reality and as alleged, the so-called business opportunities offered to victims by Shah, Smith and their co-conspirators were nothing but fraudulent schemes, motivated by greed, to steal victims’ money. Now these defendants face jail for their alleged crimes. “

In an April 2 indictment, Shah and Smith both pleaded not guilty to what the government described as a $ 5 million money laundering scheme. The judge set Shah’s bond at $ 1 million, giving him a week to pay the $ 250,000 required “to secure this bond in cash or in property”, noting a “risk of absconding”. A trial date was set for October 18, 2021.

Jen Shah at risk of imprisonment?

In the event of a conviction, the RHOSLC star faces a maximum sentence of 30 years for wire fraud charges and a further 20 years for money laundering charges. The latest court documents listing Shah as a Level A defendant noted that the classification reflects an alleged “greater guilt” and states that many senior participants “continued to participate in the program after learning of the criminal charges.” Four other defendants are also at rank A, one of whom has already been sentenced to 78 months in prison, according to People. Others in the lower levels were given 366 days to 87 months.

Will Jen Shah’s legal issues be posted RHOSLC?

Chad Kirkland / Bravo

At the time of Shah’s arrest, a source told E! News that Bravo cameras captured the events unfolding for Season 2 of the reality TV series, which will debut later this year. “A crew with RHOSLC was outside the courtroom to capture everything for the show, ”the insider said. “Most of the team are with the rest of the cast in Colorado.” Meanwhile, a separate source explained that Shah RHOSLC the co-stars learned the news like everyone else, adding that many of them “had questions about Jen’s affairs, but no one saw these arrests happening.”

In a June 2 interview on the So bad it’s good with Ryan Bailey podcast, Heather Gay, Shah’s teammate and friend, confirmed that “it all happens in real time” in RHOSLC Season 2. “We’re with her,” Gay explained. “We are experiencing this as friends, as people who, for the first time in their lives, are public figures. And for the first time in their lives, they not only have to respond to family and friends, but also to a global audience. “

Gay added that she was “passionate about second chances” and that even though the mother of two is “wrongly condemned”, she can still “make things right” and “redeem herself”. The owner of Beauty Lab + Laser added, “I think good people can do bad things.”

This article will be updated with new details as they become available.



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