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Jen Shah, the “Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” star who was accused on Tuesday of directing a nationwide telemarketing fraud scheme was asked last month on the reality show about what she was doing for her job and why she needed so many assistants. His response was simply confusing.
The Justice Department, in a statement announcing charges of conspiracy to commit electronic fraud and money laundering, alleged that Shah, 47, and his “first assistant,” Stuart Smith, 43, had conspired to defraud elderly and computer illiterate people by operating in multiple states. telemarketing and in-person sales teams that would sell “essentially non-existent” services and fight consumers’ efforts to get refunds.
The alleged scam began in 2012 and continued until 2021, according to the Justice Department.
“Shah and Smith have gone to great lengths to conceal their roles in the business opportunity program. For example, Shah and Smith, among others, have incorporated their business entities using the names of third parties,” one deed said. charge filed in the Southern District of New York.
Shah’s Instagram account is linked to a site that lists three companies with their own websites: JXA Fashion, Shah Beauty, and Shah Lashes.
The native of Salt Lake City frequently posts her wealth on social networks and “Real Housewives”.
“Always decked out in designer labels, Jen loves throwing parties and spares no expense – it’s important to her that everyone knows she’s the best host in Utah,” according to a Bravo profile from Shah.
“Mom of two with husband Sharrieff, Jen is the queen of her home and businesses as CEO of three marketing companies,” the profile explains.
But at a special reunion last month, Andy Cohen asked viewers a question of Shah, who is hardly ever without the company of an aide team.
“Why do you need four assistants?” asked the spectator. Cohen asked Shah to “break down what each of them does for you apart from the applause for your fabulous outfits and lead you.”
“I need a lot of help, you know? They all do different things, ”Shah said. “I run a lot of different companies and businesses, and a lot of them have different roles in companies.
But Cohen said people still wonder what Shah does for the job.
“I have had direct marketing experience for about 20 years, so our company advertises. We have a platform that helps people acquire customers, so when you shop online or on the internet, and something pops up, we have the algorithm that explains why you are getting this ad, ”she says. .
Heather Gay, another cast member on “Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” and Shah’s friend, was still puzzled.
“I’m trying to be, like, a pretty smart person, but remember I was like, ‘I still don’t get it,’” Gay said during the meeting. “I don’t know what she is doing, but I like it!”
Shah also addressed the issue in an interview with “Access Hollywood” when asked where she got the money to fund her “lavish lifestyle”.
She gave a similar response about owning “three marketing companies”.
“We do lead generation, data monetization, so it’s customer acquisition. I am basically, the best way to describe it is, I am the Wizard of Oz, ”she said.
“I’m like the one behind the curtain that nobody knows exists, but I’m the one who makes it all happen. So when the ads are shown to you, when you think to yourself ‘how the hell do they know I’m shopping Neiman Marcus, it’s me.
During the meeting, Shah was also asked about the reasons her husband Sharrieff travels so often.
According to Sharrieff Shah’s Twitter account, he is the cornerback coach and special teams coordinator at his alma mater, the University of Utah.
“It’s a full-time and very rigorous job. If he was the head coach, he would have more leniency to stay behind, ”replied Shah. “These are the assistant coaches who recruit all the time if the season is not over.”
Sharrieff Shah, who is not charged with a felony, spent 12 years practicing law before starting coaching with Utah in 2012, according to a post on his wife’s Instagram account.
Jen Shah’s Bravo profile also says that Shah, “as a Tongan and Hawaiian growing up in Salt Lake City, often felt like she was staying in her traditionally white Mormon world.”
She converted from Mormonism to Islam after “learning about the mistreatment of blacks in the Mormon religion,” the profile says.
Shah officials said they had no comment on Tuesday and did not respond to requests for comment on Wednesday. Smith did not respond to requests for comment.
Bravo, which is owned by NBCUniversal, the parent company of NBC News, also declined to comment.
Diana dasrath contributed.
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