Jen Shah of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City was indicted and arrested on Tuesday in a federal telemarking fraud case, according to prosecutors.
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City is Bravo’s latest installment of their popular Real Housewives franchise. Filled with fashion, snowy landscapes and plenty of drama, the series’ first season became another hit for the network last year.
The housewife in the center of almost all of the show’s drama was none other than Shah, often known for her fiery temper and feuds with her castmates. Now it looks as if some of her real world skeletons are catching up to her off-camera.
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Shah was arrested “for conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing, and conspiracy to commit money laundering.”
In what is being described as a “wide-ranging telemarketing scheme that defrauded hundreds of victims throughout the United States,” the charges coming out of Manhattan federal court allege that this criminal activity from Shah and her assistant, Stuart Smith, has been going on since 2012.
Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss revealed in a statement, “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.
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.”
Peter C. Fitzhugh, special agent-in-charge for Homeland Security Investigations, also released a statement to the press on Shah, calling out her “lavish lifestyle” in the public eye.
It reads, “Shah and Smith flaunted their lavish lifestyle to the public as a symbol of their ‘success.’
In reality, they allegedly built their opulent lifestyle at the expense of vulnerable, often elderly, working-class people…as alleged, disturbingly, 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.”
Read More: On RHOSLC, Jen Shah continues to dig into fellow Housewives’ marital drama
According to Andy Cohen‘s recent interview with Variety, filming for the second season of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City is currently underway.
It is still unknown how much of this news will be covered for the cameras when the hit reality show returns. If convicted, Shah could reportedly face a maximum sentence of up to thirty years in prison.
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