“Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” star Jen Shah, along with her assistant Stuart Smith, were arrested last Tuesday on charges of conspiracy to commit electronic fraud in connection with telemarketing and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
Although the two defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges on Friday, the U.S. Justice Department is accusing Shah and Smith of defrauding hundreds of “vulnerable, often elderly, working-class people”. According to an unsealed indictment last week, the pair created a business model that treated customers as “‘leads’ to be bought and sold, offering their personal information for sale to other members of their fraud network”.
The alleged scam started in 2012 and continued until 2021 – when Shah reached the height of his fame on TV.
Shah, who was filming for the reality show Bravo at the time of his arrest, often displays his wealth on social media with extravagant clothing, jewelry and designer goods. Her nearly 10,000 square foot rental home is on the market for $ 4 million, and she employs eight assistants.
“I probably spend $ 50,000 a month,” said Shah earlier in the program. And at least one legal expert says that this kind of ostentation can come back to haunt you in court.
“I think that public exposure, and certainly these programs based on ostentatious wealth, would definitely make it more likely [for these types of defendants] to be of interest to investigators and therefore more likely to be the subject or target of investigations, “entertainment and business attorney Devin McRae told Yahoo Finance.
‘The Wizard of Oz’
Last month, Shah was asked during the series’ special meeting about how she made her fortune and why she needed so many assistants.
“I need a lot of help, you know? They all do different things, ”replied Shah. “I run many different companies and businesses, and many of them have different roles within companies.”
But host Andy Cohen still pressed on what exactly Shah does for the job.
“My training has been in direct response marketing for about 20 years, so our company does advertising,” said the businesswoman at the time.
“We have a platform that helps people acquire customers, so when you’re shopping online or on the Internet and something comes up, we have the algorithm behind why this ad is served,” added Shah.
Shah spoke earlier about how she finances her “luxurious lifestyle” in an interview with Access Hollywood in November.
She gave a similar response, explaining: “I own three different marketing companies. We do lead generation and monetize data, so it’s customer acquisition. Basically, the best way to describe this is, I’m the Wizard of Oz”
But, according to McRae, Shah’s answers to these types of questions “would probably be relevant” to the charges she faces. The lawyer explained that what the reality show stars “say about these programs can be used against them – especially if it is relevant to the issue at hand”.
Shah is not the only “real housewife” star to have legal problems.
In 2018, Teresa Giudice of the “Real Housewives of New Jersey” was sentenced to 15 months in prison after being charged, along with then husband Joe Giudice, in a 39-count indictment.
The charges included conspiracy to commit mail and wire transfer fraud, bank fraud, making false statements in loan applications and bankruptcy fraud. Joe was sentenced to 41 months and deported to Italy after his release.
“I don’t think you get much sympathy for being a public figure,” said McRae – adding that a higher perception of status will not help a defendant avoid a charge or obtain a lesser sentence.
Overall, the spotlight of being a reality star “can really lead to a tougher sentence,” he warned.
Alexandra is an Entertainment Producer and Correspondent at Yahoo Finance. Follow her on twitter @ alliecanal8193
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