Real housewives of salt lake city legal trouble

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What to know about ‘Housewives’ star Jen Shah’s fraud case

The "Real Housewives of Salt Lake City" star pleaded guilty to a charge of fraud in July.

Andy Cohen talks about his new book, reveals new ‘Housewives’ franchise

04:31

In March 2021, Jen Shah, star of Bravo’s "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City," was arrested in connection to a telemarketing scheme that defrauded hundreds of people out of money starting in 2012, per a U.S. Attorney’s Office press release from the time of her arrest. 

Shah and her assistant, Stuart Smith, were each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, per a press release.

Shah’s arrest happened while she was filming “RHOSLC.” Until she changed her plea to guilty for conspiracy to commit wire fraud in July 2022, per court documents, Shah proclaimed her innocence while filming the show, including at the “RHOSLC” reunion this past February.

Shah stars alongside Lisa Barlow, Meredith Marks, Heather Gay, and Whitney Rose on “RHOSLC,” a newer iteration of Bravo’s hallmark franchise that premiered in 2022. Bravo is part of NBC Universal, TODAY’s parent company.

In a statement to NBC News on July 11, Shah’s lawyers said of her decision to plead guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, “Ms. Shah is a good woman who crossed a line. She accepts full responsibility for her actions and deeply apologizes to all who have been harmed. Ms. Shah is also sorry for disappointing her husband, children, family, friends, and supporters. Jen pled guilty because she wants to pay her debt to society and put this ordeal behind her and her family.”   

Shah was arrested while filming ‘RHOSLC’ season two

Shah was arrested in March 2021 and was charged alongside her longtime assistant, Stuart Smith, per NBC News, who also frequently appeared on the show as her right-hand man.   

After initially pleading not guilty to charges of one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, and one count of obstructing an official proceeding, Shah’s once assistant, Smith, changed his plea to guilty on all counts in November 2021, per court documents.

An episode of “RHOSLC” which aired on Nov. 14, 2021 and was recapped by E! News, depicted the aftermath of Shah’s arrest (but didn’t show her being handcuffed on camera). Prior to her arrest, as depicted on the Bravo show, Shah was in a van to go on a trip to Vail, Colorado with her castmates, before she abruptly left the scene.

Details of Shah’s telemarketing scheme emerged after her arrest

Shah and Smith “engaged in a widespread, coordinated effort to traffic in lists of potential victims, or ‘leads," the charges from the United States District Court of the Southern District of New York said. 

As part of the scheme, victims were sold “business services,” per the indictment that, as Shah later said while pleading guilty to one count of fraud in 2022, “had little to no value.” 

As HSI Special Agent-in-Charge Peter C. Fitzhugh said in the press release at the time of their arrest, “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.”  

During his hearing, per court documents, Smith read a statement admitting to the crimes he perpetrated while creating telemarketing companies between 2008 and 2021.

“I knowingly and intentionally discussed and engaged with other individuals to develop a plan or operation to obtain money by false representation by offering and inducing individuals, many of whom were over 50 years of age or older, to provide money to entities that I and others were involved with,” and added, “(I) became aware that these telemarketing companies were misleading customers of those entities by selling individuals, many of them who were older than 50 years of age, information that purported to be services to enhance their business opportunities.” 

Ultimately, Smith explained, “The services sold were of no value and of no real benefit to the customer.”

TODAY reached out to Smith; we have not received comment. 

Shah initially pled not guilty 

During a virtual arraignment on April 2, 2021, Shah pled not guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, per NBC. 

Judge Sidney Stein set Shah’s bail at $1 million, and gave her one week to pay the $250,000 bond “in cash or property,” per NBC. 

Shah’s trial was initially set for October 18, 2021 at the April arraignment, then delayed multiple times until July 2022 due to COVID protocols, per Law360’s coverage of an August 2021 pretrial conference held by U.S. district judge Sidney H. Stein.  

In the summer of 2021, Shah requested to dismiss her case for the first time, citing reasons like ‘blurry vision’

In the summer of 2021, Shah made her first request to dismiss her charges. Per a legal filing from the New York Southern District, Shah’s team said the indictment fails to provide sufficient evidence to prove that she joined the conspiracy “willfully and with the specific intent to defraud” and to prove that “fraudulent, material promises were made to victims. 

Shah’s legal team argued, per the legal filing, that the signing of her Miranda waiver was “involuntary,” claiming that she was “unable to read” the Miranda waiver due to having “blurry vision” because of “dry” contact lenses.

In August 2021, U.S. District Judge Sidney H. Stein denied Shah’s motion to dismiss, stating that Shah’s claims wouldn’t survive “even cursory scrutiny.” 

Shah again requested the courts dismiss her case in late 2021, which was denied

In December 2021, Shah made a request to dismiss her case, per legal filings, after an ABC news documentary dropped on Hulu, “The Housewife & the Shah Shocker,” was released that covered Shah’s telemarketing scam and featured victims, legal experts, family and friends. 

On December 10, per legal filings, Judge Sidney H. Stein denied Shah’s request, and in an order filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, wrote, “Dismissal of an indictment is an extreme sanction that is to be utilized only in the rare case.” 

Stein said, “There has been no evidence whatsoever proffered to suggest that Shah‘s right to a fair trial has been compromised or prejudiced in any respect.” 

Shah pled guilty on July 11, and will be sentenced in November 2022

On Monday, July 11, Shah pled guilty in federal court to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, just a few days ahead of her proposed trial date. 

As part of the plea deal, charges of money laundering were dropped, and Shah agreed to forfeit $6.5 million and to pay restitution up to $9.5 million, per a press release from the Department of Justice.

Speaking before Judge Sidney Stein in a Manhattan court on July 11, Shah admitted that she “agreed with others to commit wire fraud” and “knew it misled” victims, per NBC’s reporting. Shah said that there was a “misrepresentation of the product…regarding value of the service,” and that it “had little to no value.”

When Judge Stein asked if she knew what she was doing was wrong and illegal, Shah replied, “Yes, your honor.” She said she “knew it was wrong, many people were harmed and I’m so sorry.”

Shah‘s attorney, Priya Chaudhry, said in a statement to TODAY that Shah changed her plea to guilty “because she wants to pay her debt to society and put this ordeal behind her and her family.” 

“Ms. Shah is a good woman who crossed a line. She accepts full responsibility for her actions and deeply apologizes to all who have been harmed,” she said in a statement. “Ms. Shah is also sorry for disappointing her husband, children, family, friends, and supporters.” 

Bravo, owned by NBCUniversal, TODAY’s parent company, declined to comment.

Shah will be sentenced on November 28, 2022. She faces a maximum term of 30 years of imprisonment per her plea agreement. 

Andy Cohen responded to the news

"Housewives" executive producer Andy Cohen was hosting his Sirius XM Radio show, "Radio Andy," when the news of Shah’s guilty plea broke on Monday, July 11. “I don’t know how to feel about this, Jen Shah pleading guilty,” Cohen told actor Jonah Hill.

Two days later, on Wednesday, July 13, Cohen revisited Shah‘s case on his radio show, providing a more thorough response. 

Cohen said, “Having sat with this, how do I feel? I’m upset and I’m upset, especially upset for her victims. I’m upset that she lied for so long and claimed to me that she was an example of someone being wrongly accused. If you remember sitting there at that reunion, she was so dogmatic about it, that I felt OK, you know, let this woman have her day in court.’” 

“I’m extremely upset about what she did. I’m also upset because, frankly, you get to know someone and you get to like them … you want to cheer them on, and you hate to think that they’re capable of this behavior,” Cohen said.

Cohen said they “shot all season” for season 3 of ‘RHOSLC’ with Jen, and he “has a lot of questions for her.” He said he hopes he gets to speak with Shah to ask her the questions.

Mitch Rissmiller

Mitch Rissmiller is a producer at TODAY Digital, where he produces entertainment, lifestyle, and human interest content. He also writes for TODAY.com. Outside of work, you can find Mitch catching up on everything Bravo, doing a good HIIT workout, and spending time with friends. You can follow him on Twitter and Instagram.

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