Jen Shah's Resurfaced RHOSLC Comments About Her Wealth Did Not Age Well
Jen Shah has often boasted about her "Shah-mazing" life since her debut on the first season of "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City." Shah had no qualms about flaunting her wealth and even threw her castmate, Meredith Marks, a birthday party in Season 1 that Shah claims to have cost $80,000. Shah also bragged about her massive "Shah Ski Chalet," which is reportedly worth $3.9 million, per the New York Post. However, it was later revealed that Shah didn't even own the 9,420-square-foot home and that she was renting it from a real estate company. Prior to living in the chalet, the 48-year-old was living in a house that she sold for about $200,000, as Reality Blurb reported.
Shah's house situation was just the tip of the iceberg. In March 2021, Shah was arrested and charged with "conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing," and "conspiracy to commit money laundering," per People. For a year, the reality star insisted she was innocent. However, in a surprising twist in July 2022, she changed her plea to "guilty" and is now facing up to "14 years in prison," according to NBC News. Now that Shah's tune has changed, she's facing added scrutiny from the public, and her past statements about how she got rich are coming back to bite her.
Jen Shah's 2019 confessional might make her look bad
It looks like Bravo isn't letting Jen Shah off the hook. The network released the first two minutes of "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City" Season 3, and within seconds, there's a flashback of Shah bragging about her wealth. She's seen telling cameras that she worked in direct response marketing for 20 years. "I make millions," Shah boasted. "Hey, you gotta do what you gotta do for money. I'm like the Wizard of Oz," she added.
Shah's comparison to the fraudulent Wizard of L. Frank Baum's book seemed to foreshadow the eventual exposure of life she had so carefully crafted. In the Season 3 clip, Jen's husband, Sharrieff Shah, is seen telling her, "Our time is coming ... this is a test for all of us." In a later scene, Jen yells at her castmates: "Everything's been taken from me. Everything!"
While many of "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City" cast rallied around Shah when she maintained her innocence, it's yet to be determined how they'll react to her in Season 3 after her plea change. Meredith Marks has recently shared that she's still friends with Shah, telling Page Six, "Jen and I are still speaking ... You'll see a lot of how she and I reconnect." Marks and Shah had their fair share of issues in past seasons, but it looks like the jewelry designer is standing by her friend.