Jen Shah Is Facing More Trouble
Things are heating up in chilly Salt Lake City. Jen Shah gained notoriety during the debut season of Bravo's Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, and now, she's making headlines for an entirely different reason. Per Variety, Jen was arrested on March 30, 2021 along with her assistant Stuart Smith, who was also featured on the show, by the FBI for allegedly running a national telemarketing scam from 2012-2021.
The cameras were rolling when the arrest happened, a source told The Sun. "The cast was getting ready for a group trip to Colorado," the insider elaborated. "Literally out of nowhere after getting a phone call, she seemed panicked and had to leave due to what she said was an urgent emergency with her husband Sharrieff." The source revealed that the police came in a few minutes looking for Jen, but she was gone.
Jen attended a court hearing where she was formally charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, which is punishable for up to 30 years in prison, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering, which is punishable for up to 20 years in prison, per the Department of Justice. The pair also reportedly sold "lead lists" of innocent people for their co-conspirators to scam, per Vulture.
As if that wasn't enough, read on to find out what else has had to face since.
Fans made it impossible for Jen Shah to attend her own arraignment
Jen Shah and her assistant Stuart Smith were scheduled to be arraigned out of a Manhattan federal court on March 31, 2021. However, 253 people dialed into the virtual arraignment, reaching the maximum amount of participants on the call, per Page Six. Some of the callers were fans, based on conversations that look place on the line. "Do you watch Bravo? It's the best thing ever," one fan reportedly exclaimed. Another voice allegedly chimed in and said, "So one of the Housewives like got busted for fraud." After 45 minutes of trying to get Jen on the line, U.S. District Judge Sidney Stein pushed the arraignment to April 2, 2021, per Page Six.
Celebrities are captivated by the news as well. One Twitter user claimed that Wendy Williams was on the line, tweeting, "THIS IS NOT A DRILL. Wendy Williams is on the Jen Shah arraignment conf. Call. The same one Jen Shah can't dial into." Meghan McCain took to Twitter to react to the news, "I cannot consume enough information about Jen Shah getting arrested!! I have texted 3 (!) journalist friends this morning about it! #RHOSLC I assume she knew. Did coach shah know? Who needs 8 assistants? Why did she go on a reality show? How long will she go to jail for? @Andy."
It's safe to say season two of the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City will have no shortage of drama.