Jen Shah is an American reality TV star who has pleaded guilty to committing telemarketing fraud in the US over a time period between 2012 and 2021. As per federal prosecutors, she has admitted to victimising at least 10 people aged above 55, for which she faces a maximum of 30 years in prison. In March 2021, she was arrested amid the filming of the Bravo reality show. In June last year, she appeared before a district court judge in Manhattan changing her plea to guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. As per NBC news, she also agreed to pay restitution of up to $9.5 million and forfeit $6.5 million. In a statement recorded on the same day, Jen Shah was heard saying, “I knew it was wrong, many people were harmed and I’m so sorry.” Her pleading guilty helped her avoid a trial in court.
When is Jen Shah’s sentencing?
Jen Shah’s sentencing hearing is on Friday. The federal prosecutors are asking for awarding her at least 10 years behind bars. The government claims she was a part of a nationwide telemarketing scheme that defrauded hundreds of people. Some co-conspirators in the case had already pleaded guilty, including Shah’s longtime assistant Stuart Smith.
When did Jen Shah plead guilty? What is her crime?
Jen Shah pleaded guilty in June last year, which helped her avoid the trial. US Attorney Damian Williams stated that Jennifer Shah was a key player in a nationwide scheme that preyed on elderly and vulnerable victims. According to the claims, those victims were sold false promises of financial security, but instead, Shah and her co-conspirators defrauded them and left them with nothing. Prosecutors said Jennifer Shah and others engaged in a wide-ranging telemarketing scheme that defrauded hundreds of victims across the United States, many of whom were over the age of 55, by selling them so-called “business services” in connection with the victims’ purported online businesses from 2012 to March 2021.
In order to carry out the scheme, Shah and others engaged in a widespread, coordinated effort to traffic in lists of potential victims, or “leads,” many of whom had previously invested in an online business with other scheme participants. According to prosecutors, Shah began operating a Manhattan-based sales floor in 2017 that sold downstream “business opportunity” products to victims on lead lists. Shaw reportedly ran the day-to-day operations of the Manhattan sales floor between 2018 and 2020. According to them, she later relocated the sales floor to Kosovo to avoid law enforcement and regulatory scrutiny.
Jen Shah’s restraining order
Along with the defrauding case, a restraining order back from 2019 might also come back to haunt her as she awaits her sentencing judgment on Friday. Prosecutors in Jen’s federal fraud case have recently filed new documents this week asking the court to consider a 2019 restraining order obtained by a woman who claims she had a falling out with the ‘Housewives of Salt Lake City’ star. Prosecutors want the judge to hear what the woman said because they believe it is consistent with how Jen Shah interacted with others.
The woman claims Jen had an illicit extra-marital affair with her husband. When she revealed this to Jen’s husband, the Bravo star allegedly harassed and stalked her, including showing up unannounced on her doorstep at 2:30 AM in one such instance.
However, Priya Chaudhry, Shah’s attorney, made counterclaims in a statement that read, “We have proof that this woman is lying about this alleged affair—an email from this woman to Ms. Shah’s husband dated 4 days after the restraining order in which she acknowledges that there was no affair. This scorned woman lied to the prosecutors in an attempt to exact her own revenge against Jen Shah.” Chaudhry further states that Jen Shah accepts full responsibility for her errors and accepts that she should be punished, it’s unfortunate that people with a vendetta would use this opportunity to undermine justice.
