RHOSLC star Jen Shah arrested for fraud, money laundering scheme

The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Jen Shah is finding herself in major trouble after she was reportedly arrested for a massive nationwide money laundering scheme!

Jen Shah, who was first introduced to Bravo viewers in November 2020, has become quite a hot topic surrounding the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City.

Despite this being the very first year for the new franchise, it appears to have more drama than any other Housewives show at the moment! While fans have been keeping a close eye on the current Erika Jayne and Tom Girardi lawsuit, they’ve now got another case to follow.

Why was Jen Shah arrested?

On Tuesday, March 30, 2021, Jen Shah was allegedly arrested in Salt Lake City, Utah, along with her assistant, Stuart Smith, who also made appearances on RHOSLC due to a nine-year-long money laundering scheme.

According to NBC New York, the reality star is “facing federal charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering in a purported long-running telemarketing scam.”

Jen Shah was then reportedly arrested on the indictment out of Manhattan federal court. The Manhattan U.S Attorney, Audrey Strauss released this statement via NBC New York:

"“Jennifer Shah, who portrays herself as a wealthy and successful businessperson on ‘reality’ television, and Stuart Smith, who is portrayed as Shah’s ‘first assistant,’ allegedly generated and sold ‘lead lists’ of innocent individuals for other members of their scheme to repeatedly scam.  In actual reality and as alleged, the so-called business opportunities pushed on the victims by Shah, Smith, and their co-conspirators were just fraudulent schemes, motivated by greed, to steal victims’ money,”"

Shah and her “first assistant,” as Jen referred to him, allegedly had “hundreds” of victims, which they began going after in 2012 up until this very month.

This is nothing new for the Real Housewives or reality television stars as a whole. The premise of coming onto a wildly successful series, parading your glamorous lifestyle only to discover they are either broke or a criminal is one that has played out in the media before.

Shah, who did not discuss her job or career much on RHOSLC, or at all for that matter, led many viewers to wonder where she and her family get all their money. Considering Coach Shah, Jen’s husband is a University assistant coach, their lavish lifestyle didn’t always add up.

The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City is set to return at the end of 2021 on Bravo!