RHOSLC star Jen Shah pleads not guilty to fraud charges

The biggest news in the world of Real Housewives right now is the arrest of Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Jen Shah. Shah was arrested for allegedly being part of a widespread telemarketing scheme that involved her assistant, Stuart Smith. We saw him in the first season of the series.

On Friday, April 2, Shah attended a virtual arraignment and pleaded not guilty to the charges against her, per US Weekly. That includes one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection to telemarketing and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Jen Shah’s lawyer, Henry Asbill,  is a well-known white-collar crimes defense attorney working in Washington D.C. Shah has been dealing with her legal proceedings via Zoom. The initial hearing was postponed from Wednesday because too many people were present that day.

The RHOSLC star has received a million-dollar recognizance bond for Shah, to be secured by $250,000 in cash or property and requiring a signature from two “responsible persons.”

Federal prosecutor Kiersten Ann Fletcher said, “The investigation has revealed that over the past several years, beginning in at least 2017, Smith and Shah have incorporated multiple shell companies to receive the proceeds of the telemarketing scheme. The government can proper that at least one of those companies is a company called Mastery Pro Group … and that is a company that the government’s investigations have revealed is co-owned by Smith and Shah, that entity alone or bank accounts, in the name of that entity alone have received no less than $5 million in crime proceeds over just the last few years of the scheme.”

Jen Shah’s Shah Ski Chalet was a rental

Remember how Jen Shah told everyone who was anyone that she was the proud owner of the “Shah Ski Chalet?” Well, that wasn’t exactly true. In fact, according to the publication, Shah doesn’t own any property.

The ski chalet was a $3.9 million rental and she’s currently renting a home at the moment. Reality Blurb claims that when she was filming the show’s first season, she was living in a different home that later sold for $200,000.

Reports indicate that the news of Jen’s arrest broke in the middle of filming RHOSLC Season 2. Based on her Instagram feed, Shah was in the middle of glam when the arrest was made. Let’s hope Bravo kept those cameras rolling!

What do you think about Jen Shah pleading not guilty to these charges? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!