The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” star Jen Shah pleaded guilty on Monday to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing.
“Jennifer Shah pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing, ” Damian Williams, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York said in a statement earlier today.
Shah and her assistant Stuart Smith were arrested in March 2021 in connection to a telemarketing scheme that defrauded hundreds of people, many of whom were over 55, out of money starting in 2012, per a U.S. Attorney’s Office press release from the time of their arrest. They were each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
“From 2012 until March 2021, Jennifer Shah, together with others (collectively, the “Participants”) carried out a wide-ranging telemarketing scheme that defrauded hundreds of victims (the “Victims”) throughout the United States, many of whom were over age 55, by selling those Victims so-called “business services” in connection with the Victims’ purported online businesses (the “Business Opportunity Scheme”), “ according to the allegations in the Superseding Indictment, and statements made during the plea and other proceedings in the case, the Attorney’s office said.
In order to perpetrate the Business Opportunity Scheme, Participants, including Shah, engaged in a widespread, coordinated effort to traffic in lists of potential victims, or “leads,” many of whom had previously made an initial investment to create an online business with other Participants in the Scheme, the attorney’s office said.
Shah’s assistant Stuart Smith pleaded guilty in November to all charges.
“Jennifer Shah was a key participant in a nationwide scheme that targeted elderly, vulnerable victims,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement. “These victims were sold false promises of financial security but instead Shah and her co-conspirators defrauded them out of their savings and left them with nothing to show for it. This Office is committed to rooting out these schemes whatever form they take.”
“Shah, 48, of Park City, Utah, pled guilty today to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing through which she victimized 10 or more persons over the age of 55, which carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison,” the Attorney’s office said in a statement, “ As part of her guilty plea, Shah also agreed to forfeit $6.5 million and to pay restitution up to $9.5 million.
The Attorney’s office said Shah’s sentence will be determined by the judge.
Shah is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Sidney H. Stein on November 28, 2022.
A global media for the latest news, entertainment, music fashion, and more.
