Former “Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” star Jen Shah has been sentenced to 78 months for her involvement in running a nationwide telemarketing fraud scheme.
The U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced the sentencing on Friday in Manhattan Federal Court.
The reality star previously pled guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing.
“With today’s sentence, Jennifer Shah finally faces the consequences of the many years she spent targeting vulnerable, elderly victims. These individuals were lured in by false promises of financial security, but in reality, Shah and her co-conspirators defrauded them out of their savings and left them with nothing to show for it. This conviction and sentence demonstrate once again that we will continue to vigorously protect victims of financial fraud and hold accountable those who engage in fraudulent schemes,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement.
“Many of Shah’s victims were elderly or vulnerable. Many of those people suffered significant financial hardship and damage. At Shah’s direction, victims were defrauded over and over again until they had nothing left. She and her co-conspirators persisted in their conduct until the victims’ bank accounts were empty, their credit cards were at their limits, and there was nothing more to take,” the announcement detailed.
In addition to the prison term, the 49-year-old was sentenced to five years of supervised release. She was also ordered to forfeit $6,500,000, 30 luxury items, and 78 counterfeit luxury items, and to pay $6,645,251 in restitution.
In November 2020, the reality star explained how she makes a living on Access Hollywood’s digital series, “Housewives Nightcap.”
“I own three different marketing companies and we do lead generation, data monetization, customer acquisition. The best way to describe it is, I’m the Wizard of Oz, I’m the one behind the curtain that no one knows exists but I’m the one making everything happen,” Shah said. “So ads are popping to you guys and they’re like, ‘How the hell do they know I’m shopping at Neiman Marcus?’ that’s me.”
She continued, “If you think about it, you know how much traffic is on the internet every second, all the people clicking, I’m making money on every click, anytime you click on anything I’m getting some money. I think because I’ve been blessed to be successful with my marketing background and my companies, I’ve really found a niche within the direct response marketing world, I’ve been able to branch out and invest in our fashion company, our skincare line, our lash line.”
“I’ve been able to, people will come to me and I’ll invest in their companies, so we have a got a lot of different investments, all different kinds of things. I’ve been able to do it because what I’ve been able to carve out, the niche I’ve been able to carve out in the direct response marketing world,” Shah said.