US reality TV star Jen Shah sentenced to 6½ years in prison for fraud scheme

NEW YORK – United States reality television star Jen Shah was sentenced to 6½ years in prison last Friday after pleading guilty to running a nationwide telemarketing scam that cheated elderly victims of tens of millions of dollars.

Shah, who was born Jennifer Lui, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud conspiracy and admitted to luring thousands of elderly victims into draining their bank accounts and maxing out their credit cards to buy non-existent “business services”.

As a cast member of reality TV series The Real Housewives Of Salt Lake City (2020 to present), Shah was known for projecting a glamorous lifestyle replete with luxury goods and having a dedicated team of assistants.

Standing before a packed courtroom in federal court in Manhattan, the 49-year-old said through tears that she was “profoundly and deeply sorry” and had “deluded” herself into believing she was doing nothing wrong.

“I alone am responsible for my terrible decisions,” she said.

US District Judge Sidney Stein delivered the sentence, ordering Shah to pay more than US$6.5 million (S$8.7 million) in restitution and surrender a laundry list of luxury goods she had acquired over the years, including designer handbags and jewellery.

Manhattan US Attorney Damian Williams said in a statement that Shah “finally faces the consequences of the many years she spent targeting vulnerable, elderly victims”.

Shah began selling leads on people susceptible to scams to telemarketeers around 2012, and later ran her own sales floor where underlings cold-called elderly victims offering bogus business opportunities, according to court documents.

Prosecutors said Shah was the ringleader of a network of more than two dozen people indicted in the scheme.

They asked for a sentence of 10 years in prison, saying Shah had shown no remorse and went to great lengths to conceal her crimes.

Shah initially denied the allegations after her arrest in March 2021 and sold merchandise attesting to her innocence.

The criminal case against her had been heavily featured on the reality series, which turned the charges against her into a dramatic plot point.

In a tagline for the second season of the show, Shah declared: “The only thing I’m guilty of is being Shah-mazing.”

In court papers, prosecutors cited that line to argue that Shah had mocked the charges against her.

Shah’s lawyers wrote in court papers that the show was a “semi-scripted, heavily edited facsimile of ‘reality’ intentionally manipulated to maximise ratings” and that it did not accurately reflect her feelings about the case.

Shah pleaded guilty a week before trial and said on Friday that the money she made selling “Justice For Jen Shah” apparel will go to victims.

She is married to a football coach, with whom she has two sons. REUTERS, NYTIMES