Everything Jen Shah Said About Her Legal Issues on ‘The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City’ Season 2

Credit: Chad Kirkland/Bravo (2)

Everything Jen Shah Said About Her Legal Issues on 'The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City' Season 2

Maintaining her innocence. Throughout season 2 of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, Jen Shah has repeatedly denied any involvement in the alleged crimes that led to her arrest. In March 2021, the Bravo personality and her assistant Stuart Smith were arrested for their alleged roles in a telemarketing scheme that defrauded hundreds of victims across the United States. “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,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said in a press release at the time. “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." Jen pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing and conspiracy to commit money laundering charges, but her troubles are far from over. While she waits for her trial to begin in March, she's been dealing with the fallout of the arrest at home. [jwplayer Ij3zFXwX-zhNYySv2] “It’s been a very stressful time,” a source exclusively told Us Weekly in December 2021, noting that the arrest “put a strain on" her marriage to Sharrieff Shah. During season 2 of the show, Jen confessed that the duo considered divorcing at one point and have been attending couple's therapy. “I thought that my entire world was ending,” she told Lisa Barlow during the September 12 episode of RHOSLC. “Sharrieff felt like he wasn’t being a positive influence in my life. Like, he couldn’t help me. What I didn’t realize was how I was acting and because I hadn’t fully told him how I was feeling, it made him feel like he was the problem.” After her arrest aired during the November 7 and 14 episodes, Jen hasn't hesitated to tell her costars that she's innocent. "It's really unfair the things that the government can do to you without having any real proof or anything," she said during a lunch with Heather Gay. Later, when Mary Cosby mistakenly said, "I pray to God you're guilty ... you're innocent," Jen replied, "I am innocent." Stuart, meanwhile, hasn't appeared on the show since the arrest, but in November 2021, he changed his plea to guilty. “He pleaded guilty to three counts: conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering and obstruction of justice,” attorney Ronald Richards, who is not affiliated with the case, told Us at the time. Keep scrolling to see everything Jen has said about her legal trouble during season 2 of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City: [podcast_block]

Credit: Chad Kirkland/Bravo (2)

Everything Jen Shah Said About Her Legal Issues on 'The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City' Season 2

Maintaining her innocence. Throughout season 2 of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, Jen Shah has repeatedly denied any involvement in the alleged crimes that led to her arrest. In March 2021, the Bravo personality and her assistant Stuart Smith were arrested for their alleged roles in a telemarketing scheme that defrauded hundreds of victims across the United States. “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,” Manhattan U.S. Attorney Audrey Strauss said in a press release at the time. “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." Jen pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing and conspiracy to commit money laundering charges, but her troubles are far from over. While she waits for her trial to begin in March, she's been dealing with the fallout of the arrest at home. [jwplayer Ij3zFXwX-zhNYySv2] “It’s been a very stressful time,” a source exclusively told Us Weekly in December 2021, noting that the arrest “put a strain on" her marriage to Sharrieff Shah. During season 2 of the show, Jen confessed that the duo considered divorcing at one point and have been attending couple's therapy. “I thought that my entire world was ending,” she told Lisa Barlow during the September 12 episode of RHOSLC. “Sharrieff felt like he wasn’t being a positive influence in my life. Like, he couldn’t help me. What I didn’t realize was how I was acting and because I hadn’t fully told him how I was feeling, it made him feel like he was the problem.” After her arrest aired during the November 7 and 14 episodes, Jen hasn't hesitated to tell her costars that she's innocent. "It's really unfair the things that the government can do to you without having any real proof or anything," she said during a lunch with Heather Gay. Later, when Mary Cosby mistakenly said, "I pray to God you're guilty ... you're innocent," Jen replied, "I am innocent." Stuart, meanwhile, hasn't appeared on the show since the arrest, but in November 2021, he changed his plea to guilty. “He pleaded guilty to three counts: conspiracy to commit wire fraud, money laundering and obstruction of justice,” attorney Ronald Richards, who is not affiliated with the case, told Us at the time. Keep scrolling to see everything Jen has said about her legal trouble during season 2 of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City: [podcast_block]

Credit: Bravo

Her Tagline

Jen dove right into the subject with her season 2 tagline: "The only thing I'm guilty of is being Shah-mazing."

Credit: Courtesy of Jen Shah/Instagram

The Phone Call

During the November 14 episode, Jen was waiting to leave for a trip to Vail, Colorado, when she received a phone call that made her decide to turn off her mic. At the time, she told her costars that the call was about her husband's health. "I have some bad news," she said. "I just got a phone call and Sharrieff Sr.'s in the hospital. He has internal bleeding so I need to go." After leaving the Beauty Lab parking lot, she was arrested.

Credit: Bravo

I'm 'Too Giving'

"What I have been accused of is absolutely the complete opposite of anything I would ever do in my life," she said during the November 21 episode. "If I have any fault, it is because I am too giving and I help too many people."

Credit: Chad Kirkland/Bravo

The Arrest

While speaking to her lawyer, Jen once again said that the Beauty Lab phone call was about her husband. "The experience is, like, surreal. I'm thinking Sharrieff is sick, I'm going home," she recalled. "And then I'm pulled over, or I get asked to pull over so they can come talk to me, and I'm thinking, 'Is my husband OK? Are my kids OK?' I literally didn't know what was going on. I feel like I'm still, like, in shock, kind of in a fog."

She also claimed that she was innocent of any wrongdoing. "I didn't grow up with a lot," she said. "I worked so hard to get where I am, and to have this happen — I tried to help so many people along the way. I don't understand. And the worst part about is, I'll take whatever [punishment]. But to have it affect my husband and my sons is killing me. I don't want them to hurt."

Credit: Courtesy of Jen Shah/Instagram

Kidnapped?

While having lunch with Heather in the December 12 episode, Jen recounted the full story of her arrest. "When I got the call and it was from Sharrieff's phone number and it wasn't Sharrieff on the phone, usually his [assistant] or someone's with him, so I assumed that that's who was calling me, I didn't ask," she explained. "And I was like, 'Wait, what? He's not feeling good.' So, I got back in the truck and we started driving home. A white minivan pulls up and a black SUV. So, then I'm thinking I'm being kidnapped. So, I'm like, 'Wait, can I see your identification?' And he's like, 'We're here from New York, we just wanna talk to you and we're here to arrest you.' And I'm like, 'Wait, for what?' They put me in the minivan."  

Jen said the officials then took her to a "break room" at a law enforcement building. "[I was] terrified," she told Heather. "They handcuff my left hand to the chair in the break room. And I just kept saying, 'Where am I going? Where are you taking me?'" When Heather chimed in to suggest she could have asked for a lawyer, Jen replied, "I didn't think I needed an attorney or anything like that because I didn't do anything."

Credit: Bravo

Stuart's Involvement

While talking to Heather, Jen claimed that the first time she knew Stuart was also booked was when she saw him at the same building where she was initially held. "When I walked in, that's when I saw Stuart was there, and I was like, 'What the hell is going on?'" She recalled. "Stuart looked at me and was like, 'I'm sorry.'"

When Heather asked her to explain Stuart's involvement in her business dealings, Jen replied, "We're not partners in any business. Stuart was my assistant and we just developed a friendship." In a confessional interview, she added, "Stuart had his own businesses he was running. He had his own things he was doing. That has nothing to do with me."

Asked if she thought Stuart knew about any of the alleged crimes, she said, "I don't know. I would say no, but then I'm like, 'Am I being naive?'"

Credit: Courtesy of Jen Shah/Instagram

Wish List

"I'm not here to convince Lisa and Meredith [Marks] that I'm innocent or a good person," Jen told Heather at the same lunch. "I want a big f–king, 'I'm sorry and I'm a piece of s–t' from them when I'm proven innocent."

Credit: Chad Kirkland/Bravo

Maintaining Her Innocence

"I'm at the lowest point of my life, but I have told you from day one I am innocent. I did not do any of those things," Jen told her husband during the December 12 episode. "I'm telling you I knew nothing of this. I didn't do anything." Tearing up, she added that her main worry was not seeing her sons graduate. "Do you know how f–king scared I am?" she asked through tears.

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Debriefing Lisa

"It's been hard, not just [for] me but [for] my family, and that's the part that hurts me the most," Jen told Lisa during the December 19 episode. "Especially when you're innocent and you didn't do anything."

Credit: Bravo/YouTube

Fearing the Future

"The scariest thing to me is, like, could this be the last Ramadan I have with my family?" Jen said during a conversation with Sharrieff. "Am I gonna see Rieffy go to medical school? Am I gonna see Omar graduate? This is the s–t that keeps me up at night. I don't understand any of this because ... anybody that knows me knows this isn't me. The things that I've been accused of, it's not me."

Credit: Courtesy of Jen Shah/Instagram

'Framed'

"I'm not guilty. But now I have to go through the whole process, put a $2 million retainer, have a team of attorneys, that's what I have to do," Jen told her costars at Jennie [Nguyen]'s pho luncheon during the December 19 episode. "I'm framed because how the f–k did they even [know to] come [to Beauty Lab]?"

After talking to Mary about the situation, Jen returned to the group and repeated her claims. "I just wanna let you guys all know: I promise on my kids, on my husband, on my dad, I am innocent," she said. "I did not do any of the things that have been alleged against me."

Credit: Courtesy Jen Shah/Instagram

The Cost of Doing Business

"Right now, we have a team of three attorneys. They're extremely expensive and they keep scaring the crap out of me, probably so he's justifying the $2 million retainer that they need," Jen told her mother during the January 2 episode, noting that she and Sharrieff were planning to "downsize" to save money. "I keep hoping for some miracle to happen that this will all go away, but it's not going away."

Credit: Thomas Cooper/Bravo

Did Mary and Meredith Know?

During the January 16 episode, Jen hinted that she believed Mary and Meredith told law enforcement where she would be on the day of her arrest because they didn't travel to Vail with the rest of the cast. "Do you wanna know why they don't have anything on me?" she asked. "Because there is nothing. All this s–t is not just a coincidence. Somebody, Mary Cosby and Meredith, f–king did something." Later, an exasperated Jen told Jennie, "I'm not a f–king criminal."

Credit: Chad Kirkland/Bravo

Meredith's Denial

After the other women confronted Meredith about whether she knew Jen would be arrested before the Vail trip, the jewelry designer categorically denied having any involvement in her castmate's legal trouble. "I had nothing to do with Jennifer Shah's arrest," she said during the January 23 episode, adding that the accusation was "revolting."

Credit: Courtesy Jen Shah/Instagram

Reunion Part 1

During the February 2022 reunion episode, Jen told Andy Cohen that her lawyers weren’t “thrilled” she showed up to film.

“I felt like it was important for me to be here with the rest of the group of friends and show up,” she said.

Jen added that the situation is “devastating for me personally and more so for my family,” explaining, "I think that why it was so hard for me, seeing the Vail trip, I saw it in real time with the rest of the world and it broke my heart."