Not so Shah-mazing. Fans witnessed Jen Shah’s shocking arrest on The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, and while it may be surprising to viewers, its most likely that authorities were already monitoring the Bravo star for months.
Hosts of the “Watch What Crappens” podcast Ben Mandelker and Ronnie Karam joined Us Weekly’s “Getting Real with the Housewives” podcast to break down Jen’s arrest.
“We do something once a week where on Spotify Greenroom, people call in and stuff and we talk about different topics. One person who spoke up was a former federal prosecutor,” Mandelker told Us. “And she’s like, ‘Listen, you know, I did this for a long time, and they don’t do this unless they got everything lined up. They’re not going to have a big raid unless they’ve got all their facts straight. They’ve got an airtight case.’ I’m a little scared for her.”
In March, Jen, 47, and her assistant Stuart Smith were arrested and accused of allegedly defrauding hundreds of people in a nationwide telemarketing scheme. The following month, she pleaded not guilty to charges of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing and conspiracy to commit money laundering. She then filed a motion asking the court to dismiss all charges on the grounds of “legal and factual insufficiency” and suppression of evidence.
A judge denied that motion and her trial is set for March 2022.
Throughout her ordeal, Bravo cameras were rolling, which didn’t come as a major surprise to Mandelker and Karam, who are gearing up for the 2022 Hunky Dory Tour.
“I’m shocked in terms of ,like, her being a person who is facing huge crimes that could send her away for 30 years, I am shocked,” Mandelker told Us. “But then again, as someone who is a thirsty reality star, I’m not shocked.”
Karam added, “Jen is the thirstiest of all the Housewives we’ve ever seen. I mean, last year when she came on, she was just repeating lines from other Housewives, she was throwing glasses, she was doing everything she could to kind of be an iconic Housewife.”
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City airs on Bravo Sundays at 9 p.m. ET.