‘Real Housewives’ stars arrested, charged in nationwide fraud scheme
(The AEGIS Alliance) – “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” stars Jennifer Shah and Stuart Smith have been apprehended and charged in a telemarking scheme that spanned across the entire country.
The complaint submitted in New York district court on Tuesday alleges Shah and Smith purportedly took part in a scheme that ripped off hundreds of individuals, lots of them over 55-years-old that were seeking assistance in running online companies.
A component of the scheme, which took place from 2012 up until this month, participants offered victims phony services, consisting of tax prep work and also website design. Many of the victims were seniors and did not own computer systems, the complaint claims.
Shah and Smith are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. A news release from the United States Attorney’s Office reveals that these charges bring a maximum sentence of 30 years each as well as 20 years each behind bars.
47-year-old Jennifer Shah of Park City, Utah, has been a cast member on “The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” considering that the program premiered in 2020. 43-year-old Stuart Smith of Lehi, Utah, is depicted as Shah’s initial assistant on the show, Manhattan U.S. attorney Audrey Strauss stated in a declaration. They were apprehended and jailed on Tuesday.
Shah’s representative stated they have no comment currently.
The complaint shows exactly how Shah and also Smith purportedly worked to defraud numerous individuals with fake guarantees to boost their online companies. The records show they produced and sold listings of prospective targets, called “leads,” to various other participants who were involved in the scheme, understanding that these individuals would certainly be ripped off.
The filing includes that Shah and Smith obtained a share of the illegal earnings from other individuals in the system, for supplying these “leads.”
“Shah and Smith flaunted their lavish lifestyle to the public as a symbol of their ‘success,'” HSI special agent-in-charge Peter C. Fitzhugh stated. “In reality, they allegedly built their opulent lifestyle at the expense of vulnerable, often elderly, working-class people.”
The complaint additionally implicates Shah and Smith of making “significant efforts” to conceal their participation in the scheme, consisting of making use of offshore bank accounts and encrypted messaging applications.
Kyle James Lee – The AEGIS Alliance – This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
