The $9 Million Scam By A Real Housewife | Jen Shah Documentary

foreign brunch photo shoots and throwing wine glasses Jen Shaw is known as one of the most controversial figures from The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City unlike many of the housewives who are married to wealthy husbands Jen made Millions through several of her successful businesses she had her own fashion designer a ski chalet and traveled by Porsche or private jet per gen's Bravo contract the TV crew was allowed to access anything while filming to catch every last detail of her life and yet the cameras failed to capture the ugly truth behind the glamor a real housewife of Salt Lake City who's also the wife of a University of Utah football coach is now facing federal charges along with her assistant on suspicion of running a nationwide telemarketing fraud and money laundering scheme behind the flashy lights sequins and borrowed diamonds was a giant scam gensha used to fund her lifestyle of luxury this is the story of a real housewife and her nine million dollar scandal [Music] being of Tongan and Hawaiian descent Jen Shaw had a difficult time growing up in the predominantly white city of Salt Lake City Utah Jen who was raised Mormon studied at the University of Utah where she met a man named Sharif the two fell in love and married in 1994 and eventually had two sons named Sharif Jr and Omar five years into their marriage Jen asked Sharif why he wouldn't convert to Mormonism he refused stating the fact that the Mormon Church didn't accept black people until 1978. prior to that time a phrase from The Book of Mormon stated that members quote shall be a white and delightsome people after the reversal the word white was changed to Pure upon learning this for the first time Jen decided to leave Mormonism behind and converted to her husband's faith of Islam after college Jen was motivated and ready to make a name for herself she worked long hours in the call center and telemarketing Center where it was a dog eat dog world as she climbed the rinks and eventually became Director of Business Development for a Provo utah-based telemarketing company called Prosper Inc ironically Prosper describes itself as one of the most trusted names in one-to-one personalized education yet a former employee named Chad Hudgins sued the motivational coaching firm in 2008 over an extreme team building exercise that team building exercise was gang waterboarding according to the complaint a manager at Prosper forced employees to go through a Guantanamo Bay style experience because he said he wanted them to work as hard at selling as the waterboarded employee did at breathing while Jen Shaw has not been connected to the incident in any way it gives one a picture of the type of environment she was in after leaving prosper in 20 11 Jen became an executive at another telemarketing company called Thrive learning Jen has called herself a nerd at heart and said she enjoys working with numbers data spreadsheets and what she described as all the other stuff everyone else finds boring marketing was Jen's specialty and she focused on things such as infomercials direct mailing and print campaigns before moving on to direct response Marketing Online in the following years Jen founded several businesses including a Couture dress line called jxa fashion a monthly subscription eyelash line known as Shaw lashes and a skin care brand called Shaw Beauty as well as three marketing companies as the CEO of these businesses Jen managed to amass an estimated net worth of three million dollars on the surface it appeared as if everything Jen touched turned to gold or was it gold plating combining her three million dollar net worth with a her husband's 500 000 annual salary as a football coach at the University of Utah Jen Shaw began to set her sights on becoming a real housewife of Salt Lake City each cast member of the Bravo show goes through an audition with on-camera interviews before an in-home test shoot to see if their typical day is Bravo housewife worthy The Producers also want to meet the husbands children and Friends by this time Jen had rented out a 3.9 million dollar ski chalet something she led producers and viewers to believe she owned and called it the shaw ski chalet a 9420 square foot home owned by a texas-based real estate company on the outside Jen Shaw's extravagant lifestyle over the top personality and sharp tongue in addition to her family and friendship Dynamics secured her the coveted place in the Bravo program when the first season of The Real Housewives of salt Lake City premiered in November 2020 the viewers were introduced to Jen Shaw a successful businesswoman living in opulence with her beautiful family always surrounded by numerous assistants and Jen Came Out Swinging making sure everyone knew she had money to blow when in the beginning of the show Jen spent 85 thousand dollars on a birthday party for fellow cast member Meredith Marx while the million dollar ski chalet and Jen's Aura of having it all together as a successful businesswoman or what the audience saw behind the curtain and the flashy lights Jen's Empire of Deceit was beginning to crumble [Music] on the show Jen bragged about spending around fifty thousand dollars a month to sustain her lifestyle a lifestyle that included designer clothes luxury cars lavish parties in her rental home and the use of private jets 20 bags of luggage for a single trip and everything else grandiose although Jen was very open about how she spent her money during the first season of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City she didn't explain where that money came from when Jen later described her business many still didn't understand how she made her Fortune people are wondering like how'd you get so rich my background is in direct response marketing for about 20 years so our company does you know advertising we have a platform that helps people acquire customers so when you're shopping online or on the Internet and something pops we have the algorithm behind why you're getting served that ad I'm it wasn't just the viewers who were puzzled about how Jen could afford her lavish lifestyle even her co-stars and Andy Cohen himself were confused as calculations of Jen Shaw's income and expenditures didn't add up in her Casting tape Sharif hinted that things were a bit out of control saying quote my wife's shopping habits can be in and of themselves a daily source of my drama end quote but Jen's spending habits are not the only reason she has often been at the center of The Narrative of the show Jen has been seen throwing insults and glasses at parties and having prolonged conflicts with other cast members Jen has also opened up about her father's death which in addition to sharif's job-related absences at home LED to depression eventually Jen's conditioned worsened so drastically that she claimed to have hit rock bottom at the time Jen was lashing out at everyone around her including her husband which almost cost her their marriage of 26 years in the season 2 premiere Jen explained what happened by saying quote I thought that my entire world was ending six months ago Sharif and I almost got a divorce I thought my life was like over Sharif 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 and so he was like okay I have to leave and at first I thought okay this is just an argument and the next day a divorce attorney contacted me he had already reached out to a divorce attorney end quote but after somewhat of a family intervention and the couple's son Sharif Jr telling his mother he supported her going on medication Jen decided to fight for her marriage she confronted what was killing her inside and as Sharif agreed to start couples therapy things began to get better but it was around this time that cracks in the facade known as gen Cha's luxurious life began to show on February 12th of 2020 The Real Housewives of Dallas star Brandi Redmond and Stephanie Hallman hosted an episode of weekly dose of BS during the show Brandy teased the viewers by saying she knew someone from The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City who was renting their home Brandy explained that she didn't know the exact cast member but because they were renting her friend's home she knew this was true shortly after it became clear Brandy had been talking about Jen Shaw as Jen commented on a now deleted Instagram post saying quote is this what everyone is getting their g-string up their ass about because they're irrelevant or is it because they wish they could afford to pay their rent plus own four other homes and have an apartment in NYC end quote Jen wasn't just confirming her family was renting the 9420 square foot five bedrooms six bathroom Mansion but also claimed she owned four other properties and an apartment in New York City now most people would be grateful to just have a place to live but in the Real Housewives Universe not owning your luxury estate is one of the most shameful things one can do however when the media looked into Jen's claims they found no proof of ownership in New York renting houses is cars luxury bags and other items is nothing new in the celebrity world but viewers had a problem with Jen implying the things they saw on screen as being owned by her if this was Jen's only problem she could have counted her blessings and this video wouldn't have been made but no Jen had much bigger problems coming as a federal investigation had been brewing for quite some time Jen's former employee clothing designer KOA Johnson who worked for the Real Housewives star for 10 months alleged that almost everything she had was borrowed or loaned including Jen's her coats jewelry and Porsche furthermore KOA said that his time with Jen left him traumatized he was under constant stress wasn't sleeping and wasn't able to take care of himself physically and mentally due to Jen's High demands in March of 2021 an audio clip was leaked to the internet which allegedly demonstrated how Jen verbally abused her former employee at the beginning of the clip Jen can allegedly be heard swearing at KOA over an outfit delay but that delay was caused because Jen hadn't transferred money over to a credit card for the fabric to be purchased the process was delayed so much that in the end KOA had only 17 to 20 hours left to make the two-piece suit for his employer still on the tape KOA is hurt apologizing but Jen continues to swear and says she just won't wear her fashion line for that event and we'll find something else and that's it and you can stop [ __ ] smiling [ __ ] and being a [ __ ] [ __ ] because you are yeah you are and KOA handled this [ __ ] it's no not lack you [ __ ] handle it [ __ ] you don't have a [ __ ] attitude with me this is I'm [ __ ] important to reunion this week shut the [ __ ] up okay okay KOA eventually left his job as Jen's clothing designer in January of 2021. by then the Real Housewives Star had allegedly failed to pay KOA for his work for several months since September of 2020 but while Jen didn't seem to appreciate all her workers there was someone she treated very differently a man named Stuart Smith Jen and Stuart's friendship started a decade ago while working for the same company during that time Jen saw something in Stuart that others didn't and she even saved his job five or six times over several years Stewart was an underdog in his department and whenever changes were made or he got in trouble in some way the company planned to get rid of him but each time Jen spoke with the bosses and Stuart got to keep his job Jen believed Stuart was a hard worker always going the extra mile she believed he just needed a chance and that is how their friendship began when the time came for Jen to focus on her own business she hired Stuart as her assistant the two became extremely close as Jen explained quote he literally knew more than my husband knew as far as like you should get her this for her birthday or Jen likes these tampons not those tampons he was more of a personal assistant to me than like so-called business end quote from an outside perspective Jen Shaw and Stuart Smith were the Dream Team he made several appearances on Real Housewives of Salt Lake City Driving Jen's Porsche helping her plan parties and debating lunch choices but Jen and Stuart often communicated through encrypted messages not just for security but because there was a lot these two were doing that couldn't happen in front of the cameras suddenly on March 30th of 2021 not long after production began on season two of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City task force agents that Target Financial crimes showed up while the women were waiting on a private bus but for a moment Jen was one step ahead of the task force agents while waiting on the bus before they arrived Jen received a mysterious phone call and looked as if she had seen a ghost in a hurry she asked one of her castmates to remove her mic pack and not wanting to be arrested on camera pled the scene task force agents arrived thinking this would be their big break but no one was able to locate Jen until agents found her later that same day and gen cha was taken into custody a judge called her a Flight Risk and set her bail at one million dollars [Music] Jen Shaw and her assistant Stuart Smith were accused of running a nationwide telemarketing fraud scheme for nearly 10 years almost their entire friendship following Jen and Stewart's arrests Manhattan U.S attorney Audrey Strauss gave a statement saying quote Jennifer Shaw who portrays herself as a wealthy and successful business person on reality television and Stuart Smith who was portrayed as Shaw's first assistant allegedly generated and sold lead list of innocent individuals for other members of their scheme to repeatedly scam in actual reality and as alleged the so-called business opportunities pushed on the victims by Shaw Smith and their co-conspirators were just fraudulent schemes motivated by greed to steal victims's money now these defendants face time in prison for their alleged crimes end quote according to court documents Jen and Stuart began their telemarketing scheme back in 2012. their ideal targets were vulnerable individuals usually over 55 years of age to whom they could sell so-called Business Services the victim often saw an ad on social media about an opportunity to work from home and then made a small investment to create an online business with other participants in the scheme the victim's information was then added to a lead list which Jen and Stuart provided to a company in this case it was Thrive learning and later a company called guidance that then sold the leads to telemarketers on sales floors Jen eventually moved some of these sales floors to Kosovo to avoid law enforcement and Regulatory scrutiny next the telemarketers contacted the victims on these lead lists offering them Thrive or guidance coaching sessions during these sessions the victims were sold more useless business services that didn't even exist in the final step of the scheme the leads were further sold to what's called Biz op telemarketers who offered related services that the Thrive or guidance coaches told the victims to buy this way one person is targeted by multiple different telemarketing scammers and it's unfortunately very easy for the victims to find themselves deep in debt by the time they realize what's happened the most potential victims of this kind of scam are retirees the disabled and people with limited income who could benefit from earning more money during the pandemic with little safety nets in place for most Americans who didn't live in a ski chalet many were interested in the opportunity to work from home including Marie Walker a 67 year old teacher from Atlanta who was one of these people according to Marie as soon as she entered her information in an online ad that promised to help her work from home her phone began to ring non-stop an endless amount of different companies tried to sell their products and services to her including one called Mastery Pro Marie explained what happened when she agreed to purchase a package from the company saying quote from Mastery Pro I did purchase a social media package but I would need to send in one thousand dollars from my bank for a social media boost package in January of 2021 I started having a lot of problems with the website I was trying to reach the marketing the coaching the website Builders and I just couldn't reach anybody there was no website nothing my head was really spinning I said oh this is just a scam I contacted all my credit card companies my Banks I contacted the police departments made reports I contacted the FTC I put in a total of about eighteen thousand dollars I did get some back on my credit cards around 8 000 but the rest is lost end quote altogether Jen Shaw and her co-conspirators defrauded victims of an estimated nine million dollars since Jens and Stewart's arrest there have been speculation about who took off the authorities about where they would be Jen herself has blamed fellow housewife Meredith Marx who was acting oddly unbothered after hearing the news Meredith has since said she had nothing to do with Jen's arrest the more likely scenario is that one of the 10 alleged participants in the telemarketing scheme who were charged back in 2019 simply named Jen Shaw and Stuart Smith to Federal investigators according to Homeland Security investigations El Dorado task force the investigation itself began from an unlikely Source a Narcotics arrest in New Jersey that operation LED authorities to First indict several telemarketers in 2017 and this created a domino effect as that case was followed by another indictment USA versus Chidi in November of 2019 and that is the case that involves gen Chung and Stuart Smith at first Jen and Stuart both maintain their innocence during the April 2021 arraignment Jen and Stuart pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud and connection with telemarketing and conspiracy to commit money laundering Jen's mother then liquidated her retirement assets to the tune of one million dollars in order to help pay for Jen's legal fees after being released on bail Jen gave multiple interviews swearing she had done nothing wrong it's important to me to fight it's important to me one because I'm innocent I'm not guilty of any of these of these charges that I you know that I've been accused of I'm innocent I don't know why I'm going through this or my family's going through this I don't know um but I don't question a lot I don't question God's plan there is a reason for this and I just feel like I need to set an example for others that you fight you fight your ass off for your freedom you fight because guess what it is very easy it's easy for people to accuse a person of color a female person of color here in America today it is easy for them to accuse people and you can look at the statistics Jen requested through her attorney that all charges against her be dismissed because there was no proof she quote joined the conspiracy willfully and with the specific intent to defraud the motion was quickly denied however and the trial date was scheduled for October 18th of 2021. at this point Jen faced a maximum sentence of 30 years for the wire fraud charges and an additional 20 years where the money laundering charges in addition to restitution of up to 16 million dollars it also came to light that back in 2016 the FTC had sued two of the sales floors where Jen sold leads and she was deposed during that investigation in 2017 the company Thrive and guidance settled with the FTC for 29 million dollars following another lawsuit around the same time Jen and Stuart begin operating their own lead generating businesses while being well aware of these lawsuits due to the pandemic protocols Jen's trial was postponed until March 7th of 2022 but while Jen awaited her trial Stewart suddenly changed his plea during a hearing on Friday November 19th of 2021 Stuart Smith pleaded guilty to all charges in his written statement Stewart said quote I knowingly and intentionally discussed and engaged with other individuals to develop a plan or operation to obtain money by false representation by offering and inducing individuals many of whom were over 50 years of age or older to provide money to entities that I and others were involved with end quote we don't know what made Stewart change his mind but it's possible he hopes to benefit from his cooperation as he is facing a maximum of 30 years in prison currently Stewart remains free on bail his sentencing was initially scheduled on March 3rd of 2022 but has been moved following the developments on Jen's side of the case Jen's trial was later postponed again to July of 2022. all this time Jen remained adamant that she hadn't been involved in any kind of illegal activity on Instagram she responded to a Fan's reaction to her legal issues saying quote I'm innocent and look forward to trial so you along with everyone else can see the truth end quote and of course Jen never stopped filming The Real Housewives but instead let the cameras roll on her legal woes during the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City Reunion specials in March of 2022 Jen was seen crying swearing she was going to fight until the very end not just because she was innocent but to represent every other person who has not been able to fight Sharif was also there supporting Jen and said the Dark Cloud was not going anywhere until his wife would be Vindicated through the trial but to everyone's surprise after a year of vigorously swearing her innocence Jen cha appeared in front of a U.S District Judge on July 11th of 2022 for a surprise hearing during which she changed her plea as part of her deal Jen pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and the U.S attorney agreed to drop count two the conspiracy to commit money laundering this means that instead of facing a 50-year sentence and 16 million dollars in restitution Jen now faces up to 30 years in federal prison and up to 9.5 million in restitution to her victims she also agreed to Forfeit 6.5 million dollars of proceeds traceable to the conspiracy it's been speculated that Stewart's decision to take a plea deal most likely pushed Jen to change her mind mind Jen and Stuart were Incredibly Close for over a decade and he's undoubtedly capable of sharing a lot of information with the feds about his former employers illegal actions the moment Stewart changed his plea he became a witness against Jen Shaw in addition going into trial could have meant all the other defendants not just Stuart would be able to testify against her also in a trial the government wouldn't have to prove anything other than that Jen agreed to do something illegal as part of the conspiracy she didn't have to know about everything that was going on in the Nationwide telemarketing scam even just funding the scheme would have been enough for a conviction the main reason Jen Shaw's plea change was surprising was the timing Jen waited until the very last minute to make her decision but Los Angeles criminal defense attorney Troy Slayton explained why this might have happened saying quote It's Not Unusual for the government and and defendants to continue negotiating up to the start of trial and sometimes even after a trial has begun and Witnesses have testified usually prosecutors will make a last best final offer and give a preview of what the offer will be if they have to start trial end quote choosing to avoid trial save Jen from the possibility of facing her victims in the courtroom and making herself a public spectacle or more of a public spectacle after the plea change Jen's attorney gave a statement to people saying quote Miss Shaw is a good woman who crossed a line she accepts full responsibility for her actions and deeply apologizes to all who have been harmed Miss Shaw is also sorry for disappointing her husband children family friends and supporters Jen pled guilty because she wants to pay her debt to society and put this ordeal behind her and her family end quote Jen Shaw is currently a awaiting her sentencing which will take place on November 28th of 2022 until then she is free on bail filming season 3 of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City even after the opulent lifestyle that originally got Jen onto the show has been proven to not just be fake but fraudulent and built at the expense of vulnerable people this has been the story of a real housewives nine million dollar scam another story that proves not all that Glitters Is Gold if you are a fan of learning about scams Cults and cautionary tales subscribe to the channel and turn on notifications so you'll be notified when a new documentary comes out my name is Josie and thank you so much for watching [Music]

Channel: NOT THE GOOD GIRL

Views: 878,116

Keywords: jen shah, rhoslc, real housewives, bravo, andy, scam, documentary

Id: U54biR9Dk9U

Length: 28min 33sec (1713 seconds)

Published: Tue Oct 18 2022