NEW YORK CITY (KTVX) — “Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” cast member Jennifer Shah and her assistant, Stuart Smith, have been charged with running a nationwide telemarketing fraud scheme and conspiring to commit money laundering.
On Tuesday, New York officials announced the unsealing of a superseding indictment charging Shah and Smith with conspiracy to commit wire fraud in connection with telemarketing and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
The officials who announced the charges include: Audrey Strauss, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Peter C. Fitzhugh, the Special Agent-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations (“HSI”), and Dermot Shea, Commissioner of the New York City Police Department (“NYPD”),
Court officials say Shah and Smith were arrested on Tuesday and will appear in federal court in Salt Lake City Tuesday afternoon.
“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. 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. Now, these defendants face time in prison for their alleged crimes.”
Audrey Strauss, United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York
According to Fitzhugh, both “flaunted their lavish lifestyle to the public as a symbol of their ‘success.’”
“In reality, they allegedly built their opulent lifestyle at the expense of vulnerable, often elderly, working-class people. As alleged, disturbingly, Shah and Smith objectified their very real human victims as ‘leads’ to be bought and sold, offering their personal information for sale to other members of their fraud ring. Working with our partners at the NYPD and the United States Attorney’s Office, SDNY, and with the assistance of HSI Salt Lake City, HSI New York worked to ensure that Shah and Smith will answer for their alleged crimes. As a result, their new reality may very well turn out differently than they expected.”
Peter C. Fitzhugh, the Special Agent-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of Homeland Security Investigations
New York Police say Shah and Smith allegedly targeted and defrauded hundreds of victims.
The indictment says from 2012 to March 2021, Shah and Smith, along with others, carried out a wide-ranging telemarketing scheme that defrauded hundreds of victims across the U.S. Many of the victims were over the age of 55, according to court officials, and were sold so-called “business services” in connection with their purported online businesses.
Shah, Smith, and an unidentified number of others are accused of engaging in a widespread, coordinated effort to traffic in lists of potential victims, or “leads,” that had previously made an initial investment to create an online business with other suspects involved. Leads were reportedly generated by sales floors operating in Utah, Arizona, and Nevada, among other locations.
Owners and operators of those sales floors worked in coordination with some telemarketing sales floors in New York and New Jersey. They allegedly provided lead lists and assistance in fighting victim refund requests to others operating sales floors.
Court documents say Shah and Smith were among those that generated and sold leads to other suspects for use by their telemarketing sales floors with the knowledge that individuals had identified as “leads” would be defrauded. The two allegedly received as profit a share of the fraudulent revenue per the terms of agreement with other participants.
Officials allege Shah and Smith often controlled each aspect of the frauds perpetrated by other participants, like which “coaching” sales floor could buy leads from them, which could pass the leads, firms that provided “fulfillment” services, and more.
In the scheme, “certain participants sold alleged services to make the management of the victims’ businesses more efficient or profitable, including tax preparation or website design services, notwithstanding that many Victims were elderly and did not own a computer,” court officials say. While services were promised, court documents say that “at no point did the defendants intend that the Victims would actually earn any of the promised return on their intended investment, nor did the Victims actually earn any such returns.”