'Real Housewives' Star Jen Shah Pleads Guilty To Fraud In NYC Court

NEW YORK CITY — "Real Housewives" star Jen Shah made a juicy confession Monday — but it wasn't one captured by a reality television camera.

Shah, 48, pleaded guilty in a Manhattan federal courtroom to a conspiracy to commit wire fraud charge, in an agreement that also forces her to forfeit $6.5 million and pay up to $9.5 million in restitution, prosecutors said.

She admitted she ran a nationwide telemarketing scheme that targeted elderly, vulnerable victims, said U.S. Attorney Damian Williams.

"These victims were sold false promises of financial security but instead Shah and her co-conspirators defrauded them out of their savings and left them with nothing to show for it," he said in a statement.

Shah, whose full name is Jennifer Shah, is best known from starring on "The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City," which premiered in 2020.

But before Shah became a reality star, she ran a long-running predatory scheme that largely targeted people aged 55 and up, according to court documents filed in the Southern District of New York.

Shah and others from 2012 to March 2021 ran a telemarketing scheme that defrauded hundreds of people by selling them so-called "business services" for their online businesses, prosecutors said.

The telemarketers would contact "leads" from lists sold by Shah and lie about how much they would earn, as well as successes by others who purchased the services, authorities said.

Shah was intimately involved in the scheme, prosecutors said, including running the day-to-day operations of Manhattan-based sales floor from 2018 to 2020.

Prosecutors said Shah tried to conceal her role in the scheme by incorporating her business entities in third parties' names, using encrypted messaging applications with her fellow schemers and making cash withdrawals to avoid currency transaction reporting requirements.

Shah's sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 28. Her charge carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison.