Things just got so much worse for Jen Shah!
In new legal documents obtained by TMZ, the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star and her assistant Stuart Smith have been placed into a group of suspects with “greater responsibility” in a telemarketing scheme that targeted hundreds of elderly victims. The outlet reports federal agents have moved Shah, Smith and four others in the US Attorney’s “Tier A” category for the alleged crimes — and even accused her of leading the entire plot!
Whoa!
Related: Andy Cohen & Real Housewives React To Jen Shah’s Arrest While Bravo Continues Filming
The prosecutor reportedly believes the group of individuals, including Shah, acted as “senior participants” in the shady situation and continued to run the operation despite knowing that criminal charges would inevitably happen. According to legal docs viewed by TMZ, the suspects were “responsible for orchestrating the broader scheme,” with Shah specifically having “obtained leads directly from lead sources and provided them to, among others, coaching sales floors operated in Utah and Nevada.”
The 47-year-old television personality, along with Smith, was also accused of owning and running a sales floor in Manhattan, where a majority of the alleged telemarketing scheme took place. So far, two members of the group have already been sentenced to 78 months and 60 months in jail, respectively.
It is really not looking good for Jen! Still, her attorney Priya Chaudhry clapped back at the government’s latest allegations, calling it “absurd” and “totally unsupported by evidence.” The lawyer told TMZ on Friday:
“The reality is — she is totally innocent.”
As you may recall, Shah was arrested and charged in March with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering. She and her assistant were accused of carrying out a nationwide telemarketing scheme with the help of others that lasted for almost nine years.
In April, Shah pleaded not guilty and was subsequently released on strict conditions. Later on, she attempted to have the whole case completely tossed out, claiming she involuntarily waived her Miranda rights after her arrest. And here is where things get interesting…
The reality star said she unknowingly signed the waiver because her dry contact lenses made her suffer from blurry vision. WTF?! Jen claimed at the time:
“Even while being read my rights, I did not fully understand what was going on and still thought that one explanation might be a potential misidentification. I was eager to find out what was going on, what [the detective] ‘just wanted to talk to’ me about, and why he ‘wanted to make sure [I was] OK.’ Because I was not getting questions to my answers, I believed that the only way I was going to get an answer was to sign the paper and waive my rights.”
That still makes absolutely no sense to us, and quite honestly, it just sounds like she wanted to play dumb in the situation. Unfortunately for her, it appears the federal government did not believe her tactic to get out of the messy ordeal.
Reactions, Perezcious readers? Let us know in the comments (below)!
[Image via Bravo/YouTube]
The post Real Housewife Jen Shah Accused Of Masterminding Telemarketing Scheme That Targeted The Elderly! appeared first on Perez Hilton.
