“Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” personality Jen Shah will forfeit Prada, Louis Vuitton, Cartier, and more in the name of the law.
On Dec. 15, a federal judge ordered the reality star to surrender rings, bracelets, clothing, plus over a dozen designer and counterfeit handbags as a penalty for defrauding victims out of millions of dollars in a nationwide telemarketing scheme. The catalog of 108 items includes luxury brand names that are both real and counterfeit.
According to prosecutors, since 2012, Shah sold “business services” — some in the form of website design assistance — to victims.
Shah became a main member of the tenth installment of the Bravo reality series when it first premiered in November 2020. Like TODAY, NBC Universal is Bravo's parent company.
A Preliminary Order of Forfeiture imposed a joint and several forfeiture money judgment against Shah as part of her plea of $6.5 million dollars.
In addition, Shah is required to pay upwards of $9.5 million in restitution to the victims, which a prosecutor in her case described previously as being “elderly” and “vulnerable.”
“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,” Damian Williams, the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York, said in a statement issued in July. “This Office is committed to rooting out these schemes whatever form they take.”
According to the preliminary order of forfeiture, which was filed on Dec. 15, U.S. authorities received over a hundred items from Shah’s home during a March 2021 search warrant. Items in the forfeiture included bags and clothing from Yves Saint Laurent, Versace, Balenciaga, Gucci, Chanel, and Louis Vuitton. Over 70 counterfeit Chanel, Dior, Fendi, and Hermès designs were also handed over.
Prior to her guilty plea, Shah denied the charges against her. During Season 2 of “Real Housewives of Salt Lake City,” she described herself as being innocent and created merchandise for fans to buy and support her. On July 11, however, she entered into an agreement with federal prosecutors and pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
Shah’s lawyers issued a statement to NBC about her plea stating, “Ms. Shah is a good woman who crossed a line. She accepts full responsibility for her actions and deeply apologizes to all who have been harmed. Ms. Shah 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.”
Meanwhile, new episodes of “Real Housewives of Salt Lake City” with Shah continue to air on Tuesday.
According to People, in the show's latest episode, which aired on Dec. 13, Shah said that she attempted suicide during her trial. Shah claimed that at the time of the attempt, she locked herself in a bathroom and was found by her husband, Sharrieff Shah.
“He had to kick the door down because he didn’t know what I was going to do, and (he) had to take me to the hospital,” she continued. “I was there for two-and-a-half days.”
