The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star Jen Shah will no longer be facing a judge for her felony fraud charges this month as her day in court has been postponed to July 11. The Bravolebrity’s trial was originally set to kick off on March 22, just in time for the RHOSLC cameras to capture it all. With season 3 filming underway, Jen’s postponed trial might escape the Bravo cameras for now, but fans will never forget last season when the feds showed up at Beauty Lab + Laser to arrest Jen for alleged wire fraud and money laundering.
Jen and her former ‘Shah Squad’ assistant Stuart Smith were charged for their alleged role in a nationwide telemarketing scheme in March 2021. The reality star is accused of scamming elderly people out of their money by persuading them to sign fraudulent deals for services they would ultimately never receive. Despite the allegations, Jen has adamantly declared her innocence and pleaded not guilty to the charges against her. All of Jen’s other co-defendants on the case, including her ex-sidekick Stuart, pled guilty to the counts of wire fraud and money laundering, so the housewife will be facing the trial alone. If found guilty, the Salt Lake City native will no longer be cashing in on Bravo checks but instead face upwards of 30 years in prison.
Fans anticipating the saga of Jen’s trial to continue during the upcoming season of The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City may have to wait a little longer. Radar Online obtained new court documents that state the Bravo personality’s trial will start four months later than expected. The documents said, “The final pretrial conference is adjourned to June 27, 2022, at 10:00 a.m. The trial is adjourned to July 11, 2022, at 9:20 a.m.” While housewives typically get a break before filming a new season, it’s alleged that Andy Cohen and the other producers pushed to start RHOSLC season 3 immediately after the season 2 reunion to coincide with Jen’s trial originally set for this month. This central storyline for season 3 might now be a bust.
Fighting for her innocence, Jen has also subpoenaed ABC for their unaired footage of The Housewife and the Shah Shocker, a documentary released on Hulu surrounding the fraud investigation. Jen is demanding access to all video footage from ABC News, which includes interviews from her family, alleged fraud victims and investigators from the Department of Homeland Security. In addition to the subpoena, the housewife filed a motion requesting that her RHOSLC clips not be used as evidence. Her lawyer argued, “All [RHOSLC Housewives] have an incentive to exaggerate their characters and dramatize their lives in order to participate in the currency of the Housewives’ franchise: drama, conflict and conspicuous consumption. It is impossible to tell where reality ends and fantasy and outright deception and fakery begins.” ABC hasn’t given Jen access to their footage, and the judge hasn’t decided on her motion.
Jen and her lawyers now have a few more months to gather their defense against the felony fraud charges. But from the clips of her lavish lifestyle on RHOSLC to her own assistant seemingly throwing her under the bus, her innocence might be a hard sell to a jury. Now that Jen’s trial has been postponed, a different Salt Lake City housewife will have to step up to the plate to deliver for season 3.
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City airs Sundays at 8 p.m. EST on Bravo.
