Out of all the insane stories and controversial moments that have happened in the Bravoverse over the past year, Jen Shah of the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City really takes the cake. Her first season on the show was filled with her erratic behavior and seemingly picture-perfect life, which we all know is really a scam now. Jen was arrested a few weeks back for allegedly being involved in a long-running fraud and money laundering telemarketing scheme that targeted the elderly. And while she’s been posting on Instagram as if she’s not facing 30 years behind bars (#unarrested), the charges alleged against her and her assistant Stuart Smith are truly horrific, to put it in the words of her old buddy Brooks Marks.
Jen has pleaded not guilty both in and out of the courtroom, but the evidence isn’t looking too good for Miss Shah. She was apparently tipped off about her arrest, somewhat attempted to flee and traumatized producers in the process. And even though Bravo did their homework, it’s really curious why Jen would even appear on a reality show in the first place if she was involved in such shady business. At least Bravo is going to get some crazy footage for Season 2.
It’s no secret that Jen’s legal bills are going to be astronomical for this. Like Erika Jayne and Tom Girardi numbers. She recently joined Cameo to make a little extra coin in the meantime, but apparently, that wasn’t enough. As if Jen couldn’t get EVEN MORE tone-deaf about the situation, her cousin Danny Filipe started a GoFundMe page titled “Justice For Jen Shah” in an attempt to get viewers to pay her legal bills. Like I can’t even make this up, the campaign goal was $2.5 million. The page is seemingly deleted from the internet now, but The Sun has screenshots of what it was advertising.
The page claims that more than 10,000 people in the U.S. are “falsely accused and wrongfully convicted of crimes they did not convict.” While there probably is some merit to that, Jen is really doubling down this hard that the FBI got this all wrong? I guess that’s up for a judge and jury to decide. “We are asking 10,000 caring souls to donate $250,” the description read, where Danny also identifies himself as her cousin. Just have Jen sell a few of her fur coats on the down low and she’d probably raise the money faster.
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The screenshots show that one poor dumb soul did donate $250 before the page was taken down. “Jen is facing decades incarcerated in prison separated from her family if she is unable to mount a competent and well thought out defense,” Danny wrote. To explain the reasoning behind the $2.5 million goal, Danny broke it down by bullet points. “1) there are over 1 million documents in this case that must be immediately reviewed and analyzed by Jen’s lawyers before her case goes to trial in October 2021; 2) the Southern District of New York is the most expensive jurisdiction in the country to defend a lawsuit, and to hire competent legal counsel.”
The petition continued, “3) Jen has to have the economic wherewithal to fight the government’s lawyers, who have an open checkbook and can spend millions of dollars prosecuting this case; and 4) by defending this case and going to trial, Jen’s family has and will continue to spend hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal costs.” Like is she really trying to start a CAMPAIGN behind her?”
RELATED: Jen Shah Joins Cameo In Midst Of Financial And Legal Woes
The page also claims that in seven weeks, Jen’s spent more than $138,000 in legal bills. Looks like she’s probably regretting that shopping spree she hosted for Heather Gay now, as she could use the money. And it’s obvious after all of the nasty things she’s said about Heather that Jen won’t be getting any BeautyLab discounts anytime soon. She’d probably have better luck asking Lisa Barlow for free Vida Tequila if anything.
TELL US – CAN YOU BELIEVE JEN SHAH’S FAMILY ATTEMPTED TO START A GOFUNDME FOR HER LEGAL BILLS? HOW DO YOU THINK JEN’S STORY WILL PLAY OUT NEXT SEASON?
[Photo Credit: Bravo]
