Jen Shah's victims describe being duped out of THOUSANDS - with one now forced ... trends now
Victims of a Real Housewives of Salt Lake City star are speaking out about how she scammed them out of tens of thousands of dollars as the reality tv personality prepares to head to prison.
Jen Shah, 49, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in July in a dramatic defense U-Turn. She must present herself to be taken to prison on February 17, and will serve six-and-a-half years in federal prison at a facility in Texas.
One victim, a 75-year-old woman named Tricia, said on Good Morning America Thursday, 'I'm telling the world I was stupid enough to get caught in a scam, and I'm not stupid person.'
She didn't share her last name, saying the shame of having lost half of her life savings to Shah's telemarketing scheme, which mainly targeted elderly individuals, was too embarrassing.
Two victims of Jen Shah's telemarketing scheme - a 75-year-old who only gave her first name Tricia and 44-year-old Molly McLaughlin - spoke out about the shame and despair they felt from having been duped
Shah, 49, pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in July in a dramatic defense U-Turn. She must present herself to be taken to prison on February 17, and will serve her term in a facility in Texas
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Tricia told "Good Morning America Thursday she thought Shah's scheme was helping her to start an online business until the FTC called to say she had been duped.
'I mean, I was shellshocked, but it turned out to be true,' Tricia said, adding that she is recovering from a 'deep depression' due to the ordeal. 'You get to a point where there is no way out. I don't have the money to take care of myself.'
Molly McLaughlin, 44, told ABC News that she'd been hoodwinked out of tens of thousands of dollars by Shah.
'I probably spent about $44,000 on six credit cards. All, of course, went into bankruptcy because I couldn't afford to pay that.'
Shah, a mother-of-two, ran the nationwide telemarketing scheme that targeted mainly elderly individuals all while appearing as a real housewife on the show's latest iteration.
The reality star sobbed as she read a statement to the court on January 6th, claiming her TV persona was nothing more than an act. She vowed to raise $6.5million in restitution to make victims' lives whole, and said she intended to do so from prison.
She claimed she had 'longstanding untreated mental issues' that caused her to 'create her own reality'.
Shah and her husband Sharrieff emerge from court on January 6. She must report to the Bureau of Prisons on February 17
Jen Shah leaves in Manhattan Federal Court after being sentenced to 78 months in prison for fraud
Reality TV star Jen Shah arrives at court in New York City to be sentenced for wire fraud
But prosecutors showed no mercy, telling the court how Shah had once laughed about the fact that one of her victims had called the company in tears over the fact that she was losing all her money.
They read aloud a text Shah sent to one of her colleagues in which she said: 'Did you get her to stop crying?'
Shah and her colleagues fraudulently collected and then sold lead lists to other companies. A person on such a list would then be lured into a never-ending payment or subscription service which they couldn't, or didn't know how to, get out of.
One of the schemes offered business coaching that never materialized to victims who were not technologically savvy.
Federal prosecutors sought a prison term of 10 years for Shah while her attorneys suggested she should serve three.
Judge Sidney Stein warned Shah at the start of today's hearing that the sentence would be somewhere in between the two.
'I think a variance below 130 months will be appropriate. But I do not intend to sentence Ms. Shah to 36 months, either. So it will be sometime between the two,' Judge Stein said.
At the top of the proceedings, the judge told the courtroom to ignore the 'role' Shah plays on the Bravo series that made her famous.
Shah claimed she had 'longstanding untreated mental issues' that caused her to 'create her own reality' - a defense the judge did not buy
The reality star (third from right) calimed in court that her TV persona was nothing more than an act. She vowed to raise $6.5million in restitution for her many victims
'Jen Shah's role on the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City, which I guess is why the courtroom is so full today, is just that, a role.
'People should not confuse the character she plays on an entertainment show to the person before me. Alright,' she said.
Shah's
