Jen Shah Appears For Court Hearing, Pleads Not Guilty In Money Laundering Scandal

Jen Shah pleads not guilty for the accusations of wire fraud in connection with telemarketing and money laundering case. After making the headlines for her arrest, the actor hired two advocates for her arraignment.

The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City actor was called to the virtual court hearing on April 2, Friday. Her initial hearing was postponed as too many people joined the virtual meeting on Zoom two days prior to the recent hearing.

A million-dollar recognizance bond was asked to be imposed by the federal prosecutor. The same will be secured by $250,000 in cash or property and requires a signature from two “responsible persons.” However, Shah doesn't have any property in her name currently and  is "renting a home right now."

Per federal prosecutor Kiersten Ann Fletcher said, “The investigation has revealed that over the past several years, beginning in at least 2017, Smith and Shah have incorporated multiple shell companies to receive the proceeds of the telemarketing scheme."

"The government can proper that at least one of those companies is a company called Mastery Pro Group … and that is a company that the government’s investigations have revealed is co-owned by Smith and Shah, that entity alone or bank accounts, in the name of that entity alone have received no less than $5 million in crime proceeds over just the last few years of the scheme,” he added.

Shah was in the middle of her shoot for the upcoming season of Real Housewives of Salt Lake City when federal agents came to arrest her. Her costars and others from the set said, “we were completely shocked when Jen was taken away, the women were all about the take a trip to Colorado in the coming days. The women aren’t sure if they are still going yet.”

A source reported to USMagazine that "Jen is really humiliated" from the fact that everything is happening in the public eye and will be telecasted on Bravo. They added that she has not been talking to her castmates or friends since the scandal made headlines.