0:06

This is Crime House. No

0:12

one does drama quite like The Real

0:14

Housewives, and few did it better than

0:16

Jen Shaw from the cast of Salt

0:18

Lake City. During the

0:20

show's first season, Jen quickly became

0:22

a fan favorite. Whether viewers

0:24

really loved her or really

0:26

loved to hate her, Jen

0:28

made for great TV. She

0:31

was, in her words, sh-mazing.

0:35

From doing the worm to throwing

0:37

her drink, Jen Shaw was impossible

0:39

to ignore, especially when

0:42

the FBI came looking for

0:44

her in the middle

0:46

of filming. No matter

0:48

how outlandish these reality shows may

0:50

get, no one had that

0:52

on their bingo card. But

0:55

this was possibly the realest

0:57

thing ever captured on The

0:59

Real Housewives. It showed

1:01

who Jen Shaw really was

1:03

behind all the money, makeup,

1:05

and mayhem. And

1:07

it wasn't pretty. As

1:18

the saying goes, those who don't understand

1:20

history are doomed to repeat it. That's

1:22

especially true when it comes to money.

1:24

If you want to make the right decisions

1:27

when it comes to managing your assets, you

1:29

need to know what mistakes to avoid and

1:31

how to spot a trap. This

1:34

is Money Crimes, a Crime House original.

1:36

I'm your host, Nicole Lappin. Every

1:38

Thursday, I'll be telling you the story

1:40

of a famous financial crime and giving

1:42

you advice on how to avoid becoming

1:45

a victim yourself. At Crime House,

1:47

we want to express our gratitude to you,

1:49

our community, for making all of

1:51

this possible. Please support us by

1:53

rating, reviewing, and following Money Crimes

1:55

wherever you get your podcasts. Your

1:58

feedback truly matters. And

2:01

for ad-free access to Money Crimes

2:03

plus exciting bonus content, subscribe to

2:05

Crime House Plus on Apple Podcasts.

2:08

This episode is all about

2:10

disgraced reality star Jennifer Shaw.

2:13

As the breakout star of The

2:15

Real Housewives of Salt Lake City,

2:17

Jen brought all the glamour and

2:20

glitz fans were hungry for. When

2:23

the FBI came calling, things

2:25

got a lot more real

2:28

than anyone ever

2:30

expected. Today, I'll

2:32

tell you how Jen spent decades

2:34

running a nationwide telemarketing scam, lying,

2:38

scheming, and swindling hundreds of

2:40

victims out of tens of

2:42

millions of dollars. She

2:45

was ultimately captured and prosecuted.

2:47

And viewers saw it all play

2:49

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4:28

Most people have heard of the Real

4:31

Housewives franchise, even if they've never seen

4:33

a single episode. I personally

4:35

haven't. It became a

4:37

pop culture touchstone and internet meme

4:39

goldmine, which makes sense when you

4:42

consider that the Bravo network created

4:44

it. With franchises like

4:46

Below Deck and Vanderpump Rules,

4:48

the Bravo universe is massive,

4:51

and its fans are

4:53

dedicated. To be honest, it's

4:56

a little cult-like, especially when it

4:58

comes to the Real Housewives. Millions

5:01

of people devour every single

5:03

episode. But in case you

5:06

haven't seen the show, here's a quick rundown. Basically,

5:09

the cast members are pretty much

5:12

the opposite of your typical housewives.

5:14

Most are wealthy women who

5:17

are famous for living fabulous

5:19

lives. They go on shopping

5:21

sprees, throw lavish parties,

5:23

attend star-studded events, and

5:26

get into dramatic screaming matches

5:28

like high schoolers. It's

5:31

the definition of a guilty

5:33

pleasure. The whole

5:35

thing started in 2006 in

5:37

Orange County, California, and was

5:39

such a hit that in

5:41

the following years, Bravo released

5:43

spinoffs in 10 major cities

5:45

across the United States and

5:48

one in Dubai, places that

5:50

are just as glamorous as

5:52

the people living in them,

5:54

like New York City, Beverly

5:56

Hills, Atlanta, and Salt Lake

5:58

City, Utah. When the

6:01

newest addition to the Real Housewives family

6:03

was announced in 2019, the

6:05

biggest reaction was, Why

6:07

Utah? But it turns

6:10

out that Salt Lake City is

6:12

a much better fit for the

6:14

series than anyone ever realized. It

6:17

has the nightlife, the shopping,

6:19

all the same glitz and glamour of

6:22

the other major cities. Not

6:24

to mention the nearby resort town

6:26

of Park City, home of world-renowned

6:29

skiing and the Sundance Film Festival.

6:32

To top it off, it's all

6:34

set in the foothills of the

6:36

majestic Rocky Mountains. Draped

6:38

in blankets of fresh

6:40

white snow, it's

6:43

definitely a stunning backdrop

6:45

that gives never-ending ski

6:47

vacation vibes. But

6:49

even in a beautiful place, reality

6:52

can be ugly. And

6:55

if anyone proves that,

6:58

it's Jen Shah. Long

7:02

before she became a reality housewife,

7:04

Jen Shah was Jennifer Louis, born

7:06

in October of 1973 in Salt

7:08

Lake City, to

7:11

a large but tight-knit Hawaiian

7:13

and Tongan family. According

7:15

to Jen, when she was just a

7:17

baby, her maternal grandparents took her to

7:19

Hawaii to live with them, which

7:22

is apparently common in Tongan culture. Then,

7:25

around the time she was six or

7:27

seven, Jen's grandma got sick and was

7:29

hospitalized for about a month. That's

7:31

when the family decided that Jen should move

7:34

back to Utah with her parents. Even

7:36

though she'd been born in Utah, going

7:39

from Hawaii back to Salt

7:41

Lake City was a massive

7:43

culture shock for Jen. In

7:46

Hawaii, Jen looked like everyone else.

7:48

She fit in, she felt like

7:50

she belonged, but in

7:53

Utah, it was the

7:55

exact opposite. Suddenly,

7:58

Jen knew. knew what it

8:00

felt like to be an outsider, and

8:03

it didn't feel good. Jen was

8:05

one of the only people of color

8:07

in her entire school. When

8:09

she was in kindergarten, her classmates noticed

8:12

her skin was darker than theirs. But

8:15

curious, innocent observations like

8:17

these eventually evolved

8:19

into outright bullying as she

8:21

got older. One

8:23

day, Jen came home crying after

8:25

some kids called her dirty for

8:27

having brown skin. Jen

8:30

was desperate for some positive

8:33

attention from her peers. She

8:36

was a pretty good dancer, so she joined

8:38

the cheer and dance teams in high school.

8:40

The plan seemed to work. Jen

8:43

became the girl who could dance

8:45

and got used to literally performing

8:47

to make people like her. There

8:50

was one more thing that helped

8:52

her fit in, at least a

8:54

little bit. Her family might

8:57

not have been white, but they

8:59

were something equally as important in

9:01

Utah, Mormon. The

9:04

church gave Jen a sense of belonging

9:06

that the rest of the world didn't.

9:09

Her Mormon faith and tight knit family

9:11

got her through the hard times, but

9:14

they also made things a little bit

9:16

more complicated. Both Polynesian

9:19

and Mormon cultures are known

9:21

to have high expectations, especially

9:24

for women. So

9:27

Jen's upbringing was super

9:29

strict. As the oldest

9:31

daughter of six children, she was expected

9:33

to help with housekeeping and take care

9:36

of her siblings. On top

9:38

of all that, she also had

9:40

to get good grades and abide

9:42

by her family's many, many rules.

9:45

To make her family proud,

9:47

Jen pushed herself to exceed

9:49

their expectations. She

9:52

was 17 when she graduated high school in

9:54

1991, but

9:56

unlike the majority of her classmates who went

9:59

on to study. Plus,

22:01

lots of banks and credit

22:03

card companies will issue refunds

22:05

for fraudulent transactions. And

22:08

I promise, there is no shame if

22:10

you end up being duped by one

22:12

of these organizations. These

22:15

scams are well-oiled

22:17

and effective psychological

22:19

manipulation machines. Jen's

22:25

scheme was a particular

22:27

brand of diabolical. The

22:30

majority of her victims were

22:33

elderly retirees looking for ways

22:35

to supplement their fixed income.

22:38

Others were unemployed and

22:40

or disabled. They

22:43

were often isolated and always

22:45

vulnerable, whether it was because

22:47

they were excited and hopeful

22:50

or desperate and uninformed.

22:53

And it worked really well.

22:58

Pretty soon, Jen was making more

23:00

than enough money to support her

23:02

family. Like, way more. Plus, her

23:04

husband, Sharif, was making a cool

23:06

six figures, first through his legal

23:08

work and then as an assistant

23:10

football coach at their alma mater,

23:13

the University of Utah. Not

23:15

only did Jen get to live the

23:17

life of luxury, but she also got

23:19

to play the part of a powerful

23:22

businesswoman. Her family was

23:24

so proud of her and her

23:26

incredible success. But most

23:28

importantly, they finally forgave her for

23:30

what she had done in the

23:32

past. Riding high on

23:35

the backs of all the innocent people

23:37

she was scamming, Jen was

23:39

ready for more. And in

23:41

early 2019, she got

23:43

a chance to be rich and

23:46

famous. When

23:49

Jen was 46, Bravo put

23:51

out a casting call for a new show

23:53

based in Salt Lake City. It

23:56

would be the latest installment of a

23:58

little franchise called... you

24:00

guessed it, the real housewives.

24:03

There was no way Jen Shaw

24:05

wasn't going to be on that

24:08

show. In her casting

24:10

tape, she bragged about flying on a private

24:12

jet and spending $50,000 a month on

24:15

clothing and jewelry. And

24:18

then there was her backstory, the

24:20

adversity she faced as a woman

24:22

of color in Utah, and her

24:24

successful businesses that made her more

24:26

than just a housewife. But

24:28

she wasn't the only female boss who was

24:30

cast. Among the other five

24:32

women, there was a jewelry designer,

24:35

a tequila merchant, and

24:37

the owner of a successful spa.

24:40

One woman even owned a network

24:42

of Pentecostal churches. Jen

24:45

also wasn't the only person of color on

24:47

the show, which meant she wouldn't naturally stand

24:49

out from the crowd. But

24:51

it had never been hard for Jen

24:54

to figure out what characters she needed

24:56

to play to succeed. This

24:59

time, all she had to

25:01

do was lean into the

25:03

diva. Now that she

25:06

could do. She

25:08

hired a full glam team

25:10

that she called the Shaw

25:13

Squad that included a private

25:15

fashion designer. She threw

25:17

insane parties, one of which she

25:19

claimed cost her a cool $80,000.

25:24

And like every good Bravo

25:27

housewife, she got into huge

25:29

fights with basically every other

25:31

cast member. Jen

25:34

was a producer's dream. And

25:37

when the show aired in the fall of 2020, she

25:40

was a pop culture lightning

25:42

rod. Whether you loved

25:44

her or hated her, it was

25:47

Jen's antics that got people to tune

25:49

in to the next episode. But

25:52

there was something else about Jen that set her

25:54

apart from the others. No

25:57

one could really figure out where she

25:59

was going.