Jen Shah’s assistant Stuart Smith, who has worked with Jen for 12 years and can often be seen on Real Housewives of Salt Lake City was arrested at his home in Lehi, Utah on the same day at Jen this March for their roles in an alleged telemarketing scam that targeted older, more vulnerable people. What did Stuart do for Jen?
When we see Stuart Smith on camera, Jen Shah is usually thanking him for being loyal to her and for making her money, but she never elaborates about what Stuart does.
On the Michelle Collins Show, Jen said that Stuart was “all-in” with her and would “literally do anything” she asked of him.
Sometimes Stuart can be seen holding her handbag or driving her around, but what he does seems to be far more complex and involved in her business than everyday assisting. In one scene for the show Jen Shah gives Stu some food while he works on a laptop and tells him “While you make money, I feed you.”
“Stuart is more than a business partner,” Jen says about him in another scene, remaining vague. “He is very loyal.”
In the Hulu documentary The Housewife and the Shah Shocker the framework for what Jen and Stuart are charged with doing is outlined. Jen Shah has pled “not guilty” to the crimes she is charged with and faces trial next year.
In essence, the alleged scam they have ties to generates leads for telemarketing through Facebook ads advertising web and tech services, and help for running a small business. When someone clicks on the ads and gives all the extensive information asked, that information may be sold to a telemarketing firm that seeks to sell the “lead” (or mark) services that don’t exist.
The calls can be incessant and they can ask for all of someone’s financial information, including their credit card limits and the amount of money in their retirement accounts. Their victims are usually older people with some access to money they need to live on who are interested in starting a small business and the scammers capitalize on the victim’s lack of tech knowledge.
Jen Shah and Stuart Smith may be connected to this decade-long scheme through Mastery Pro, one of their shell companies.
UPDATE: As of November, 2021 Stuart Smith changed his plea to guilty.
