Did Jen Shah confirm husband Sharrieff “Coach” Shah‘s involvement in the aftermath of her telemarketing scheme in a leaked text message?
As the Real Housewives of Salt Lake City cast member prepares for her fraud sentencing in January after pleading guilty in July, a 2018 text message has been leaked in which Jen is seen attempting to “coach” former assistant Stuart Smith, who ultimately pled guilty to the scheme last year, through a deposition.
“Still think Coach Shah had no clue what Jen was up to?” podcaster Zack Peter asked in a December 29 tweet. “The Gov released text messages from Jen Shah to Stuart Smith before he had to testify…”
“I’m putting all the questions/answers in an excel doc and I’ll send it to you and you can practice it today,” one text read.
“Sharrieff will help us on any questions we’re unsure of how to best answer or phrase it. I have a list to ask him about,” read another.
According to Zack, Jen was allegedly attempting to coach Stuart through a series of lies to the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), which she hoped would get her off the hook for the fraud and money laundering charges she was facing.
“This is the context: Jen Shah was trying to hide her involvement in the scheme. She was coaching Stuart to LIE to the FTC. Coach Shah was acting as their legal aid, which means… He was aware,” Zack claimed, later clarifying that he was not implying guilt, but rather saying Sharrieff was “not naive.”
In an accompanying document, it was noted that Jen “sent Smith lists of questions and answers he should ‘practice’ and instructed him to ‘save it on your laptop and delete the email,’ and gave him specific instructions on how to falsely answer certain questions … These lies were designed to hide the defendant’s role in the Business Opportunity Scheme.”
“The night before the defendant’s deposition, the defendant went to Smith’s hotel to discuss the deposition and ‘come up with an answer together’ for certain of the questions the defendant anticipated Smith would be asked. The day of the deposition, the defendant waited across the street and texted with Smith throughout the deposition,” the document, filed on December 23, also stated.
In an additional message, which included the same document, Zack further explained the situation involving the Shahs.
“For people STILL confused about the Coach Shah texts [and] how they’re relevant, the Gov used them as supporting evidence to prove Jen Shah got Stu to LIE to the FTC in their investigation to conceal their involvement in the scheme,” he stated.
Although the text appeared to confirm that Sharrieff was involved in Jen’s apparent efforts to clear her name, via Stuart, it remains unclear whether or not he had any knowledge of the telemarketing scheme itself.
The Real Housewives of Salt Lake City season three airs Wednesdays at 8/7c on Bravo.
