S02.E10: Highway to Vail

[SweetieDarling]

11 hours ago, Keywestclubkid said:

Ya know she was lying about internal bleeding 

Lol they attack her goodie bag love it 

Let the body get cold first! 😂

[SweetieDarling]

Lol atHeather 's comment about Jen's business,  "...I didn't know it was illegal, I just thought it was, like, unsavory"

[pasdetrois]

7 hours ago, Cheezwiz said:

Eh, she wasn't describing anything more than what I have picked up myself watching HBO crime shows like Breaking Bad or Ozark.

Agreed here. Many people understand how money laundering works because of the media and Internet.

I thought all of the housewives but Jennie seemed to quickly grasp what was going on. That's because they all had suspicions about Jen. Same obvious conclusions as Erika Jane - the large influxes of money and flashy spending made no sense. 

It's curious that very little information has appeared in the media since Jen's arrest. Feds must be keeping a tight lid on the case?

Despite her fake anguish, Lisa managed to mention that she had six lawyers "on salary." As if it substantiates her wealth and importance. She's another one whose business is suspicious.

Edited November 15, 2021 by pasdetrois

[Alonzo Mosely FBI]

Honestly all this discussion of money laundering for JenShah is totally enlightening. I hope the issue being amplified on Bravo gives new shade to Erika Jayne's mess because she is a shady piece of work. Kudos to ALL of the RHOSLC for reacting the way they did and raising questions. NONE of the RHOBH (except Sutton and Garcelle) did and they should feel shame! 

[bosawks]

The most shocking thing for me out of the dual Erika/Jen scandals is that if I had to choose which HoWife I needed to read and summarize the content of the articles regarding said scandals I would pick Whitney..........

[Slider]

12 hours ago, TexasGal said:

Lisa sobbing, that she feels so bad for Jen and Stuart.  Ummmm….yeah, maybe feel bad for their victims?  (Allegedly TM Erika Jayne)

I'm going to give her the benefit of the doubt because this is happening in real time for the women, and they don't know about the victims yet.  More comes out about that later, and THEN I think they should change their tune, but to have their vehicle surrounded by the Feds/several different agencies, in that moment I understand her worry for Jen and Stuart.  Fast forward to current day? Yeah, forget them.  Worry about the victims, which we now know are plentiful.

[WhatAmIWatching]

13 hours ago, Straycat80 said:

I’m impressed Bravo was there for the search warrant. I do feel bad for Jen’s kids but now the question is did Coach Shah know what his wife was up to? Was he part of this fraud? He had to know they lived way above what he makes as a coach. 

The ring cam footage of the kids (and someone else?) being led out of the house with their arms up just killed me. The cops were armed! How terrifying for them! The kids didn't even have warm clothes on, and outside looked cold. This made me loathe Jen even more.

* Isn't that house just a rental for filming? Did they swarm her real house too?

I believe Coach was the one who called her, though I wonder if the feds had him do it or if he did it on the sly? I am on the fence whether he knew anything or not. He's possibly so disengaged (TM Mere) that he had no idea and didn't care.

Dang, Whitney, and her shady business knowledge, I was impressed! I realized I would be an unsuccessful criminal if I wanted to try it, I didn't know any of that info! I need to watch more crime shows I guess 🤷‍♀️ 

I wonder if Jen will scream, threaten and bare her teeth at Lisa for calling her stable of lawyers, a la Erika? Lisa freaking out to that degree set my crim-dar pinging. She really needs to practice her fake cry, though, it's not believable.

 

Mary speaking on fleecing the vulnerable almost made me throw my shoe at the tv. Let's hope she's the next take down on our tv's and then maaaaybe Lisa, as something seems off there, too.

Edited November 15, 2021 by WhatAmIWatching
I hate auto correct almost as much as I hate Jen

[drivethroo]

1 hour ago, Slider said:

I'm going to give her the benefit of the doubt because this is happening in real time for the women, and they don't know about the victims yet.  More comes out about that later, and THEN I think they should change their tune, but to have their vehicle surrounded by the Feds/several different agencies, in that moment I understand her worry for Jen and Stuart.  Fast forward to current day? Yeah, forget them.  Worry about the victims, which we now know are plentiful.

Whitney looked immediately disgusted when she read the phone and saw Jen had been charged with swindling old people.

I don't know why Mary was looking disgusted when tithes & offerings* are doing the same thing Jen is doing.

15 minutes ago, WhatAmIWatching said:

I wonder if Jen will scream, threaten and bare her teeth at Lisa for calling her stable of lawyers, a la Erika? Lisa freaking out to that degree set my crim-dar pinging. She really needs to practice her fake cry, though, it's not believable.

I noticed Jen didn't have those box braids when she was crying at her lawyer's office.  Everybody wanna be black until it's time to be black.

Lisa probably invested in some of Jen's businesses and that's why she was calling her army of lawyers.

*You should tithe/offer to the church but not to the extent of what they claim Mary was having her flock do.

[sugarbaker design]

42 minutes ago, WhatAmIWatching said:

The ring cam footage of the kids (and someone else?) being led out of the house with their arms up just killed me. The cops were armed! How terrifying for them! The kids didn't even have warm clothes on, and outside looked cold. This made me loathe Jen even more.

It made me loathe law enforcement!  Wasn't that a little bit of overkill?  Jen's being charged with fraud, not a violent crime, while they were locked and loaded for Tony Montana.

On WWHL, Heather said the people being led out of the house was Jen's son and nephew.

Edited November 15, 2021 by sugarbaker design

[heatherchandler]

10 hours ago, drivethroo said:

Money laundering is when you have dirty (illegal) money and you "wash" it to make it clean (legal). If you had $150K in dirty money, you could make a bunch of small deposits in a bunch of different banks.  If you deposit $5000 into Bank of America, BOA doesn't care.  If you deposit $7500 into Suntrust, Suntrust isn't going to care.  But if you deposited the entire $150K into Capital One, Capital One is going to report you and your deposit to the federal government.  I want to say the trigger amount is around the $10,000 mark.

I just deposited a $200,000 check (for my job) last month and the teller had to get special approval from the bank manager to make the deposit.  The teller knew me, the bank manager knows me and they both knew who I was depositing the check for but still had to go through those procedures.

Another way to launder money is to buy real estate: Johnny is selling his house, I buy Johnny's house with the dirty $150K in a private cash sale, the bank sees Johnny get $150K because he sold his house and they keep it moving.  Later, I sell the house for $160K.  The bank sees the reason I have $160K is because I sold a house and they keep it moving.

You could also, as Whitney stated, wash that dirty money in a business, preferably one that deals with cash (laundromats, restaurants, beauty salons, service type businesses).

I would think the money laundering via LV / luxury goods would work like this:

• Buy the LV bag in (dirty) cash
• Resell it 
• Or she could have returned the bag for a refund

LV would flag it because if you were really rich and high rolling you would slam down your credit card to buy the bag, not slam down some cash.  Paying for handbags that cost thousands in cash is very suspicious.  I doubt she was reselling via eBay because I think after a certain amount eBay would 1099 you.

Jen probably had numerous bank accounts to wash the dirty money in that Coach Shah had no idea about and those accounts may not have been in her name.  She might have set up fake LLCs and the bank account was in the LLCs name.

I am surprised more people don't know more about money laundering.  I work at a bank, and I still got most of my money laundering knowledge from Breaking Bad.  I think they laid it out well in that show, that they needed to make the money legitimate by owning a cash business and creating fake invoices.  

I also remember the funniest part in Office Space, when they pull out the dictionary to look up money laundering, and still don't understand it.

I am sure she is buying the bags and shoes and whatever other LV crap as a way to park the money.  Instead of putting the money in her mattress, she buys the bags, and as a bonus she gets to show off.  This makes me think that she was raking in SO MUCH MONEY that she wasn't able to launder it all.  Which is obscene.

 

 

9 hours ago, greeneyedscorpio said:

I thought it was interesting that they were talking about how you can launder money through setting up new businesses and they were all, "Ohhhhh, that's why she has so many businesses".  Meanwhile, Lisa has bragged all season about how many businesses she owns.  🤔 

 

Lisa mentioned (maybe on the reunion) that she does business with Jen, so I am sure she is freaking the f out.  I bet she bought some "leads" from her.  I don't see her knowing about Jen's crimes, but maybe there is willful ignorance.  I don't think she did anything illegal, and I am sure that if she did, she would have been arrested.  

 

14 minutes ago, sugarbaker design said:

It made me loathe law enforcement!  Wasn't that a little bit of overkill?  Jen's being charged with fraud, not a violent crime, while they were locked and loaded for Tony Montana.

On WWHL, Heather said the people being led out of the house was Jen's son and nephew.

 

Jen or her husband must have a registered weapon, if someone has a registered gun, the police don't take chances for their own safety, and the safety of the others in the house.  You never know who is going to decide they don't want to go to jail and they are just going to end it all.

I am sure they put the kids in warm cars, I think they just needed to get them out of the house asap, which is typical when there is a warrant.

 

53 minutes ago, WhatAmIWatching said:

 

* Isn't that house just a rental for filming? Did they swarm her real house too?

 

Here is the article about their real house (no addresses)-

https://allaboutthetea.com/2021/04/05/shocking-pics-of-indicted-rhoslc-star-jen-shahs-dilapidated-house/

It is obviously not as huge, large and grand (tm vickie gunvalson) as the rented Shah Chalet, but it is not dilapidated, as some people on SM have called it.  🤣

 

[drivethroo]

31 minutes ago, sugarbaker design said:

It made me loathe law enforcement!  Wasn't that a little bit of overkill?  Jen's being charged with fraud, not a violent crime, while they were locked and loaded for Tony Montana.

Be mad at Jen and her fellow scammers, not law enforcement. Jen had 4 different agencies coming for her, we know she's not violent (but do we?) but the cops don't know that.  Her children/nephew could have been shot/killed by the police (especially since they are not white) but that's not on the cops ---that's on Jen and her criminal lifestyle.

7 minutes ago, heatherchandler said:

It is obviously not as huge, large and grand (tm vickie gunvalson) as the rented Shah Chalet, but it is not dilapidated, as some people on SM have called it.

That house just needs a power wash.  LOL

[bichonblitz]

10 hours ago, Cheezwiz said:

I want to know more about where they think Jen might have gone the night she ditched the uber that Heather had arranged for her.

Yeah, that is super sketchy and I want to know alllll about it! Shady,shady Jen! 

[sugarbaker design]

16 minutes ago, drivethroo said:

Be mad at Jen and her fellow scammers, not law enforcement. Jen had 4 different agencies coming for her, we know she's not violent (but do we?) but the cops don't know that.  Her children/nephew could have been shot/killed by the police (especially since they are not white) but that's not on the cops ---that's on Jen and her criminal lifestyle.

We're just going to have to agree to disagree on that one.  

[greeneyedscorpio]

3 hours ago, pasdetrois said:

Agreed here. Many people understand how money laundering works because of the media and Internet.

I thought all of the housewives but Jennie seemed to quickly grasp what was going on. That's because they all had suspicions about Jen. Same obvious conclusions as Erika Jane - the large influxes of money and flashy spending made no sense. 

It's curious that very little information has appeared in the media since Jen's arrest. Feds must be keeping a tight lid on the case?

Despite her fake anguish, Lisa managed to mention that she had six lawyers "on salary." As if it substantiates her wealth and importance. She's another one whose business is suspicious.

Lisa also says stupid stuff like, when they were raiding the snack bag, "Don't worry, I can afford to replace it".  I know that was sarcasm, but also, when they were talking about the green clutch that Jen's employee lifted from Meredith's store, Lisa had to chime in, "oh yeah, those are cute.  I have 3 of them in different colors".  Just always having to make sure everyone knows how rich she is.  

[KateHearts]

15 hours ago, Saph said:

"Eti-QUIT."  Stay classy, Mary. 🙄

Also: “she definitely fleed"- haha

[JenE4]

That was pure art! I don’t have the time or patience to do it now, but that was the perfect episode to just watch scene by scene and absorb the absurdity of everyone’s reactions. 

It’s a close call, but Meredith “wins” the episode for me. She was SO damn smug and over-the-top by greeting her guests and dismissing Jen’s crimes while taking a bath. First of all, she had time to get out while directing Mary in a game of Marco Polo throughout the house. But then when she says to Mary, oh, let me get out before the other girls come, and then she refreshes the water and bubbles instead!! And not only was the bubble bath a gimmick, but she just acted so smug and condescending—while at first pretending like she was away from her phone and acted like she didn’t know what was happening. So you find out from a FaceTime call and then run to the bathtub for a dramatic tableau?! And let me just drop these details like a slow drip down the drain.

Mary who was just so disturbed that someone would have the poor et-I-QUIT to take advantage of elderly and poor people—while we have heard audio of berating her congregation for being poor and not spending enough on her birthday present! Not even like on the church—which we know she’s stealing from the collection plate—but literally spend more money on ME! And here she is decked out in her designer fits and drippin in jewels from pilfered church money, like Jen has the audacity!! 👀

Another one who might be third on HSI’s watch list is Lisa “6 lawyers on retainer” with her potentially alleged (by me) shell companies in her child’s name…which is more of a red flag than spending cash in LV. She was the “Sutton” of this episode calling all of her lawyers to ensure she can’t somehow get roped into this—while dropping little speculative bombs that there’s “other people” involved—because the crimes Jen committed isn’t  the problem, it matters who told the police where she was. That’s the real crime to be solved! 

Meanwhile, just the facts for Whitney! Yes, this is how money laundering could work—but this article lays out these facts, and here’s some more breaking news…

That’s breaking Heather’s heart! The kids! Can’t we just think of what poor Jen’s family is going through?

Nope, says Jenny. There’s nothing we can do about it, so we might as well get our party on—Jen doesn’t need this candy in prison. Are we leaving yet? There’s no need for me to go home to my terrible husband and too perfect kids—the woman is in jail, so let’s go to Vail!

Though Jen missed filming, we get pieces of her from TMZ footage leaving the courthouse and as pieced together by news articles and phone conversations with husbands.

Even the background characters were hilarious and over the top. The “experience curator” who I guess was like the house concierge—but she drinks the champagne WiTH you instead of just pouring it FOR you? This Vice President of the rental company giving the grand tour? It’s probably like a 3-person office, but these job titles were cracking me up. That and how the group of agents who showed up to the bus WEARING JEANS, somehow became a SWAT team in the retellings. Granted, it looked like more of a SWAT Team scenario when they showed up at Jen’s house, but without that ring cam footage, they didn’t know that yet in their minute-by-minute re-enactment of the day.

And aside from that scene of Mary, which came off more as a “pot meet kettle” farce, overall there was lots of sympathy for Jen and her family, lots of speculation on who called the police, some on where Jen got her money—sugar daddies?? But not a single lament offered up for the victims. There was a little shock and murmer in response to Whitney reading off the detail of the vulnerable and speculating that Jen can cut her data by demographics such as age of disability, but that was more speculating on how Jen’s business worked. Since “thoughts for the victims” was such a big factor and storyline on RHBH, it was noticeably lacking in this first real crime installment of RHSLC that everyone was more focused on Jen and her family. I mean, I guess it makes sense since they JUST found out, so I’m interested in fallout during the course of the season.

[pasdetrois]

24 minutes ago, JenE4 said:

The “experience curator”

Comedy gold, that title. Thanks for the reminder.

Also, this gang doesn't know SWAT.

Quote

it was noticeably lacking in this first real crime installment of RHSLC that everyone was more focused on Jen and her family.

The housewives very much have a circle-the-wagons mentality when facing news of a scofflaw in their midst.

Also, I'm pretty sure Heather and Whitney knew this might be coming, in addition to Meredith. And I'm pretty sure Heather's buried-face-in-hands was in aid of fake crying. She stayed down there a long time.

Edited November 15, 2021 by pasdetrois

[StillHere]

2 hours ago, drivethroo said:

Be mad at Jen and her fellow scammers, not law enforcement. Jen had 4 different agencies coming for her, we know she's not violent (but do we?) but the cops don't know that.  Her children/nephew could have been shot/killed by the police (especially since they are not white) but that's not on the cops ---that's on Jen and her criminal lifestyle.

Nope.

It's on Jen and the 4 agencies. If the cops were investigating Jen for an extended period they should be aware of who and who isn't in the home.  Money laundering doesn't warrant a SWAT team. 

[Keywestclubkid]

5 minutes ago, StillHere said:

Nope.

It's on Jen and the 4 agencies. If the cops were investigating Jen for an extended period they should be aware of who and who isn't in the home.  Money laundering doesn't warrant a SWAT team. 

My house was raided 6 years ago because of an old roommate (had no clue he was on the registry side note always check the registry when you get new roommates just saying) at 5am guns drawn screaming hands up Homeland security.. there were no guns in the house no weapons of any kinda ....I still freak out some times late at night when I hear something outside thinking something is out there (PTSD is real)    

[heatherchandler]

59 minutes ago, StillHere said:

Nope.

It's on Jen and the 4 agencies. If the cops were investigating Jen for an extended period they should be aware of who and who isn't in the home.  Money laundering doesn't warrant a SWAT team. 

I look at it from all points of view.  The HS agents and NYPD, etc go into those situations wanting to go home to their families.  So many of those raids turn ugly because it involves a criminal, and they sometimes don't want to go quietly. 

Jen is responsible for her family.  She is responsible for committing crimes just so she could show off her ill-gotten gains to the world.  What a warped person.

I don't think she was thinking of how this would affect her family when she was stealing from vulnerable victims.

The more I think about it, the more angry I get, at her!  She stole from the poor and gave to the rich. 

 

[bosawks]

No matter what else happens I will always respect the commitment to road-trip snacking during this terrible time….

[eelpout]

3 hours ago, heatherchandler said:

4 hours ago, StillHere said:

Nope.

It's on Jen and the 4 agencies. If the cops were investigating Jen for an extended period they should be aware of who and who isn't in the home.  Money laundering doesn't warrant a SWAT team. 

I look at it from all points of view.  The HS agents and NYPD, etc go into those situations wanting to go home to their families.  So many of those raids turn ugly because it involves a criminal, and they sometimes don't want to go quietly. 

Apparently, law enforcement, forthwith known as "Heather's Po Po Squad," showing up armed like that isn't unusual in Utah, as it's a concealed carry state and they have regs for serving warrants.

[amarante]

The police always need to be armed and show a strong physical presence when they are arresting someone at a house. How do they know what is going to happen in a house when they announce themselves. Logically Jen isn't violent but how do they actually know who is in the house and what the reaction would be.

Best practice is to have overwhelming show of force and not have to use it. As things go it was pretty minor.

I think they wanted to pick her up specifically in the parking lot because it was safe and open.

From what I have read arresting someone in their home is considered high risk. Many times the police will wait until the person comes out of the house unaware and take him or her down since they can accurately access the danger and move quickly to neutralize any threat. 

[FlyingEgret]

It was refreshing to see them all (or most of them) reading the initial article regarding the arrest. Granted it wasn't the LA Times, but I am sure neither Kyle or Rinna (RHoBH) would have been able to finish this one either...

[howiveaddict]

Didn't Mary fly to Vail because of a migraine?  And then she is jumping on the bed.  I think she just didn't want to ride in the van with those people. Then she has that guy  ( uber driver?) carry in her tiny bag that she could very well carry her self.  I hope she is the next one to get her criminal comeupance.

 

[NoWhammies]

Mary is saying some shit about Jen that seems like it could come back to bite her in the ass when her time comes. That will be fun to watch in flashbacks.

[ChelleGame]

These financial shenanigans are so wild to me. I can't imagine keeping track of all the nonsense. Once it gets big you have to let other people in, and the more people makes it even more risky. Too much stress. Late fees at the library spin me out. I'd lose all my marbles over this.

Until I was ready to buy a house, I never applied for credit cards. I'm a shopper and didn't trust myself. When they ran my credit for the loan, the Loan Agents left the room had a hushed conversation and then the manager came in and closed the door. She asked if I was in Witness Protection or on the run. Said that my absolute lack of credit (good or bad) was the profile of a terrorist.

I was shocked shitless by that.

So many flags you don't know about until...you tumble into one. I was forced to get credit cards and pay them for a year before I could buy the condo.

Anyway.

What was going on with Mary's skin/face/makeup in that bath tub scene? The lower half of her face looked to be covered in mud. She's an odd odd duck.

[HotHW]

13 hours ago, sugarbaker design said:

It made me loathe law enforcement!  Wasn't that a little bit of overkill?  Jen's being charged with fraud, not a violent crime, while they were locked and loaded for Tony Montana.

Well we don't know what the charges are/were at the time or what law enforcement was expecting to find so I'll save my disgust for the alleged criminal(s) (aka their mother), not the officers there to do their jobs.

Jen can also miss me with the crying over her sons and what they may experience someday on the streets bla bla bla...when she is the one putting them in the line of fire with the police,.. literally! 

[gwen747]

I thought it was so hilarious that the Feds kept saying that they just wanted to make sure that Jen "was Ok".  Give me a break. 

[Chatty Cake]

Were Heather and Lisa pretend crying or were they real laughing? Since we rarely see tears  (unless one has on non waterproof mascara) it’s hard to tell. Also the way a face full of filler looks when attempting to cry is enough to cause alarm. I felt like they were laughing. 
Jennie was happy that the trip was still happening. So happy that there was no need for her to act concerned about a thing. 
Meredith told producers “I want to be in a bubble bath when I have the Jen conversation. I’ll refresh the bath so I can do the scene twice.”

 

 

[heatherchandler]

4 hours ago, Chatty Cake said:

Meredith told producers “I want to be in a bubble bath when I have the Jen conversation. I’ll refresh the bath so I can do the scene twice.”

 

 

I could see Brooks telling Meredith, "you are unbothered by Jen, so unbothered that you... what's the most relaxing thing you could be doing?? I know, drinking and taking a bath!"  And she was like, "that's a good idea!"  So she set the scene.  Which turned into scene(s) because Mary got there frst.

 

[StillHere]

20 hours ago, heatherchandler said:

I look at it from all points of view.  The HS agents and NYPD, etc go into those situations wanting to go home to their families.  So many of those raids turn ugly because it involves a criminal, and they sometimes don't want to go quietly. 

Jen is responsible for her family.  She is responsible for committing crimes just so she could show off her ill-gotten gains to the world.  What a warped person.

I don't think she was thinking of how this would affect her family when she was stealing from vulnerable victims.

The more I think about it, the more angry I get, at her!  She stole from the poor and gave to the rich. 

 

Were the Giudice daughters ordered out their home at gunpoint in 2013?

[JenE4]

2 hours ago, heatherchandler said:

I could see Brooks telling Meredith, "you are unbothered by Jen, so unbothered that you... what's the most relaxing thing you could be doing?? I know, drinking and taking a bath!"  And she was like, "that's a good idea!"  So she set the scene.  Which turned into scene(s) because Mary got there frst.

 

That’s a good guess. I was thinking the lady who was working there “curated the experience” of drawing a bubble bath. But Meredith for sure was committed to this laissez-faire demeanor and aesthetics of the bubble bath. She must have been a shriveled prune after, what, probably 2 hours minimum of greeting her guests and gossiping about Jen from the tub?

[heatherchandler]

20 minutes ago, StillHere said:

Were the Giudice daughters ordered out their home at gunpoint in 2013?

There was a raid on the Guidice home, it just wasn't filmed.  If New Jersey protocol is to have the agents armed, then I am sure they were.  It was a different kind of raid, as they were not looking for Teresa, they were looking for items.  The agents found cash and jewelry, and confiscated it.  I remember this because Teresa was mostly upset that they took the kids' Christmas presents.

[MaggieG]

This episode was pretty epic. It was very interesting seeing everything unfold in real time. When the news hit that she got arrested and then all of them started talking about her business and how they couldn't understand where her money came from, that plus Meredith being completely unbothered by her arrest was everything I needed to wash the taste of BH from my mouth. Their dinner when they spilled all the tea was great, I loved how Heather said that even with everything that happened she still hadn't lost her appetite. 

[sugarbaker design]

14 minutes ago, MaggieG said:

I loved how Heather said that even with everything that happened she still hadn't lost her appetite. 

In an ocean of phoniness, Heather always charms with her self-awareness.

[amarante]

1 hour ago, StillHere said:

Were the Giudice daughters ordered out their home at gunpoint in 2013?

There was a negotiated deal where they turned themselves in.

This wouldn't be appropriate in the Jen situation because the Feds needed to make sure that any records weren't destroyed. With Teresa the indictment and arrest was based on documents in possession of the government so there wasn't the need for surprise. They had tax returns and the signed bankruptcy petition.

This also was true when various people were arrested who were involved in election and other fraudulent stuff during the last administration. These were also theoretically white collar criminals who theoretically weren't "gangsters" but that is considered to be what is done if you have to arrest someone in their home because anyone can potentially go "crazy" and the police are at high risk when they go to a home with unknown occupants in a volatile situation. 

I am really somewhat shocked that people are finding the police's actions to be inappropriate. Maybe Jen should have considered that her kids would have been better off living on Coach's $300,000 or so salary and a legitimate job for Jen rather than engaging in a massive criminal enterprise in which the most vulnerable members of society were specifically targeted. 

As others have pointed out (including some of the housewives) Jen's lifestyle was so completely over the top that it made no sense if one thought about it. Even wealthy professionals don't spend on that level. The other housewives live a nice upper middle class lifestyle more or less and have some expensive luxury items but Jen was literally throwing money away as if she was Mariah Carey or Jennifer Lopez - trying to pick someone who can well afford any kind of over the top lavish lifestyle they want. 

It is no different than why Erika from Beverly Hills had a lifestyle that was suspicious if anyone cared to think about it at all. Lawyers - even successful class action lawyers like Garardi theoretically was - don't have the financial means to live the kind of lifestyle she was based on their legal fees.

[Starlight925]

 I was shocked and impressed at the clear explanation Whitney gave as to the nature of Jen's business.  Selling lists of vulnerable people to those who have subscription services where their credit cards can be charged ad infinitum, while Jen takes a cut, was the clearest explanation I'd heard.

We all get these "subscription" things in our Spam folders, and when we do notice a continuing charge, we call the 800 number, wait on hold for eternity, ask for the supervisor, get put on hold for another hour, finally get told the charge will be reversed/stopped, only to see it appear on our next bill, and have to go through the whole process again.  The lists of people that Jen sells to these disreputable companies have neither the full understanding, nor the wherewithal, to go through all of this.

Heck, I just spent almost an hour getting an erroneous $1.75 toll charge removed from my bill.  Turns out, the city toll plaza photo was fuzzy and nighttime, and when the supervisor got a clearer image of the black sedan that went through without a tag but with what looked like my license plate number (it was not), it was clearly not my white SUV, and the license plate number was not mine.  One hour for $1.75.

A friend's parents passed away, and she spent months cancelling all of the stupid subscriptions that were reappearing on their cards.

What a pile of cr*p Jen is for not only participating in this, but for showing off her lifestyle funded by this nonsense.

As for the armed agents taking her sons out with their hands up?  Good for them.  Sorry, but they had no idea if anyone in the home was armed.  What I saw were armed agents, calmly and peacefully removing two people without hurting them or even raising their voices at them.  Jen is to blame, not these officers.

Edited November 16, 2021 by Starlight925

[sugarbaker design]

1 minute ago, Starlight925 said:

A friend's parents passed away, and she spent months cancelling all of the stupid subscriptions that were reappearing on their cards.

I don't mean to be contrary about a sensitive subject, but why didn't they just cancel the cards if the parents had passed?

[Starlight925]

4 minutes ago, sugarbaker design said:

I don't mean to be contrary about a sensitive subject, but why didn't they just cancel the cards if the parents had passed?

Cancelling the cards doesn't cancel the debt. 

The bank that carries the credit card still wants their money, active card or not.

The bank goes after the estate, and if the will is in probate, that can take months or well into a year.

Both of my parents passed in the last 2 years.  We had no probate, but there was debt that we had to negotiate with the card companies.  The very first thing I did was cancel the cards, but the debt remained.

This is why what Jen does is, what she thinks, ingenious.  Often, a person can pass, yet their card gets charged each month until SOMEONE cancels the card, which yes, will cancel the monthly recurring charge.  But only if the person who passed gives SOMEONE in their family or friends access to their accounts.  I mean, if an elderly person dies with no close relatives or friends, often these cards continue for many many months until the card company realizes they're not getting paid.  Which equals continued Louis Vuitton cash for Jen.

Edited November 16, 2021 by Starlight925

[amarante]

1 hour ago, sugarbaker design said:

I don't mean to be contrary about a sensitive subject, but why didn't they just cancel the cards if the parents had passed?

Also they might not be dead but just not being on top of their finances.

And it isn't just subscriptions that are sold. I wouldn't be surprised if some of Jen's associates were involved in the REALLY dark side of elder scams. The ones where they call and say their grandchild is in jail and can they send cash Western Union to bail them out. Or the ones that find an old person who is lonely and they do some kind of long term scam. Or hey - maybe buy Mary's list of her gullible parishoners of other people involved with insane culty churches and sell them Jesus Juice and other miracle cures. There was a bunch of scams marketed to the gullible fo COVID cures and preventative potions like colloidal serums.

Even if a senior is still not senile, it becomes exhausting to try to keep on top of things. My father was not a target for scam artists but he reached a point where I took over his finances because he just didn't have the mental energy to review bills and stuff like that. 

And some of the scams are pretty sophisticated. I was once visiting him and picked up a call claiming to be from the IRS. It really seemed legitimate except I know that the IRS doesn't call you - they send you a letter advising you that they are reviewing something and need further documents or whatever. If I who trust NO ONE had to think about whether it was legitimate I can imagine how many vulnerable people are deceived.

ETA - Also there is a LOT of identity theft because they con the seniors (or other gullible people) into giving them personal information like SS# or banking information. Anybody can be fooled of course but seniors are more vulnerable to these kinds of scams and fraudsters which is why leads for them would be more valuable for scammers.

I mean this kind of targeting is done all the time. We receive ads based on our google searches and websites we visit. 

And ads in television will be targeted based on perceived audience. There is a reason why golf tournaments on the weekend have ads for investment retirement funds and Cadillacs or Mercedes because the demographic of the programs skews disproportionately to affluence white men. 

Edited November 16, 2021 by amarante

[candle96]

21 minutes ago, amarante said:

Also they might not be dead but just not being on top of their finances.

And it isn't just subscriptions that are sold. I wouldn't be surprised if some of Jen's associates were involved in the REALLY dark side of elder scams. The ones where they call and say their grandchild is in jail and can they send cash Western Union to bail them out. Or the ones that find an old person who is lonely and they do some kind of long term scam. Or hey - maybe buy Mary's list of her gullible parishoners of other people involved with insane culty churches and sell them Jesus Juice and other miracle cures. There was a bunch of scams marketed to the gullible fo COVID cures and preventative potions like colloidal serums.

Even if a senior is still not senile, it becomes exhausting to try to keep on top of things. My father was not a target for scam artists but he reached a point where I took over his finances because he just didn't have the mental energy to review bills and stuff like that. 

And some of the scams are pretty sophisticated. I was once visiting him and picked up a call from the IRS. It really seemed legitimate except I know that the IRS doesn't call you - they send you a letter advising you that they are reviewing something and need further documents or whatever. 

A friend's mom got caught up in a scam, where they claimed to be the FBI, threatening to arrest here if she didn't pay for something (what, I don't know). She's a nurse, not a dumb woman at all, and not senile or suffering from dementia. But she was married up until a few years ago and her ex-husband was the one in charge of finances. She got scared and essentially gave away her life savings. Fortunately my friend and friend's husband make very good money and are working out a way to support her.

[Morgalisa]

On 11/14/2021 at 9:03 PM, rlc said:

With as much money as Mary has swindled from her ‘congregation’, surely she can afford a better looking wig.

Or just comb it for goodness sake.

[WhatAmIWatching]

6 hours ago, amarante said:

Also they might not be dead but just not being on top of their finances.

And it isn't just subscriptions that are sold. I wouldn't be surprised if some of Jen's associates were involved in the REALLY dark side of elder scams. The ones where they call and say their grandchild is in jail and can they send cash Western Union to bail them out. Or the ones that find an old person who is lonely and they do some kind of long term scam. Or hey - maybe buy Mary's list of her gullible parishoners of other people involved with insane culty churches and sell them Jesus Juice and other miracle cures. There was a bunch of scams marketed to the gullible fo COVID cures and preventative potions like colloidal serums.

Even if a senior is still not senile, it becomes exhausting to try to keep on top of things. My father was not a target for scam artists but he reached a point where I took over his finances because he just didn't have the mental energy to review bills and stuff like that. 

And some of the scams are pretty sophisticated. I was once visiting him and picked up a call claiming to be from the IRS. It really seemed legitimate except I know that the IRS doesn't call you - they send you a letter advising you that they are reviewing something and need further documents or whatever. If I who trust NO ONE had to think about whether it was legitimate I can imagine how many vulnerable people are deceived.

ETA - Also there is a LOT of identity theft because they con the seniors (or other gullible people) into giving them personal information like SS# or banking information. Anybody can be fooled of course but seniors are more vulnerable to these kinds of scams and fraudsters which is why leads for them would be more valuable for scammers.

I mean this kind of targeting is done all the time. We receive ads based on our google searches and websites we visit. 

And ads in television will be targeted based on perceived audience. There is a reason why golf tournaments on the weekend have ads for investment retirement funds and Cadillacs or Mercedes because the demographic of the programs skews disproportionately to affluence white men. 

A few years before he passed, my dear 90+ year old grandpa got the long-term phone scam, I think posted about it somewhere on here before. They hounded him constantly and pressured him all day and into the late evenings for months and months. It was the lottery/Nigerian Prince type scam via landline. He kept it a secret from my dad until it got to be too much.  
   Law enforcement got two of the players, but weren't able to get the top dog. Unfortunately, they got his life savings, and law enforcement couldn't get any of it back. 

  I have great hate and disgust for anyone who preys on the vulnerable. I hope Jen and her cronies suffer and rot. The only people I have compassion for are her kids (and maybe Coach if he wasn't involved).

 

My husband would fall for all the scams. He's not stupid, but he gets very flustered, and is far too trusting. It's good he has me, the most cynical, distrustful person ever watching his back, otherwise he'd click all the links and give his info out to whoever sounds official 😆 

[TheCouchPotato]

Mary needs to use some of that wealth and invest in a good wig. 
 

Edited November 17, 2021 by TheCouchPotato

[Bossa Nova]

On 11/15/2021 at 10:41 PM, NoWhammies said:

Mary is saying some shit about Jen that seems like it could come back to bite her in the ass when her time comes. That will be fun to watch in flashbacks.

Among many things this episode......

Kept watching Mary's reactions very closely.

Next. Hopefully. 

 

[phoenix780]

This was a good episode. I'm sad we didn't get this with Teresa back in the day. For now, I'm choosing to think Meredith tipped off the Feds, because that's the most interesting story to me. 

I have mixed up feelings about our justice system right now, so I found myself with those who thought the sheer amount of law enforcement going for Jen Shah was overboard. What she probably did was awful, I intellectually understand the logic behind a show of force, but...people who did stuff I think is way worse were brought to court with less fanfare. I can't get past that to think this was warranted, though it did make for compelling television. 

Lisa seems to name her feelings instead of show them, like she's trying to conjure them up, and I have no clue what she really felt, but I thought Heather was genuinely upset. I also felt like there was something oddly authentic in Meredith's theatrical bathtime reaction sequence. 

I need the next part of the story. I'm glad it's able to play out on camera, instead of the usual reality thing where the real stuff goes unaired to fuel speculation and keep people talking. 

[Chatty Cake]

On 11/15/2021 at 8:57 AM, Alonzo Mosely FBI said:

Honestly all this discussion of money laundering for JenShah is totally enlightening. I hope the issue being amplified on Bravo gives new shade to Erika Jayne's mess because she is a shady piece of work. Kudos to ALL of the RHOSLC for reacting the way they did and raising questions. NONE of the RHOBH (except Sutton and Garcelle) did and they should feel shame! 

I think in the case of BH, the ladies are scared of Erika for some reason and also it was Erikas husband accused of scamming and defrauding. The BH ladies are playing the did she know anything game.

With Jen she is the accused. They were very quick to believe Jen was guilty. Nobody was doing the Kyle fake shock open mouth.  I felt like the Salt Lake City ladies were almost gleeful. 
 

[NoWhammies]

1 hour ago, Chatty Cake said:

I think in the case of BH, the ladies are scared of Erika for some reason and also it was Erikas husband accused of scamming and defrauding. The BH ladies are playing the did she know anything game.

With Jen she is the accused. They were very quick to believe Jen was guilty. Nobody was doing the Kyle fake shock open mouth.  I felt like the Salt Lake City ladies were almost gleeful. 
 

I have a few thoughts about what the difference is and/or might be between Erika and Jen and their relative castmates' reactions. 

• Erika's husband is the one who has for sure committed the crimes (allegedly) so her castmates feel they have reasonable doubt as to her guilt or innocence in the crimes (Erika hasn't been charged...Jen has).
• Jen is a POC. Erika is not. 
• Leading up to this, it appears Jen's castmates had some suspicions about the source of her wealth as things didn't add up. Erika's castmates never questioned how she was ungodly wealthy.

[Booger666]

I don’t understand why Homeland Security was involved.  What do Jen’s (alleged) crimes have to do with homeland security?  More importantly, she was on the run in the actual snow.  How did she stop her car from rolling five to eight times?  Signed Erika asking for a friend.