HOUSEWIVES ARE REAL-LIFE CRIME WAVE

IF THE past is the prologue of what’s to come, casting directors for The Real Housewives franchise will be bypassing tacky social climbers and picking new stars right out of police lineups. And, honestly, who could blame them?

The Housewives’ endless arrests for boozing, punch-ups and out-and-out illegal scams drive ratings and are the gift that keeps on giving.

Jailbird Jen Shah of the Salt Lake City branch of the Bravo network is just the latest installment. On the show she and her assistant Stuart Smith were painted as business wizards with the Midas touch. In reality, they were experts at monkey business — specifically wire fraud and money laundering in a telemarketing conspiracy.

According to Manhattan federal prosecutors, “The so-called business opportunities pushed on the victims [many 55 years or older] by Shah, Smith, and their co-conspirators were just fraudulent schemes, motivated by greed, to steal victims’ money.”