Travis Kelce has been identified as one of the victims in a Ponzi scheme tied to Siddharth Jawahar, who was sentenced Tuesday in St. Louis to 11 years in prison.
A U.S. District Judge, Zachary M.
Bluestone, also ordered Jawahar, 38, to pay $31.35 million to investors, according to KMOV-TV. Prosecutors identified Kelce as a victim during the sentencing hearing, but did not say how much money the Chiefs tight end lost.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri, Jawahar ran a Texas-based investment company called Swiftarc Capital LLC. He began putting client money into Philip Morris Pakistan (PMP) in 2015, and the office said 99% of client funds were eventually consolidated into PMP.
The government said Jawahar kept investors in the dark when PMP’s value dropped and continued telling them they were making money. Prosecutors also said investors were misled into believing their funds had been placed in specific companies when that never happened.
“From about July 2016 through December 2023, Jawahar took in more than $35 million from Swiftarc investors but invested only about $10 million.”
The release said Jawahar used more than a dozen entities in the scheme, including Swiftarc Venture Labs Fund GP LLC. A 2021 Forbes article identified Kelce as an investor in that fund, along with NBA players Tim Hardaway Jr. and Detroit Pistons center Mason Plumlee.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, money from new investors was used to pay older investors and support a lifestyle that included private jets, luxury hotels, a luxury apartment in Austin and New York City, memberships at private clubs around the country, shopping sprees and expensive restaurant outings.
The release also said Jawahar was an illegal immigrant and that he pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud in January.
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