Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce was identified as one of the victims in a Ponzi scheme case that ended Tuesday with the sentencing of Siddharth Jawahar.
A U.S. District Judge in St.
Louis sentenced Jawahar, 38, to 11 years in prison for a scheme that the government said took millions from victims in Missouri and other places. Judge Zachary M.
Bluestone also ordered him to pay $31.35 million to investors, including Kelce, according to KMOV-TV.
Prosecutors identified Kelce as a victim during the sentencing hearing, KMOV reported, though they did not say how much money he 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. The release said he started putting client money into Philip Morris Pakistan in 2015, and that 99% of client funds eventually were consolidated into PMP.
The government said Jawahar hid the losses when PMP’s value fell, telling investors they were making profits and leading them to believe their money had been placed in certain companies when it had not.
“From about July 2016 through December 2023, Jawahar took in more than $35 million from Swiftarc investors but invested only about $10 million.”
The news release said Jawahar used more than a dozen entities in the scheme, including Swiftarc Venture Labs Fund GP LLC. A 2021 Forbes article said Kelce invested in that fund, along with NBA players Tim Hardaway Jr. and Detroit Pistons center Mason Plumlee.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Jawahar used money from new investors to pay older investors and support an extravagant lifestyle that included private jets, luxury hotels, a luxury apartment in Austin and New York City, memberships at multiple private clubs across the country, shopping sprees at clothing stores and expensive outings at fancy restaurants.
The release also identified Jawahar as an illegal immigrant and said he pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud in January.
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