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NFL star Travis Kelce has been identified as a victim in a multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme orchestrated by Siddharth Jawahar. On Tuesday (September 15), a U.S. District Judge in St. Louis sentenced Jawahar to 11 years in prison for defrauding investors, including Kelce, out of more than $35 million. The Kansas City Chiefs tight end was mentioned briefly in court, but the extent of his financial loss was not disclosed.
Jawahar, 38, ran Swiftarc Capital LLC, a Texas-based investment company. He misled investors by funneling nearly all funds into a single investment—Philip Morris Pakistan—without informing them when its value declined. Instead, he falsely claimed profits and used new investor funds to pay earlier investors. His lavish lifestyle, funded by the scheme, included private jet travel, luxury hotel stays, and upscale apartments in Austin and New York City.
According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Missouri, Jawahar pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud in January and was ordered to pay over $31 million in restitution. The release also noted that Jawahar attempted to coach a victim into providing a favorable statement to the FBI and sought to hide evidence by having his sister erase his iPhone.
Kelce's connection to the case stems from his investment in the Swiftarc Venture Labs Fund, co-founded by Jawahar.