Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce was among 64 victims of a $35 million Ponzi scheme that sent investment adviser Siddharth Jawahar to federal prison for 11 years, prosecutors said during his sentencing in Missouri.
U.S. District Judge Zachary M. Bluestone sentenced Jawahar, 38, on Tuesday and ordered him to pay $31.35 million in restitution after he pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud.
Prosecutors identified Kelce as one of Jawahar’s victims during the hearing but did not disclose how much the tight end invested or lost. A 2021 Forbes profile previously identified Kelce as an investor in the Swiftarc Venture Labs Fund, a venture capital fund connected to Jawahar’s investment business.
Jawahar ran Texas-based Swiftarc Capital LLC and took in more than $35 million from investors between July 2016 and December 2023. Prosecutors said only about $10 million of that money was actually invested.
Much of Jawahar’s investment strategy became concentrated in Philip Morris Pakistan. Eventually, prosecutors said, 99% of client funds were tied to that single investment.
As its value declined, Jawahar concealed the losses and continued telling clients their investments were profitable. He also told some investors their money had been placed into specific companies when the promised investments were never made.
Jawahar kept the scheme going by using money from newer investors to repay earlier ones, the defining structure of a Ponzi scheme.
Federal prosecutors said he also used investor money to finance an expensive lifestyle that included private jet travel, luxury hotels, apartments in New York City and Austin, memberships at private clubs and spending at high-end stores and restaurants.
Bluestone cited the “enormous” investor losses and the length of the scheme in imposing the 11-year sentence. The judge also pointed to Jawahar’s failure to begin repaying victims and echoed one victim’s statement that he had “weaponized” investors’ trust.
Jawahar’s conduct continued after he was indicted in 2023.
Prosecutors said he tried to coach one victim on what to tell the FBI, attempted to have his sister remotely wipe his iPhone, and made false statements about his finances and immigration status during the investigation.
He pleaded guilty in January to three wire fraud counts.
Wire fraud covers schemes to obtain money or property through false or fraudulent representations when interstate electronic communications are used to carry them out. The $31.35 million restitution order is separate from Jawahar’s prison sentence and requires him to repay losses attributed to his crimes.
Restitution orders establish what a defendant owes victims, although the amount ultimately recovered can depend on the defendant’s available assets and ability to pay.
Kelce’s connection to Swiftarc had surfaced publicly years before Jawahar’s criminal case concluded. Forbes reported in 2021 that Kelce was among several professional athletes who had invested in the Swiftarc Venture Labs Fund.
The extent of Kelce’s financial loss remains undisclosed. Prosecutors said Jawahar’s scheme affected 64 victims in Missouri and elsewhere.
The FBI and Manhattan District Attorney’s Office investigated the case. Jawahar will serve 11 years in federal prison and remains responsible for the $31.35 million restitution judgment.
