Key takeaways:
- Siddharth Jawahar pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud and was sentenced in St. Louis to 11 years in prison.
- Prosecutors said Jawahar’s Swiftarc Capital LLC took in more than $35 million while investing only about $10 million from July 2016 through December 2023.
- A prosecutor named Travis Kelce in court as one of Jawahar’s victims, but no details were given about when he invested or how much money was involved.
Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce was identified in court as one of the victims of a nationwide Ponzi scheme run by a Texas investment manager who has been sentenced to 11 years in federal prison.
U.S. District Court Judge Zachary Bluestone on Tuesday sentenced Siddharth Jawahar, 38, after Jawahar pleaded guilty in January to three counts of wire fraud in U.S. District Court in St. Louis. Bluestone also ordered him to repay victims more than $31 million, with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri putting the restitution figure at $31.35 million.
A prosecutor briefly mentioned Kelce during the sentencing hearing as one of Jawahar’s high-profile victims, NBC News reported, citing the court reporter who was present. KMOV, cited by The Guardian, also reported that Kelce’s name was raised in court without further comment. No details were disclosed about when Kelce invested, how much money he put in or how he was affected. Representatives for Kelce did not immediately respond to NBC News’ request for comment.
Jawahar ran Swiftarc Capital LLC, a Texas-based investment company that prosecutors said took in more than $35 million from investors while investing only about $10 million between July 2016 and December 2023. The U.S. Attorney’s Office said the company began taking money from investors in 2015 and that Jawahar placed the money he accepted into a single investment that later dropped in value.
Prosecutors said Jawahar did not tell investors about the loss. Instead, he told them they were making money and used money from new investors to repay earlier investors, a structure authorities described as a classic Ponzi scheme.
He also used investor funds to finance what prosecutors called “an extravagant lifestyle.” According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, that included travel on private jets, stays at luxury hotels, spending sprees, elegant dining and memberships at private clubs across the United States.
Federal prosecutors said Jawahar is undocumented. After his indictment, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said, he tried to coach a victim into giving a favorable statement to authorities and sought to have his sister wipe his iPhone.
Jawahar’s attorney declined to comment to NBC News about Kelce’s connection to the case, but described his client as a “very good man” who “made some very serious mistakes and is taking ownership of all of it.”
Rep. Sam Graves, R-Mo., had asked Bluestone to sentence Jawahar to no more than 48 months. In a Sept. 10 letter, Graves cited educational programs Jawahar helped establish at the jail where he has been held and wrote that Jawahar “chose accountability, actively cooperating with authorities to streamline and maximize the financial recovery of restitution.”
The U.S. Attorney’s Office said Jawahar’s failure to begin repaying victims was a “major factor” cited by Bluestone at sentencing.
The Guardian reported that Kelce is unlikely to be the only athlete tied to the investment operation. A 2021 Forbes article about NBA guard Gary Harris’ financial portfolio described Harris’ investments as including Swiftarc Ventures Labs Fund, where Jawahar was co-founder and managing partner, and named Kelce, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Mason Plumlee among other athlete investors.
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