Travis Kelce Among Victims of $35 Million Ponzi Scheme, Prosecutor Says
Siddharth Jawahar, who ran Swiftarc Capital, got 11 years in prison and must repay $31 million. Kelce's loss hasn't been disclosed.
- Travis Kelce was among the investors defrauded by Siddharth Jawahar, who ran a Texas investment firm as a Ponzi scheme from 2016 to 2023.
- Jawahar, 38, was sentenced Sept. 15 to 11 years in federal prison and ordered to pay $31 million in restitution.
- How much Kelce lost has not been disclosed, and his representatives have not commented.
Travis Kelce was one of the victims of a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme whose operator was sentenced this week in federal court in Missouri. A prosecutor mentioned the Kansas City Chiefs tight end during the Sept. 15 hearing, according to NBC News, which cited a court reporter present in the courtroom.
Siddharth Jawahar, 38, received 11 years in prison from U.S. District Judge Zachary Bluestone, who also ordered him to repay $31 million to the people he defrauded. Jawahar pleaded guilty in January to three counts of wire fraud.
What did Siddharth Jawahar do?
Jawahar ran Swiftarc Capital LLC, a Texas-based investment company. Between July 2016 and December 2023, according to prosecutors, he took in more than $35 million from investors and put only about $10 million of it into actual investments.
The rest paid for private jets, luxury hotels, spending sprees and private club memberships, prosecutors said — and for paying earlier investors with money from newer ones, which kept the scheme looking profitable.
How was Travis Kelce connected to Swiftarc?
A 2021 report by Forbes identified Kelce as an investor in a fund created by Swiftarc. The amount he put in, and how much of it was lost, has not been made public. His representatives did not respond to a request for comment on the sentencing.
Jawahar’s attorney described him in court as a “very good man” who “made some very serious mistakes and is taking ownership of all of it.”
How does a Ponzi scheme work?
A Ponzi scheme pays “returns” to existing investors out of money brought in by new investors, not out of real profits. As long as new money keeps coming, early investors are paid and the fund looks successful, which helps attract more investors.
The math eventually fails: once new deposits slow or too many people ask for their money back at the same time, there is nothing left to pay them with, and the losses land on whoever is still invested.
Will Kelce get his money back?
Restitution is a court order for the defendant to repay victims. It is paid through the court and divided among victims according to their verified losses, but how much each one actually receives depends on what can be recovered from the defendant’s assets and income.
Kelce married Taylor Swift in July. More on him is on his FameCrumbs page, and the latest celebrity news is in our Celebrities section.
The take
A famous investor’s name on a fund says nothing about how the fund is run. Swiftarc counted Kelce among its investors and, according to prosecutors, still put less than a third of the $35 million it raised into actual investments.
— Bruno Monteiro
Sources: U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri (plea and sentencing); NBC News (Gary Grumbach, Tim Stelloh), citing a court reporter at the Sept. 15 hearing; Forbes (2021 report on Swiftarc’s fund). Photos: Kansas City Chiefs; NFL.
Reported from U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Missouri on Site.
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