Travis Kelce was identified by federal prosecutors as one of the investors who lost money after the operator of Swiftarc Capital was sentenced to prison for running a Ponzi scheme that collected more than $35m.
The US attorney’s office for the eastern district of Missouri said Siddharth Jawahar, 38, pleaded guilty in January to three counts of wire fraud and was given an 11-year term in US district court in St Louis. A judge also ordered Jawahar to pay $31.35m in restitution. A prosecutor mentioned Kelce’s name at the sentencing hearing but provided no further detail; it is not known when Kelce invested with Swiftarc or how much he put in.
Prosecutors say Jawahar ran a Texas-based firm called Swiftarc Capital LLC and began taking investor funds in 2015. He placed the bulk of money from clients into a single investment that later fell in value, failed to tell investors about the loss, and repeatedly assured them their accounts were profitable. The office said Jawahar used funds from new investors to cover earlier withdrawals and diverted investor money to support a lavish lifestyle that included private jets, high-end residences, fine dining and memberships in private clubs.
Federal filings show the scheme took in more than $35m, while Jawahar actually invested about $10m of that sum between July 2016 and December 2023. A 2021 Forbes profile that discussed athlete investments named Kelce alongside NBA players Tim Hardaway Jr and Mason Plumlee, and quoted Gary Harris on his dealings with Swiftarc. The article said Jawahar was a co-founder and managing partner of a Swiftarc vehicle called Swiftarc Ventures Labs Fund.
Kelce, 36, is playing his 14th season with the Kansas City Chiefs. He married Taylor Swift in July, when Forbes estimated her net worth at $2.1bn. The Chiefs beat the Denver Broncos in their season opener on Monday. With the sentence and restitution order, prosecutors have completed the criminal case against Jawahar while the scale of investor losses and any civil recovery will depend on how the ordered payments are collected.
