Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce was identified as a victim of a Ponzi scheme that took more than $35 million from investors.
Siddharth Jawahar, a 38-year-old Indian national who has been living illegally in the United States since 2005, was sentenced Tuesday to 11 years in federal prison. U.S. District Judge Zachary M. Bluestone also ordered him to pay $31.35 million in restitution.
Jawahar pleaded guilty in January to three counts of wire fraud. Prosecutors named Kelce as one of Jawahar’s victims during the sentencing hearing but did not reveal how much money the NFL star invested or lost, KCTV reported.
A 2021 Forbes article previously identified Kelce as an investor in a fund connected to Jawahar’s Texas-based investment company, Swiftarc Capital LLC.
Jawahar began placing client money into Philip Morris Pakistan in 2015. At one point, about 99% of his clients’ funds were tied to that single investment, according to the Justice Department.
When the investment lost value, Jawahar hid the losses and continued telling clients that they were earning profits. He also claimed he had placed their money in other companies when those investments had never been made.
Jawahar collected more than $35 million from investors between July 2016 and December 2023 but invested only about $10 million. Prosecutors said he used money from newer clients to pay previous investors.
He also spent investor money on private jets, luxury hotels, high-end apartments, private club memberships, clothing, expensive restaurants, and other personal expenses.
After he was indicted, Jawahar attempted to persuade a victim to give the FBI a favorable account, lied about his finances and immigration status, and asked his sister to erase information from his phone, prosecutors said.
Jawahar is expected to face deportation after completing his prison sentence.
Social media users quickly reacted to the news, with some poking fun at Kelce for falling victim to the scheme.