Travis Kelce has been identified in federal court as a victim of a massive Ponzi scheme orchestrated by Siddharth Jawahar, who was sentenced Tuesday in St. Louis to 11 years in prison and ordered to pay $31.35 million in restitution to those he defrauded.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri, Jawahar ran a Texas-based investment firm called Swiftarc Capital LLC and took in more than $35 million from investors between roughly 2016 and 2023, funneling nearly all of the funds into a single investment, Philip Morris Pakistan.
When that investment’s value declined, prosecutors say Jawahar concealed the losses from clients and falsely claimed they were turning a profit, later using new investor funds to pay off earlier ones in a classic Ponzi structure.
A 2021 Forbes report had previously noted that Kelce was an investor in a fund created by Swiftarc.
Very little was said about Kelce specifically during the sentencing hearing beyond his identification as a victim, and prosecutors declined to comment further on his connection to the case, citing a policy of not discussing individual victims.
Kelce’s financial losses in the scheme have not been disclosed, and authorities made clear he was not accused of any wrongdoing.
Prosecutors also noted that Jawahar, who pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud in January 2026, attempted to obstruct the investigation after his indictment, including pressuring a victim to give favourable testimony to the FBI and asking his sister to remotely wipe his phone.
He was also accused of using stolen funds to bankroll a lavish lifestyle involving private jets, luxury hotels and high-end shopping.
The Chiefs have not yet commented on Kelce’s connection to the case.
