Man sentenced in $35 million Ponzi scheme that bilked dozens, including Travis Kelce

David Eulitt/Getty Images/File

The creator of a Texas-based investment company has been sentenced to 11 years in federal prison for his role in a Ponzi scheme that prosecutors say bilked 64 victims, including Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.

US District Judge Zachary Bluestone sentenced Siddharth Jawahar, 38, on Tuesday and ordered him to pay $31.35 million in restitution to victims. Jawahar’s attorney did not immediately respond to a voicemail requesting comment.

The US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri said between July 2016 and December 2023, Jawahar took in more than $35 million from investors in his company, Swiftarc Capital LLC, but only invested about $10 million of that amount.

Instead, prosecutors said, he used money from new investors to repay older investors and to fund an extravagant lifestyle including luxury apartments in New York City and Austin, Texas, private jet travel and expensive outings.

St. Louis news station KMOV-TV reported that prosecutors said in court that Kelce was among the victims, but they did not elaborate. A 2021 Forbes article said Kelce invested in a fund established by Jawahar’s company Swiftarc.

Robert Patrick, a spokesperson with the US Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri, said there were 64 victims total, but declined to answer questions about Kelce’s connection to the case. Kelce’s spokespeople did not immediately respond to emails requesting comment.

Jawahar was indicted by a grand jury in 2023 and pleaded guilty in January to three counts of wire fraud.

Jawahar is from India and was living in the US without legal status since 2005, according to court documents. Prosecutors say that after his indictment, Jawahar tried to coach a victim into giving a favorable statement to the FBI, that he lied about his immigration status and tried to get a relative to remotely wipe his iPhone in order to hide evidence.

David Eulitt/Getty Images/文件

一名总部位于德克萨斯州的投资公司创始人因参与庞氏骗局被判处 11 年联邦监禁。检察官称，该骗局诈骗了 64 名受害者，其中包括堪萨斯城酋长队近端锋特拉维斯·凯尔西。

美国地区法官扎卡里·布鲁斯通周二对38岁的西达尔特·贾瓦哈尔作出判决，责令其向受害者支付3135万美元的赔偿金。贾瓦哈尔的律师尚未回复记者的置评请求。

美国密苏里州东区检察官办公室表示，从 2016 年 7 月到 2023 年 12 月，贾瓦哈尔从其公司 Swiftarc Capital LLC 的投资者那里获得了超过 3500 万美元，但他只投资了其中的约 1000 万美元。

检察官表示，他并没有把钱捐给投资者，而是用新投资者的钱偿还老投资者，并以此为生，过着奢靡的生活，包括在纽约市和德克萨斯州奥斯汀市购买豪华公寓、乘坐私人飞机旅行和进行昂贵的外出活动。

圣路易斯电视台KMOV-TV报道称，检方在法庭上表示凯尔西是受害者之一，但并未详细说明。2021年《福布斯》杂志的一篇文章指出，凯尔西曾投资贾瓦哈尔的公司Swiftarc设立的一只基金。

美国密苏里州东区检察官办公室发言人罗伯特·帕特里克表示，受害者总数为64人，但他拒绝回答有关凯尔西与此案关联的问题。凯尔西的发言人尚未回复置评请求邮件。

贾瓦哈尔于 2023 年被大陪审团起诉，并于 1 月对三项电信欺诈罪名认罪。

根据法庭文件，贾瓦哈尔来自印度，自2005年起便非法居住在美国。检方称，贾瓦哈尔被起诉后，曾试图诱导一名受害者向联邦调查局提供有利于他的证词，承认自己谎报移民身份，并试图让一名亲戚远程清除其iPhone上的数据以掩盖证据。