Travis Kelce named victim in massive $35M Ponzi scheme

Travis Kelce was reportedly named as a victim in a $35 million Ponzi scheme in a Missouri court on Tuesday.

Prosecutors mentioned the NFL star’s name as one of the people duped by the mastermind of the scheme, Siddharth Jawahar, according to outlets KMOV and WENG.

Jawahar, 38, was sentenced to 11 years in prison, according to a press release from the US Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Missouri.

He pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud in January and was ordered to pay $31.35 million in restitution to his victims, the release said.

Kelce, 36, was an investor in Swiftarc Venture Labs Fund, created by the investment company Swiftarc Capital LLC, which Jawahar co-founded, according to a 2021 Forbes article.

He has not spoken out about the case.

Page Six has reached out to Kelce’s rep for comment.

In 2015, Jawahar began investing client funds in a single investment, Philip Morris Pakistan, for Swiftarc Capital LLC, which was based in Texas, per the release.

But when PMP’s value began to decline, Jawahar allegedly lied to investors, falsely claiming that they were making profits. 

From about July 2016 through December 2023, Jawahar took in more than $35 million from Swiftarc investors, but he invested only about $10 million, the release said.

The businessman allegedly used the money from investors to pay back older investors and fund his “extravagant lifestyle,” which included “travel on private jets, stays at luxury hotels, a luxury apartment in Austin and New York City, memberships at multiple private clubs across the country, spending sprees at clothing stores and expensive outings at fancy restaurants.”

After he was indicted, Jawahar tried to “coach a victim into giving a favorable statement to the FBI,” according to the release.

He also allegedly lied about his immigration status and finances, and tried to get his sister to remotely wipe his iPhone to hide evidence.