Indian-origin man jailed in $35m Ponzi case; Taylor Swift’s husband Kelce a victim - The Indian Express

Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, the husband of Taylor Swift, was named among 64 victims of a Ponzi scheme that took more than $35 million from investors, Television station KMOV reported.

The prosecutor identified Kelce in court Tuesday as 38-year-old Siddharth Jawahar, the founder of Texas-based investment company Swiftarc Capital LLC. US District Judge Zachary M. Bluestone sentenced Jawahar to 11 years in federal prison and ordered him to pay $31.35 million in restitution on Tuesday, The Guardian reported.

Jawahar, who pleaded guilty to three federal wire fraud charges in January, used funds from new investors to pay earlier investors in a Ponzi scheme, according to the indictment.

Prosecutors did not provide details about Kelce’s involvement in the case or disclose how much money he may have lost, according to KMOV. His name also did not appear in Jawahar’s indictment or judgment, but was read in court alongside other victims in the Ponzi scheme.

Kelce, who recently married global pop star Taylor Swift, did not publicly comment on the case.

A 2021 Forbes article identified Kelce as an investor in a Swiftarc fund co-founded by Jawahar. NBA players Tim Hardaway Jr., Gary Harris and Mason Plumlee were also identified as the fund investors, but their status as victims in the case remains unclear.

The amount he invested in Jawahar’s fund has not been publicly disclosed.

Jawahar, who is from India and had been living in the US without legal status since 2005, took more than $35 million from investors through his investment company, prosecutors said. He invested only about $10 million and used some of the remaining money to repay earlier investors and fund personal expenses.

Prosecutors said that the 38-year-old used funds from new investors to pay earlier investors and spent additional money on private-plane flights, luxury hotels and expensive restaurants.

US District Judge Zachary M. Bluestone sentenced Jawahar to 11 years in prison and ordered him to pay $31.35 million in restitution.

Jawahar, according to the court filings cited by KMOV, paid $10,000 to political consulting firm Axiom Strategies in August to help generate support before sentencing.

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