Ex-Texas advisor will get 11 years for Ponzi scheme, Travis Kelce amongst victims

Former capital allocation advisor Siddharth Jawahar was sentenced to 11 years in federal jail after pleading responsible to working a $35 million Ponzi scheme, which reportedly totaled over 64 victims together with Kansas City Chief star Travis Kelce. 

Jawahar was additionally ordered to pay $31.35 million in restitution for the scheme that prosecutors stated he ran from about July 2016 by means of December 2023 through his capital allocation agency Swiftarc Capital. Jawahar took in additional than $35 million from Swiftarc traders however invested solely about $10 million. 

Swiftarc was registered with the Texas State Securities Board however had its capital allocation adviser registration revoked in 2022, in line with courtroom paperwork. According to the AP, The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri stated there have been 64 victims whole, with St. Louis ABC affiliate station KMOV reporting that Kelce was mentioned in courtroom by prosecutors as one of many victims.  

“Jawahar ran a Texas-based capital allocation firm known as Swiftarc Capital LLC. In 2015, he started investing shopper funds in Philip Morris Pakistan (PMP). Eventually, 99% of shopper funds had been consolidated into PMP,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office wrote in a press launch. 

A 2021 Forbes article states Kelce was an investor in a fund created by Jawahar’s Swiftarc. The Forbes article additionally talked about NBA gamers Gary Harris, Tim Hardaway Jr and Mason Plumlee as traders within the fund sponsored by Swiftarc. 

“When the worth of PMP declined, Jawahar didn’t inform traders and falsely claimed that his traders had been making earnings. Investors had been additionally falsely led to consider that he’d invested their cash in a particular firm or firms however he by no means made the promised investments,” added the U.S. Attorney’s Office. 

Jawahar, who’s from India, was recognized as an unlawful immigrant by federal prosecutors. He was residing within the U.S. with out authorized standing since 2005.  

Authorities stated Jawahar used cash from new traders to repay older traders and to gasoline “an extravagant way of life” that included journey on personal jets, luxurious resorts, residences in Austin and New York City, memberships at a number of personal golf equipment throughout the nation, in addition to spending sprees at outfitters and costly outings at eating places. 

Reports don’t point out the extent of losses for Kelce, who has remodeled $120 million in profession earnings from his NFL wage and is newly married to billionaire popstar Taylor Swift. Kelce’s sufferer position in Jawahar’s scheme follows another investment fraud case in August wherein a number of NFL gamers misplaced thousands and thousands in an e-commerce scheme, coming as legit monetary advisory companies increasingly launch new wealth management divisions devoted to serving athletes.