Travis Kelce Named as Victim in Multi-Million-Dollar Fraud Scheme by Prosecutors

Travis Kelce was named as a victim in a multi-million-dollar Ponzi scheme

Siddharth Jawahar, 38, was sentenced to 11 years in prison on Tuesday, Sept. 15, after misusing over $35 million from investors to fund an "extravagant" lifestyle and repay earlier investors

Kelce was reportedly linked through an investment fund co-founded by Jawahar but was only briefly mentioned in court

Travis Kelce has been named as a victim in a multi-million-dollar fraud scheme by prosecutors in a Missouri court, according to reports.

On Tuesday, Sept. 15, Siddharth Jawahar, 38, was sentenced to 11 years in prison, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Missouri.

He pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud in January and has been ordered to pay more than $31 million in restitution to his victims after running a Ponzi scheme, the release noted.

According to outlets including KMOV and WENG , Kansas City Chiefs tight end Kelce was only briefly mentioned in court, and prosecutors did not expand on the 36-year-old's connection to the case.

A Forbes article published in 2021 states that Kelce was an investor in the Swiftarc Venture Labs Fund, created by Swiftarc Capital LLC, an investment company co-founded by Jawahar.

Jawahar ran the investment company Swiftarc Capital LLC and began investing client funds in a single investment, Philip Morris Pakistan, in 2015, per the press release. However, when the value of the investment declined, he didn't tell the investors, instead claiming they were making profits.

The Swiftarc Ventures Labs Fund was listed in the release as one of several additional entities he used in his scheme.

From around July 2016 through December 2023, Jawahar took in more than $35 million from investors but only invested about $10 million. He used money from new investors to repay older investors and to finance his "extravagant" lifestyle, the release stated.

His lifestyle 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."

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After he was indicted, Jawahar tried to "coach" a victim into giving a "favorable" statement to the FBI, which investigated the case, and tried to get his sister to remotely wipe his iPhone to hide evidence and lied about his immigration status, according to the release.

PEOPLE reached out to the U.S. Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Missouri, and representatives for Travis Kelce for comment.