A federal judge in St. Louis on Tuesday sentenced Austin investment manager Siddharth Jawahar, 38, to 11 years in prison for a Ponzi scheme that prosecutors say took more than $35 million from investors, including Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
U.S. District Judge Zachary M. Bluestone also ordered $31.35 million in restitution, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri. Jawahar pleaded guilty in January to three counts of wire fraud. He ran Swiftarc Capital LLC, a Texas firm. From about July 2016 through December 2023 he collected more than $35 million and invested only about $10 million.
In 2015 he began putting client money into Philip Morris Pakistan; eventually about 99 percent of funds sat in that one stock. When it fell, he hid the losses, claimed investors were still making money, and paid earlier clients with new money.
The rest went to private jets, luxury hotels, apartments in Austin and New York, club dues and restaurants. The judge cited “enormous” losses and a victim who said Jawahar “weaponized” trust. The Texas State Securities Board revoked the firm’s registration in June 2022. The FBI arrested Jawahar in Miami after a December 2023 indictment.
CNN, citing local reporting from the sentencing, says prosecutors named Kelce in court but did not disclose how much he put in or lost. There were 64 victims in Missouri and other states. Kelce has not publicly commented.
A 2021 Forbes article listed Kelce among athletes invested in a Swiftarc ventures fund, along with NBA players Gary Harris, Tim Hardaway Jr. and Mason Plumlee.
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