Travis Kelce: How scammer used NFL star's money to fund lavish lifestyle

A federal judge sentenced investment manager Siddharth Jawahar to 11 years in prison and ordered him to pay $31.35 million in restitution after he pleaded guilty to operating a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme that defrauded multiple people, including Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.

Jawahar operated the fraudulent scheme through his Texas-based investment company Swiftarc Capital LLC between July 2016 and December 2023.

Prosecutors revealed Jawahar amassed over $35 million from investors but only invested approximately $10 million of the accumulated capital.

He funnelled nearly 99 percent of client funds into a single entity, Philip Morris Pakistan.

When the value of the investment plummeted, Jawahar lied to his clients about their returns and used incoming investor cash to pay earlier clients.

The operation resulted in Jawahar pleading guilty to three counts of wire fraud.

Authorities officially named Kelce as a victim of the scheme during court proceedings this week.

The NFL star initially became involved with Jawahar through a venture fund created by Swiftarc in 2021.

While the court confirmed Kelce was defrauded by the operation, prosecutors did not disclose the exact financial amount the tight end lost in the scheme.

According to court documents obtained by TMZ, Jawahar exhausted the stolen millions to fund a lavish lifestyle and secure high-end real estate.

He spent heavily on private jets, luxury hotels, and designer retail. Records detail extensive purchases at Bloomingdale's, Brooks Brothers, Hugo Boss, Gucci, Montblanc, Nike, Prada, J Crew, Louis Vuitton, Neiman Marcus, and Ralph Lauren, among others. 

Jawahar also allocated $164,000 for a luxury apartment in New York and spent an additional $363,000 on a separate apartment in Texas.

The financial revelation arrives during a busy professional and personal period for the 36-year-old tight end.

Kelce married global pop superstar Taylor Swift in a private ceremony at Madison Square Garden on July 3.

On the field, the tight end recently began his 14th NFL season with the Kansas City Chiefs, where he previously secured Super Bowl LIV (2019 season), Super Bowl LVII (2022 season), and Super Bowl LVIII (2023 season) titles.

The Kansas City Chiefs opened their 2026 regular season campaign with a 31-10 home victory over the Denver Broncos on September 15.