Travis Kelce, a player for the National Football League (NFL) Kansas City Chiefs and husband of singer Taylor Swift, was among the victims of a multimillion-dollar pyramid scheme. Its head, Siddhartha Jawahar, was sentenced this week by a federal court to 11 years in prison, NewsNation reports.
The 36-year-old Kansas City Chiefs tight end was one of at least 64 victims who invested in the venture capital fund of Texas investment firm Swiftarc Capital LLC. The investors also allegedly included basketball players Tim Hardaway Jr., Gary Harris and Mason Plumlee.
Jawahar, who ran Swiftarc, raised more than $35 million from investors from 2016 to 2023, the US Department of Justice said Tuesday. In fact, he invested only about $10 million, with most of this amount invested in the shares of one company – Philip Morris Pakistan (PMP). When their value declined, Jawahar did not disclose the losses to investors and continued to claim that their investments were making a profit.
According to investigators, he used the money from new investors to pay previous clients and also spent it on a “luxurious lifestyle.” In particular, it was about flying on private jets, staying in expensive hotels, renting luxury apartments in Austin and New York, membership in several private clubs, as well as large expenses in clothing stores and restaurants. At the same time, Jawahar himself was in the United States illegally.
After the charges were filed, he also tried to obstruct the investigation. Approved. that Jawahar persuaded one of the victims to testify on his behalf to the FBI, provided false information about his immigration status and financial situation, and asked his sister to remotely delete data from his iPhone to hide possible evidence.
In January this year, Jawahar pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud. On Tuesday, a federal court sentenced him to 11 years in prison and ordered him to pay $31.35 million in damages to the victims.
Kelsey's name was heard during the announcement of the verdict among other victims of the financial pyramid. However, the exact amount that the football player lost is not disclosed.
According to Forbes, Kelce has previously been ranked among the NFL's highest-paid players on multiple occasions, but fell outside the top 10 in 2026.
As RTVI reported, in October 2024, robbers entered Kelsey’s house in Leawood (Kansas). Investigators found that the thieves damaged the back door and stole $20,000 in cash and other valuables. The robbery was part of a series of similar crimes, which, presumably, could be behind an organized criminal network of “burglars.”
This summer, the wedding of Kelsey and Taylor Swift took place at the Madison Square Garden sports arena in Manhattan, New York. The celebration, to which about 1,000 guests were invited, could have cost the billionaire singer and athlete between $35 and $50 million.
