Siddharth Jawahar, 38, was sentenced on Wednesday in the Eastern District of Missouri after pleading guilty in January to three counts of wire fraud. Judge Zachary Bluestone also ordered him to pay $31.35 million in restitution, none of which has been repaid.

Kelce was identified in court as one of the victims. Prosecutors declined to specify how much the Chiefs star lost or when he became a client, citing a policy of not discussing individual victims.

Nearly all client money in one Pakistan stock

Jawahar operated a Texas-registered firm, Swiftarc Capital LLC, that had told clients their money was spread across multiple positions. In reality, from 2015 onwards, nearly 99 percent of investor funds were funnelled into a single overseas holding: Philip Morris Pakistan.

When the value of that stake collapsed, Jawahar concealed the losses and sent clients account statements showing fictitious returns. Withdrawal requests were paid using cash from newer investors, the classic Ponzi pattern.

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Between July 2016 and December 2023, more than $35.6 million came in from clients. Only around $10 million was ever actually invested.

“He did this out of greed”

The prosecution’s sentencing memorandum leaned on Jawahar’s own words from an FBI interview, in which he said he “did this because of greed, any other adjective would be incorrect.” He later reversed himself in court paperwork, arguing he had not acted out of greed.

Bluestone was not persuaded. The judge cited the “enormous” losses and the length of the fraud, and echoed a victim who said Jawahar had “weaponized” their trust. Jawahar’s failure to begin paying anything back, the judge added, weighed heavily in the sentence.

Kelce’s Swiftarc tie surfaced in 2021

Kelce’s name was first linked to Swiftarc in a 2021 Forbes report that noted he had put money into a fund run by Jawahar’s company. Neither Kelce nor his representatives have commented publicly on his losses since the sentencing.

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Kelce, now married to Taylor Swift, remains one of the most visible athletes in American sport, ensuring the case has drawn attention well beyond the financial press.

Jawahar was indicted in December 2023 on four counts, one of which, investment adviser fraud, was later dropped. He enters his federal prison sentence with the $31.35 million restitution order still outstanding.

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