BS BULLETIN:

• Prosecutors identified Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce as one of the victims of a sprawling investment fraud scheme.
• Siddharth Jawahar took in more than $35 million from investors but invested only about $10 million, according to the Justice Department.
• Jawahar, whom federal prosecutors describe as an illegal immigrant, was sentenced Tuesday to 11 years in prison and ordered to pay $31.35 million in restitution.

Travis Kelce’s name just surfaced somewhere nobody expected to see it: among the victims of a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme.

The Kansas City Chiefs tight end was identified by prosecutors in federal court Tuesday as a victim of Siddharth Jawahar, 38, who was sentenced to 11 years in prison for running an investment scheme that took in more than $35 million.

Prosecutors didn’t reveal how much Kelce invested or lost, and stressed little about his individual involvement beyond identifying him as a victim.

But there is a previously reported connection.

A 2021 Forbes report identified Kelce as an investor in a fund created by Swiftarc, the investment operation Jawahar co-founded. Swiftarc Venture Labs Fund LP was also among the entities the Justice Department says Jawahar used during the scheme.

According to federal prosecutors, Jawahar operated Texas-based Swiftarc Capital LLC and began pouring client money into Philip Morris Pakistan in 2015. Eventually, approximately 99 percent of client funds were concentrated in that single investment.

When its value declined, prosecutors say Jawahar didn’t tell his clients. Instead, he falsely told investors their money was generating profits and, in other instances, claimed he had made investments that were never actually made.

Between July 2016 and December 2023, Jawahar collected more than $35 million from Swiftarc investors while investing only about $10 million, according to the Justice Department. New investor money was used to repay earlier investors — the classic mechanics of a Ponzi scheme.

And then there was the spending.

Prosecutors say investor money helped finance private-jet travel, luxury hotels, upscale apartments in Austin and New York City, private-club memberships, expensive restaurants and shopping sprees.

Jawahar pleaded guilty in January to three counts of wire fraud.

After his indictment, prosecutors say he also tried to coach a victim into giving the FBI a favorable statement, lied about his immigration status and finances, and attempted to have his sister remotely wipe his iPhone to conceal evidence.

The Justice Department explicitly described Jawahar as an “illegal immigrant.” Local reporting from the sentencing said the judge noted Jawahar is from India and has been in the United States illegally since 2005; prosecutors said he is expected to be deported after serving his prison sentence.

U.S. District Judge Zachary M. Bluestone ordered Jawahar to pay $31.35 million in restitution, citing what he called the “enormous” losses suffered by investors.

Kelce’s individual loss remains undisclosed.

DBS WIRE SOURCES:

• U.S. Department of Justice — Illegal immigrant sentenced to 11 years for multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme
• New York Post — Travis Kelce named as victim in $35 million Ponzi scheme
• KCTV — Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce named as victim in fraud case
• People — Travis Kelce named as victim in multimillion-dollar fraud scheme
• FOX 9 — Travis Kelce named as victim in fraud scheme