Kansas City Chiefs star Travis Kelce, the husband of liberal pop singer Taylor Swift, was named in federal court Tuesday as a victim of a sweeping Ponzi scheme.

The Justice Department announced the sentencing of Siddharth Jawahar, 38, in the $35 million fraud case.

U.S. District Judge Zachary M. Bluestone sentenced Jawahar to 11 years in prison.

The judge also ordered him to pay $31.35 million in restitution to the victims of the scheme.

Kelce’s exact losses were not revealed, according to TMZ.

His identification as a victim added a prominent name to a case involving investors in Missouri and elsewhere who lost millions of dollars.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Missouri described Jawahar as an illegal alien.

Prosecutors said his investment operation collected more than $35 million from clients while placing only about $10 million into the investment at the center of the case.

Jawahar ran Swiftarc Capital LLC, an investment company based in Texas.

Beginning in 2015, he directed client money into a single investment, Philip Morris Pakistan, which was identified in the government’s account as PMP.

Eventually, 99% of client funds were consolidated into PMP.

When the value of that investment declined, prosecutors said Jawahar concealed the downturn from investors and falsely told them that they were earning profits.

Investors were also led to believe that their money had been placed into a particular company or group of companies.

According to the government, Jawahar never made those promised investments.

From approximately July 2016 through December 2023, Jawahar accepted more than $35 million from Swiftarc investors.

Only about $10 million was actually invested, leaving a vast gap between the money collected and the amount placed into the stated investment.

The operation followed the central pattern of a Ponzi scheme.

Jawahar used money coming from new investors to make payments to earlier clients instead of producing the returns that investors had been promised.

Prosecutors said Jawahar also used investor money to support an extravagant lifestyle.

The spending included private jet travel, luxury hotel stays, an apartment in Austin and another in New York City, and memberships at several private clubs around the country.

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The government’s account also detailed spending sprees at clothing stores and expensive outings at fancy restaurants.

Those expenditures occurred while investors were being falsely told that their money was profitable or had been directed into promised companies.

At sentencing, Judge Bluestone cited the “enormous” financial losses and the extended duration of Jawahar’s conduct.

The judge also echoed a victim who said Jawahar “weaponized” the trust that investors had placed in him.

Bluestone identified Jawahar’s failure to begin repaying the victims as a major factor in determining the punishment.

The resulting sentence put Jawahar in prison for 11 years and imposed restitution exceeding $31 million.

Prosecutors said Jawahar attempted to obstruct justice after he was indicted.

He tried to coach a victim into providing a favorable statement to the FBI, lied about his immigration status and finances, and tried to persuade his sister to wipe his iPhone remotely to conceal evidence.

Jawahar managed numerous additional entities used during the scheme.

They included Swiftarc Fund LP, Swiftarc LLC, Swiftarc Holdings, SJ Investment Holdings LLC, Order of Magnitude Ventures LLC, Extra Sensory Perception Inc., Swiftarc Growth Fund LP and Swiftarc Opportunities Fund LP.

The government also listed SV Labs SPV 1 LP, Swiftarc Venture Labs Fund GP LLC, SJDB Ventures LLC, Swiftarc Ventures LLC, Swiftarc Venture Labs Fund LP, Swiftarc Telehealth Labs Fund LP, NI Stubbs LLC and Swiftarc Beauty Fund LP among the associated entities.

Jawahar pleaded guilty in January in U.S. District Court in St. Louis to three counts of wire fraud.

His guilty plea preceded Tuesday’s sentencing and the restitution order issued by Judge Bluestone.

The FBI and the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Derek Wiseman is prosecuting it, while the government’s announcement confirmed Kelce as one of the victims without disclosing how much money he lost.

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