Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce was identified in federal court as one of at least 64 victims of a multi-million-dollar fraud scheme, according to a local news report. Kelce, who recently married global pop star Taylor Swift, was briefly named as a victim during the sentencing of Siddarth Jawahar, who pleaded guilty to three federal wire fraud charges and was sentenced Tuesday. According to the indictment, Jawahar used money from new investors to pay earlier investors—the hallmark of a Ponzi scheme.
Prosecutors did not provide details about Kelce's involvement in the case or disclose how much money he may have lost. The government also declined to comment on individual victims, according to St. Louis television station KMOV.
Kelce's name does not appear in Jawahar's indictment or judgment, but his name was read out in court alongside the other victims. Victim impact statements in the case are sealed. Neither Kelce nor his wife Swift has publicly commented on the case.
A 2021 Forbes article identified Kelce as an investor in a fund created by Swiftarc, which Jawahar co-founded. The article also identified NBA players Tim Hardaway Jr., Gary Harris and Mason Plumlee as investors in the fund. It is not immediately clear whether any of those players were also identified as victims in the case.
It is not clear how much Kelce invested in the fund. Kelce's publicists did not immediately respond to a request for comment. According to the indictment, Jawahar took tens of millions of dollars from investors rather than making the investments he had promised.
Prosecutors said he used money from new investors to pay earlier investors and spent additional funds on an extravagant lifestyle, including private-plane flights, luxury hotels and expensive restaurants. Jawahar, 38, pleaded guilty in January to three counts of wire fraud. District Judge Zachary M.
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