"Enormous Losses": Taylor Swift's Husband Duped By Indian-Origin Man

An Indian-origin man has been jailed for defrauding dozens of investors, including American football star and singer Taylor Swift's husband, Travis Kelce, in the United States.

Siddharth Jawahar, 38, who was indicted in December 2023 on three counts of wire fraud and one count of investment adviser fraud, was sentenced on Tuesday to 11 years in prison and ordered to pay $31.35 million to Kelce and other investors.

Jawahar, a co-founder and managing partner of Texas-based Swiftarc Capital, whose investors included Kelce, ran a Ponzi scheme that duped 64 investors in Missouri and other states, the US Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Missouri said.

While sending him to prison, US District Judge Zachary M Bluestone cited the "enormous" losses and the lengthy duration of his fraud and echoed a victim who said he "weaponised" investors' trust.

The judge also said that Jawahar's failure to begin repaying victims was a "major factor".

How Siddharth Jawahar Ran Ponzi Scheme

Siddharth Jawahar ran a Texas-based investment company called Swiftarc Capital LLC.

In 2015, he began investing client funds in a single investment, Philip Morris Pakistan (PMP), and eventually, 99% of client funds were consolidated into PMP, the US Attorney's Office said in a statement.

When the value of PMP declined, he did not tell investors and falsely claimed that his investors were making profits.

Investors were also falsely led to believe that he'd invested their money in a specific company or companies, but he never made the promised investments, the statement read.

From about July 2016 through December 2023, he took in more than $35 million from Swiftarc investors but invested only about $10 million.

Jawahar used money from new investors to repay older investors and to fuel an extravagant lifestyle that included travel on private jets, stays at luxury hotels, a luxury apartment in Austin and New York City, memberships at multiple private clubs across the country, spending sprees at clothing stores and expensive outings at fancy restaurants, the office said.

After his indictment, he also tried to coach a victim into giving a favourable statement to the FBI, lying about his immigration status and finances and trying to get his sister to remotely wipe his iPhone to hide evidence.

He had pleaded guilty to three counts of wire fraud in January.

According to court documents, he has been illegally in the United States since 2005.