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Travis Kelce named among victims
September 17, 2026
Siddharth Jawahar drew an 11 year prison term in Missouri federal court over a Ponzi scheme whose investors included the Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce.
Travis Kelce plays tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs, and the case against Siddharth Jawahar was handled in federal court in the Eastern District of Missouri, in St. Louis.
Key facts
- The prosecutor's office said the company brought in over $35 million between July 2016 and December 2023 while placing only about $10 million into actual investments.
- Court filings in Missouri's Eastern District show that Siddharth Jawahar drew an 11-year prison term this week from a federal judge in St. Louis over a Ponzi operation that collected upward of $35 million from investors.
- A prosecutor in Missouri said Travis Kelce, the tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs, was one of the people defrauded by a Ponzi operation that pulled in upward of $35m from investors who did not know what they were buying into.
- Other athletes were cited in the Forbes piece as having put money in as well: Kelce, plus two players from the NBA, Mason Plumlee and Tim Hardaway Jr.
- Newsweek turned to the question of how much Travis Kelce and Taylor Swift are each worth.
Fortune reports that Jawahar's sentence runs to 11 years, handed down this week by a federal court in St. Louis, and points to the case file in the Eastern District of Missouri. The Guardian names Travis Kelce, the tight end for the Kansas City Chiefs, among those the scheme defrauded, attributing that to a Missouri prosecutor, and puts the money the operation drew from investors above $35 million. NBC News and Newsweek carry the same account.
NBC News sets the money that arrived against the money that moved. It reports that the company collected upward of $35 million over a stretch beginning in July 2016 and ending in December 2023 while only about $10 million went into investments, on the prosecutor's office's account, and The Guardian carries those same figures. Newsweek describes the charge laid out in the indictment, that the sums Jawahar drew from investors ran to tens of millions and never reached the investments he had pitched, and USA Today carries it too.
The Guardian and USA Today both list other athletes who put money in, among them the basketball players Tim Hardaway Jr and Mason Plumlee. Where the outlets part company is emphasis. Newsweek and USA Today turn toward Kelce and his wealth alongside Taylor Swift's, while Fortune and NBC News hold to the prosecution and the arithmetic, a choice that leaves the facts themselves untouched. The prison term, the sums and Kelce's place among those defrauded hold across the coverage.
Still developing
The other athletes named in the Forbes article, the NBA players Tim Hardaway Jr and Mason Plumlee, are where the account stands by the time of draft.
How settled the reporting is
Sources
- Fortune — Man sentenced in $35 million Ponzi scheme that defrauded Travis Kelce: 'He did this out of greed' - Fortune
- NBC News — Travis Kelce was among the victims of a man’s multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme - NBC News
- Newsweek — Travis Kelce Named Victim in Large Ponzi Scheme Raking in Millions: Report - Newsweek
- The Guardian — Chiefs star Travis Kelce is named among victims of $35m Ponzi scheme
- usatoday.com — Chiefs' Travis Kelce named as victim in multi-million dollar Ponzi scheme: Report
Toggle read the full reports of all 5 outlets counted on this event.