Man accused of running Ponzi scheme in Missouri; investors lost tens of millions
ST. LOUIS – A man faces federal charges after he allegedly ran a Ponzi scheme in Missouri and several other states, leading investors to lose tens of millions of dollars.
A federal indictment revealed Monday charges Siddharth Jawahar, 36, with three counts of wire fraud and one count of investment adviser fraud.
The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission defines a Ponzi scheme as “an investment scam that involves the payment of purported returns to existing investors from funds contributed by new investors.”
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The new indictment accuses Jawahar of misleading someone in eastern Missouri into believing that a series of investments worth $175,000 would go into specific companies. The indictment adds that a New York investor lost $350K and an Ohio investor lost $250K, among others, in the scheme.
Investigators say that Jawahar ran a Texas-based investment company called Swiftarc Capital LLC from July 2016 through roughly December 2023. During that time, he reportedly took in more than $35 million from Swiftarc investors, but spent about $10 million on investments in companies.
The indictment alleges that Jawahar used the money from new investors to repay older investors and for personal purchases, such as flights on private planes, stays at luxury hotels and expensive outings at restaurants.
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“The losses alleged in the indictment would make this one the largest Ponzi-schemes in the history of the Eastern District of Missouri,” said U.S. Attorney Sayler A. Fleming.
“Some fraudsters come up with sophisticated schemes that are hard to detect,” said Special Agent in Charge Jay Greenberg of the FBI St. Louis Division. “We still encourage searching the person’s name and company on the internet for any red flags and trusting your gut.”
If convicted, Jawahar could face 20 years in federal prison for each of the wire fraud charges and five years for the adviser fraud charge. He could also face fines up to $250,000.
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