US: Indian-American Man Indicted For Multi-Million Dollar Scam; Spent Investors’ Money On Private Planes, Luxury Hotels

A 36-year-old Indian-American man has been indicted by a grand jury in the United States after he was found involved in running a multi-million dollar scam across the country.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) also urged the victims of the investment adviser to come forward, reported PTI.

The accused, Siddharth Jawahar, is facing imprisonment until sentencing following the court orders. The FBI on Wednesday said that it is reaching out to potential victims in the Miami area, as Jawahar is accused of orchestrating a multimillion-dollar Ponzi scheme.

Allegedly, between July 2016 and December 2023, Jawahar received over USD 35 million from Swiftarc investors but only invested around USD 10 million in companies, according to the indictment.

Took Money From Fresh Investors To Pay Old Ones

Jawahar, whose pictures and videos of his extravagant lifestyle are doing rounds on social media, is accused of luring people to invest in his Ponzi scheme. Allegedly he took money from the new investors to repay the older investors as well as for his luxurious life. He is accused of using investors’ money on flights on private planes, stays at luxury hotels and expensive outings at lavish restaurants.

Invested all of the money in a sub-standard Pakistani company

In 2015, Jawahar started putting most of his clients’ money into one investment, Philip Morris Pakistan (PMP), according to the charges. Eventually, 99% of the client funds were all in the PMP investment.

Jawahar didn’t inform investors about a big drop in the value of PMP. Instead, he gave investors false information about the share price and how much money they were making.

According to the indictment, Jawahar failed to inform investors when the Texas State Securities Board revoked Swiftarc Capital’s permission to carry out investment activities on June 7, 2022 and instructed Jawahar to stop engaging in investing practices.

Despite this order, Jawahar allegedly continued to deceive investors and accepted funds, including USD 1 million from an investor, even after the state board’s action. The wire fraud charges carry a potential penalty of up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000 each, or both.