Crypto Scandal: Ex-CFO Convicted For $35 Million Fraud
The ex-CFO of a personal software program firm has been declared responsible of wire fraud after utilizing the corporate’s money to fund a cryptocurrency facet enterprise.
Crypto Side Hustle Gone Wrong
In a latest press release, the US Attorney’s Office, Western District of Washington, introduced the conviction of Nevin Shetty, who misappropriated $35 million belonging to his former employer. The 41-year-old man from Mercer Island, Washington, resumed because the CFO of an unnamed personal software program firm in March 2021, a time throughout which the agency was actively fundraising.
The firm established an funding coverage that said that this newly raised money ought to solely be invested in cash market accounts and different low-risk markets, whereas the corporate continued to give attention to enhancing present enterprise operations.
Despite his heavy involvement on this coverage choice, Nevin Shetty moved $35 million of the corporate’s money into HighTower Treasury, a cryptocurrency funding platform based by him and one other accomplice in February 2022. The DOJ notes this embezzlement occurred after the corporate raised issues about Shetty’s efficiency, hinting at potential severance.
The assertion learn:
In March 2022, he (Shetty) was informed he couldn’t proceed as CFO at his employer as a consequence of issues about his efficiency. Shortly after he obtained this information, Shetty secretly transferred the funds out of the corporate’s account. Between April 1 and 12, 2022, Shetty transferred $35,000,100 of his employer’s cash to an account for HighTower Treasury. No different executives or board members on the firm knew of those transfers.
The now-convicted legal apparently positioned these funds in a high-yield DeFi lending protocol that had promised 20% curiosity, with the intention of remitting 6% to the corporate and HighTower Treasury retained the opposite 14% revenue. While the concept obtained off to a superb begin, producing $133,000 within the first month, the investments started hemorrhaging within the following month, finally reaching $0 on May 13, 2022.
Shetty was subsequently fired after he knowledgeable colleagues of this escapade. The firm additionally reported the state of affairs to the FBI, prompting a full-scale investigation.
Shetty Awaits Sentencing
According to the DOJ, Shetty was convicted of 4 counts of wire fraud on November 7, 2025, following a 10-hour jury deliberation to shut a nine-day jury trial. The US District Judge Tana Lin has now scheduled sentencing for the ex-CFO for February 11, 2026, to debate the results of such monetary misappropriation.
While every wire fraud depend carries a most jail sentence of 20 years, that doesn’t essentially imply he might face 80 years. Federal sentences should not at all times run consecutively, and the decide will comply with the US Sentencing Guidelines, which bear in mind components resembling loss quantity, position within the fraud, and his legal historical past (if any).
