TLDR
- Ex-CFO Nevin Shetty secretly moved $35 million in company funds into crypto investments without board knowledge
- The money was placed into DeFi lending platforms promising returns of 20% or more
- A Terra ecosystem collapse wiped the investment to near zero by May 2022
- Shetty was convicted on four counts of wire fraud and sentenced to two years in prison
- The fraud caused roughly 60 employees to lose their jobs and nearly pushed the company out of business
Nevin Shetty, the former CFO of a Seattle software startup, has been sentenced to two years in federal prison for secretly moving $35 million in company funds into crypto investments he controlled.
🚨JUST IN: NEVIN SHETTY SENTENCED TO 2 YEARS IN PRISON FOR $35M DEFI THEFT
Shetty secretly moved $35 million in company funds to his side business HighTower Treasury
Those funds were then invested in high-yield DeFi lending protocols that promised returns of 20% or more.… pic.twitter.com/VIrKyXYp2N
— BSCN (@BSCNews) March 6, 2026
A federal judge in Seattle handed down the sentence following a nine-day jury trial that concluded on November 7, 2025. Shetty was found guilty on four counts of wire fraud.
Shetty joined the company in March 2021 as its chief financial officer. The company had a strict investment policy requiring funds to be kept in safe, conservative accounts like money market funds.
Despite helping to write that policy himself, Shetty launched a crypto side business called HighTower Treasury in early 2022. It had no other clients.
In April 2022, after being told he would be removed from his CFO role due to performance concerns, Shetty acted. Between April 1 and April 12, 2022, he used wire transfers from a Chase bank branch near his home to move $35,000,100 into HighTower Treasury.
No other executives or board members knew about the transfers at the time.
Shetty then invested the funds into decentralized finance, or DeFi, lending platforms. These platforms promised returns of 20% or more.
In the first month, the investments returned around $133,000 in profit.
When the Crypto Market Collapsed
That early success did not last. The collapse of the Terra ecosystem in May 2022 triggered a wider crypto market crash. By May 13, 2022, the value of Shetty’s investments had fallen to nearly zero.
With the $35 million essentially gone, Shetty told two fellow executives what he had done. He was fired immediately.
U.S. District Judge Tana Lin said the fraud had serious consequences. The missing funds forced the company to lay off around 60 workers and nearly drove it out of business entirely.
Shetty was indicted on wire fraud charges in May 2023. He was convicted in November 2025 after the jury trial and sentenced in March 2026.
Crypto Fraud Cases Continue in U.S. Courts
This case is one of several high-profile crypto fraud cases that have moved through U.S. courts in recent years.
Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2024. His legal team filed an appeal, and as of Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit had not yet issued a ruling after hearing arguments in November.
In addition to his two-year prison term, Shetty has been ordered to repay the full $35 million. He will also serve three years of supervised release after completing his sentence.
