- A Seattle judge sentenced former CFO Nevin Shetty to two years in prison for wire fraud.
- Shetty secretly transferred $35 million from a startup to his crypto platform for DeFi investments.
- The funds were lost during a 2022 market downturn, leading to his immediate firing and conviction.
- Shetty must repay the stolen funds and serve three years of supervised release post-prison.
A Seattle judge has sentenced former startup CFO Nevin Shetty to two years in prison for wire fraud, following his conviction for secretly moving $35 million in company funds. The US Justice Department said the sentence was imposed after a Thursday notice detailing the 2022 scheme. Shetty transferred the funds to his controlled cryptocurrency platform, HighTower Treasury, without executive or board knowledge.
He then used the stolen capital to invest in high-yield DeFi lending protocols promising 20% or more returns. Consequently, he earned $133,000 in the first month before a crypto market downturn began. However, the collapse of the Terra ecosystem contributed to a significant decline in value.
“[T]he cryptocurrency investments that Shetty made with the stolen funds soon began declining and by May 13, 2022, the value of the investments was nearly zero,” said the DOJ. After the $35 million was essentially gone, Shetty confessed to two fellow executives and was immediately fired. He was indicted on wire fraud charges in May 2023 and found guilty on four counts in November 2025 after a nine-day jury trial.
Meanwhile, the court has ordered Shetty to pay back the stolen funds and serve three years of supervised release after his prison term. This 2022 case preceded the collapse of cryptocurrency exchange FTX and the conviction of its former CEO, Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried. Bankman-Fried was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2024 but has filed to appeal the ruling, with the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit having heard arguments in November.
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