A former CFO secretly moved $35M in company funds into risky crypto investments. He lost nearly all of it and got two years in prison.
A former tech company CFO is heading to prison for two years.
Nevin Shetty, 42, of Mercer Island, Washington, stole $35 million from his employer and funneled it into high-risk crypto investments. A federal judge in Seattle sentenced him on March 5, 2026, following a November 2025 jury conviction on four counts of wire fraud.
The money vanished in weeks, and 60 employees lost their jobs as a result.
How Shetty Stole $35 Million From His Own Company
Shetty joined the private software firm as CFO in March 2021.
He helped write the company’s investment policy, which required all funds to stay in money market accounts or other conservative investments. The board approved that policy. Shetty knew it well because he drafted it himself.
In early 2022, the company told Shetty he could not continue as CFO due to performance concerns. Shortly after, he moved fast. Between April 1 and 12, 2022, Shetty wired $35,000,100 of company money to an account he controlled.
He used a Chase bank branch near his home to carry out the transfers. No other executives or board members had any idea this was happening.
The money went to a platform called HighTower Treasury. Shetty had created this side business himself in early 2022. It had no outside customers. It existed, in effect, to receive the stolen funds.
Risky Crypto Bets Wiped Out the Funds in Weeks
Through HighTower Treasury, Shetty placed the stolen $35 million into decentralized finance, commonly called DeFi. He targeted high-yield DeFi lending protocols promising annual returns of 20% or more.
He planned to pay his former employer a small, fixed return while HighTower kept the difference. As an owner of HighTower, Shetty stood to pocket a significant share of those profits.
In the first month, the scheme generated roughly $133,000 in profit for Shetty and his HighTower partner. Then the markets turned. The DeFi investments began losing value fast. By May 13, 2022, the entire $35 million was nearly gone.
After losing almost everything, Shetty told two fellow executives what he had done. His employer fired him on the spot. The company, now short $35 million in operating capital, had to lay off 60 workers to survive.
Related Reading: US Authorities Seize $580M in Crypto Linked to Chinese Crime Networks
What the Judge and Prosecutors Said at Sentencing
Judge Tana Lin did not hold back at the sentencing hearing.
According to the DOJ release, she told Shetty directly that his actions threw the lives of 60 people into complete turmoil and nearly put the company out of business. She added that he was playing with money that was never his.
Prosecutors had asked for a nine-year sentence. Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Kopczynski described the crime as calculated and driven by greed.
He argued that Shetty built a web of lies, deceiving people up and down the chain of command, including staff at outside institutions like Stifel and Chase.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd noted that Shetty never admitted fault. Even at trial, he tried to argue the fraud was somehow meant to help his former employer. The jury did not buy it.
FBI Assistant Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Dean called it a difficult case, noting that Shetty had both the access and the institutional trust to move the funds undetected.
Dean credited the FBI and U.S. Attorney’s Office for seeing it through.
Judge Lin sentenced Shetty to two years in prison, three years of supervised release, and full restitution of $35,000,100. She also barred him from serving as an officer or director of any company without prior approval from the probation office.
