CFO Gets Prison Time After Losing $35 Million of Company Money in Crypto Side Hustle
Nevin Shetty, former CFO of a private software company in Washington, was sentenced to two years in prison for wire fraud after diverting $35 million in company funds to his own DeFi platform, HighTower Treasury. After being notified of his termination due to performance issues, Shetty secretly transferred the funds and invested them in high-yield decentralized finance lending protocols, planning to keep most returns for himself while offering only minimal payments to his employer. The scheme briefly turned a $133,000 profit in the first month before collapsing when the crypto market crashed following the Terra collapse in May 2022, nearly wiping out the investment. After admitting to his actions, Shetty was fired; the incident nearly bankrupted the company and led to 60 layoffs. His sentence includes three years of supervised release, a restitution order of $35,000,100, and a ban from serving as an officer or director of a company without prior approval from probation authorities.
