Former Financial Chief Gets Two-Year Prison Term for $35M Crypto Scheme
Wire fraud charges resulted in conviction for Nevin Shetty, who covertly transferred $35 million from a Seattle-based startup into his personal cryptocurrency platform during 2022 for DeFi investment purposes.
The former chief financial officer of a startup based in Seattle has received a two-year prison sentence from a local judge after being found guilty of wire fraud charges connected to a cryptocurrency business operation.
According to a Thursday announcement from the US Justice Department, Nevin Shetty will be incarcerated for two years following his actions that involved "secretly moved approximately $35 million in company funds to a cryptocurrency platform he controlled as a side business." The transfer of these funds occurred in 2022 when he moved them to the HighTower Treasury platform, and the scheme came to light after a downturn in the cryptocurrency market.
Based on information provided by the DOJ, Shetty managed to complete the fund transfers without any knowledge from executives or members of the board at the Seattle-based startup, subsequently deploying the capital to invest in "high-yield DeFi lending protocols that promised to generate returns of 20% or more." During the initial month, he generated profits of $133,000 before the Terra ecosystem's collapse triggered a substantial downturn in the market.
[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. After the $35 million was essentially gone, Shetty told two of his fellow executives what he had done. He was immediately fired.
US Department of Justice
In May 2023, Shetty faced an indictment on wire fraud charges and was subsequently convicted on four separate counts in November 2025 following a jury trial that lasted nine days. The court has mandated that he reimburse the misappropriated funds and remain under supervised release for a period of three years following the completion of his two-year prison term.
Former FTX CEO is still waiting on an appeal
The 2022 case involving Shetty took place several months prior to the downfall of cryptocurrency exchange FTX, an event that ultimately led to the arrest and subsequent conviction of the platform's former CEO, Sam "SBF" Bankman-Fried. In 2024, SBF received a prison sentence of 25 years but has submitted an appeal challenging the ruling. As of Friday, no decision has been announced by the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit following the hearing of arguments that took place in November.