Ex-CFO Sentenced to Two Years after Diverting $35M to Crypto Venture

A Seattle judge just dropped the hammer on Nevin Shetty — the former CFO of a local startup who got caught playing fast and loose with $35 million of company cash. Two years in prison, plus three years supervised release. The verdict? Wire fraud, big time.

Here’s the play-by-play: In 2022, Shetty secretly funneled $35 million from his employer’s coffers to HighTower Treasury — his own crypto side-hustle platform. No executives knew. No board members had a clue. He then dumped the cash into high-yield DeFi lending protocols promising 20%+ returns. Classic crypto degen move.

For a hot minute, it worked. First month? $133,000 in gains. Then Terra collapsed, the market nosedived, and by May 13, 2022, that $35 million was basically zero. Poof. Gone. That’s when Shetty finally fessed up to two execs. Immediate termination, obviously.

The DOJ indicted him in May 2023. A nine-day jury trial in November 2025 found him guilty on four counts. Now he’s ordered to repay the stolen funds (good luck with that) and do the time.

Shetty’s 2022 heist went down months before FTX imploded — which landed Sam “SBF” Bankman-Fried a 25-year sentence in 2024. SBF filed an appeal, but as of now, the US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit hasn’t ruled since hearing arguments in November. The waiting game continues.