US convicts crypto founder for $35M wire fraud

A jury in Seattle has found 41-year-old Nevin Shetty guilty on four counts of wire fraud after he diverted approximately $35 million from his former employer into a cryptocurrency scheme he controlled with the aim of earning interest off the capital.

Shetty was reportedly hired in March 2021 as chief financial officer (CFO) of a private software company that was in the process of raising multiple rounds of funding. 

Shetty commingled funds as CFO 

As part of his role, Shetty helped draft an investment policy statement that limited corporate cash to FDIC-insured bank and treasury accounts, a conservative approach intended to preserve capital as the business scaled. 

Despite this, prosecutors found that between April 1 and 12, 2022, after being informed the previous month that he would no longer continue as CFO due to performance concerns, Shetty secretly transferred $35,000,100 from the company’s account into an entity he had created, named HighTower Treasury. 

The firm’s board and executive team were reportedly unaware of the transfers.

Shetty’s crypto gamble falls flat

Once the funds were in HighTower Treasury, Shetty invested them into decentralized finance (DeFi) lending protocols that promised yields of roughly 20%. 

He was planning to pay his former employer 6% of the promised interest while keeping the rest for himself and his business partner. 

The illegal venture earned him and his partner about $133,000 in the first month. However, everything went on a downward spiral after that, and by May 13, 2022, the value of the investment had collapsed to near zero as the crypto markets plunged. 

After the loss, Shetty confessed to two colleagues and was fired immediately. The company reported the matter to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Closing their arguments and speaking to the jury on what inspired Shetty to commit the crime, the prosecutor stated that it was “Greed – to line his own pockets.  That is what explains his lying, sneaking around, and telling half-truths.”

Trial and conviction

The nine-day jury trial concluded on 7 November 2025, and after roughly ten hours of deliberation, the jury returned a guilty verdict. Shetty faces sentencing on 11 February 2026 and may be looking at up to 20 years in prison because wire fraud carries a maximum penalty of that same number of years of imprisonment. 

U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd said, “This defendant exploited his position of power and trust in an attempt to profit from his crime and then lied to cover it up.”

The fact that Shetty helped author the company’s conservative investment policy and then acted in direct violation of it also shows how formal controls are only as good as the integrity and oversight of those who implement them.

From the crypto angle, the case also speaks to the danger of overleveraging into DeFi protocols promising aggressive yields, only to see the value vanish due to the volatility, the infamous drawback that has dogged the crypto market since day one.