SEATTLE — A Mercer Island man was sentenced to 2 years in federal jail for defrauding his former employer of about $35 million and funneling the cash into dangerous cryptocurrency investments tied to his facet enterprise.
Nevin Shetty, 42, was convicted in November 2025 on 4 counts of wire fraud following a nine-day jury trial. U.S. District Decide Tana Lin mentioned at sentencing that the losses “had important and extreme results on the corporate,” noting the fraud led to layoffs of 60 workers and almost compelled the enterprise to shut.
Shetty was employed in March 2021 as chief monetary officer of a non-public software program firm that had adopted strict insurance policies requiring funds to be saved in conservative investments, according to prosecutors.
Regardless of serving to draft these insurance policies, Shetty secretly transferred roughly $35 million in April 2022 into accounts tied to his personal entity, HighTower Treasury.
Prosecutors mentioned Shetty then positioned the cash into high-yield decentralized finance, or DeFi, cryptocurrency platforms that promised returns of 20% or extra.
FILE- Picture of a crypto coin and pc.(7News)
The scheme initially generated about $133,000 in revenue for Shetty and a enterprise accomplice, however the investments quickly collapsed. By mid-Could 2022, almost the entire funds had been gone.
Authorities mentioned no firm executives or board members had been conscious of the transfers on the time. Shetty disclosed the losses solely after the cash had been depleted and was fired instantly.
“Mr. Shetty overtly schemed to line his personal pockets together with his employer’s cash,” First Assistant U.S. Legal professional Charles Neil Floyd mentioned.
Shetty was ordered to pay $35,000,100 in restitution and can serve three years of supervised launch after his jail time period.
Decide Lin additionally barred him from serving as a company officer or director with out prior approval.
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