Former ecommerce CFO convicted of diverting $35 million into crypto

Former chief financial officer Nevin Shetty, 41, was convicted Nov. 7 on four counts of wire fraud.

Shetty was convicted for secretly transferring $35 million from his employer, Fabric — a private Seattle-area ecommerce software company — into a cryptocurrency venture he controlled, federal prosecutors said.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington, Shetty helped draft the company’s investment policy requiring all capital to be kept in conservative, FDIC-insured accounts. But in April 2022, weeks after the company told him he would not continue as CFO, he moved $35.1 million into HighTower Treasury, a side business he created two months earlier, without the knowledge of executives or the board.

Prosecutors said Shetty and a partner then placed the funds into high-yield decentralized-finance platforms promising double-digit returns. The value collapsed within weeks, wiping out nearly all of the company’s money.

U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd said Shetty “exploited his position of power and trust” and attempted to profit while concealing the transfers. Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Kopczynski said in closing arguments that Shetty acted out of “greed — to line his own pockets.”

Fabric fired Shetty after he admitted to the transfers in May 2022. The company reported the loss to the FBI, which launched an investigation.

The attorney’s office has set his sentencing for Feb. 11. Wire fraud carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison on each count.

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