Former CFO Charged With Losing $35m On Secret Crypto Investment

On Wednesday, a former CFO was indicted for allegedly investing $35 million of his employer’s money in a hidden crypto investment that plummeted.

According to a Fabric release in early 2021, Mercer Island resident Nevin Shetty joined the Bellevue-based e-commerce startup.

According to a new press release from the Western District of Washington U.S. Attorney’s Office, Shetty helped draught a corporate policy that limited the company’s cash to conservative investments in fixed-income instruments payable in US dollars.

The indictment states that the company’s top executives informed Shetty in March 2022 that he could not continue as CFO due to his performance.

Shetty allegedly transferred $35 million of Fabric’s capital into HighTower Treasury, a crypto platform he controlled as a side business, within days of hearing that news.

According to the indictment, the former CFO signed a “Treasury Account Agreement” between the two entities to permit the covert investment without Fabric’s knowledge.

HighTower was supposed to pay Fabric 6% interest on the investment and keep any extra interest.

Shetty bought $28.8 million of TerraUSD (UST) just weeks before it de-pegged from the US dollar and fell 99.99%. The crypto-wide meltdown reduced his $35 million investment to “nearly zero,” according to U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Wire fraud carries a 20-year sentence, and Shetty was accused.