Nevin Shetty, the former chief financial officer (CFO) of a Seattle-based startup, pleaded not guilty to siphoning $35 million from the company to invest in a cryptocurrency venture. He was hired in March 2021 as CFO of a company called Fabric, which makes software platforms for retail commerce.
The disgraced Indian-origin executive allegedly took $35 million of his employer's money without permission and lost it by investing in cryptocurrency before the crypto market crashed last year, according to a federal indictment.
The investigation began after Fabric reported the alleged embezzlement to the US FBI (Federal Bureau of Investigation). Wire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in prison.
The indictment alleged that Nevin Shetty, 39, secretly took Fabric’s money and transferred it to HighTower Treasury, a crypto platform he controlled as a side business. This allegedly took place after he was sacked by the company over his job performance issues.
Shetty created that side business in or around February 2022.
He pleaded not guilty to all four charges of fraud, Seattle-based tech news website GeekWire reported. Released on an appearance bond, he was asked to surrender is passport. He also faces money management restrictions, the report said.
Before joining Fabric, he was the CEO of another Seattle startup, Blueprint Registry.
“Since May 2022, fabric has been cooperating with law enforcement in the investigation of the company’s former CFO Nevin Shetty’s conduct in the misuse of $35 million of fabric funds,” Fabric had said in a statement to GeekWire last week.
“We are thankful for and appreciate the hard work that the FBI and US Attorney’s Office have done in helping resolve this matter. While the amount taken is substantial, fabric remains very well-funded with years of runway.”
(With inputs from PTI)
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