The former chief financial officer of a Seattle-based startup took $35 million of his employer\u2019s money without permission and lost it by investing in cryptocurrency before the crypto market crashed last year, according to a federal indictment returned by a grand jury Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nevin Shetty, 39, was hired in March 2021 as CFO of Fabric, which makes software platforms for retail commerce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
About a year later, after the company informed him it was letting him go over job performance concerns, he secretly took the money and transferred it to HighTower Treasury, a crypto platform he controlled as a side business, the indictment said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
His idea was to pay the company 6% interest while retaining profits above that, but soon the $35 million investment was practically worthless, the U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office in Seattle said in a news release.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The indictment in U.S. District Court charged Shetty with four counts of wire fraud. He is scheduled to be arraigned May 25.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Shetty\u2019s attorney, Cooper Offenbecher, said in an emailed statement that he and his client had been in regular contact with prosecutors and disagreed with the decision to bring an indictment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cAs the CFO of his former employer, tasked with making investment decisions for its benefit, Mr. Shetty was personally devastated by these losses, which occurred as a result of a catastrophic crash in the cryptocurrency market in May 2022,\u201d Offenbecher wrote. \u201cWe look forward to responding to these allegations in Court.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Prosecutors, however, said that as the company raised hundreds of millions of dollars in startup funding, it adopted a conservative approach to managing that money \u2014 a policy that Shetty had helped draft.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to the Seattle tech news website GeekWire, Fabric had raised more than $293 million by February 2022 and was valued at $1.5 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The company did not immediately respond to a message seeking comment Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n