Who is Nevin Shetty, Indian-origin ex-CFO accused of embezzling $35mn

After FTX's Nishad Singh, another Indian-origin executive has been caught in a crypto-related fraud. This time, it is Nevin Shetty, the former chief financial officer (CFO) of Seattle-based start-up Fabric. The investigation into Shetty's alleged wrongdoing has been going on for a while. Now, let's take a look at who he is and what he did.

According to a 2017 blog post, Shetty was born in Alabama. He spent five years of his childhood in an American compound in Riyadh due to his father's job as an aeronautical engineer. His family later moved to Seattle. Shetty went to the University of Washington for his undergraduate studies. He studied finance and later did a master's in accounting.

Shetty began his career at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in New York. Per his interview with One Million By One Million Blog, he started a hedge fund in 2012. "Then I had the idea for Blueprint in 2013," Shetty said. He is referring to Blueprint Registry, an innovative wedding registry platform that allowed shopping based on the layout of a home.

Shetty co-founded Blueprint Registry with Lizzy Ellingson. In 2016, it was picked to be a part of the Target+ Techstars accelerator program. In 2018, it was acquired by David's Bridal. Shetty was the CEO of Blueprint Registry at the time. After the acquisition, he was made the senior vice president of the company. He was also the chief partnership officer at David's Bridal.

In 2021, Shetty joined Fabric, a company that offers software, APIs, and other technology for retailers and B2B brands for online commerce. Fast forward to now, Shetty has been charged with four charges of fraud. He is accused of funneling Fabric's funds to HighTower Treasury, his crypto side business. The investigation was started after Fabric reported alleged embezzlement to the FBI in 2022.

According to his indictment, Shetty transferred the funds after he was told he would be let go due to his performance in March 2022. Shetty reportedly planned to pay Fabric 6% interest for its investment. However, once the crypto market crashed last year, the value of those funds became almost zero. Shetty pled not guilty to all counts of fraud.