A court has convicted the former CFO of an IT company for misappropriating and subsequently losing $35 million in corporate funds. In addition to the prison sentence, the defendant is ordered to pay substantial restitution and is under strict probation supervision for three years after his release. He is also banned for life from holding any management positions in any commercial organization without special permission from the government.

The crime began in April 2022, when the company's management decided to fire Shetty due to his poor performance. Instead of resigning, the CFO secretly transferred $35 million from the company's accounts to his own business, HighTower Treasury. He invested these funds in high-risk decentralized lending protocols, hoping that an aggressive strategy with returns of 20% per annum would allow him to surreptitiously pocket a portion of the profits, paying only a fixed amount to the company.

The initial success of the scheme, which netted the perpetrators $133,000 in profits in a month, proved illusory. In May 2022, a catastrophic collapse of the Terra ecosystem triggered a protracted crypto winter, resulting in the entire $35 million invested capital being devalued to virtually nothing. The scale of the damage was so great that the IT company that fell victim to the scam was on the brink of collapse and was forced to urgently lay off 60 employees to stay afloat.

During the trial, the prosecutor insisted on a ten-year prison sentence, emphasizing that Shetty's actions were permeated with a "web of lies" and led to serious social consequences for the company's employees. The court took into account the extent of the damage caused, but the final verdict was less than the prosecution's demands. The case is yet another reminder of the risks of crypto investments, particularly when it comes to the misuse of corporate resources, which has already led to a number of other high-profile cases, including the arrest of fraudsters hiding under the guise of "dead" people.