Director Carl Erik Rinsch, who directed the 2013 action film 47 Ronin starring Keanu Reeves, was convicted Thursday of defrauding Netflix of $11 million.
U.S. District Judge Jed S. Rakoff found Rinsch guilty of wire fraud, money laundering and other charges, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York said. announced. Lawyer Benjamin Zeman, who represents Rinsch, condemned the verdict in a statement released Friday.
“I think the verdict was wrong, and I fear it could set a dangerous precedent for artists being embroiled in contractual and creative disputes with their benefactors,” Zeman said, “in this case, one of the largest media companies in the world will find itself accused by the federal government of fraud.”
A Netflix representative had no comment on Rinsch's sentence.
Federal prosecutors said March the accusation that $11 million was intended to complete a television show that had already had $44 million invested. Prosecutors say the money instead went to Rinsch's personal accounts, his personal expenses, and his personal profits and losses. The 48-year-old executive “quickly moved” the money from the Rinsch Co. account, where it had been transferred by Netflix on March 6, 2020, through a series of additional accounts until about $10.5 million ended up in a personal brokerage account a few weeks later. The indictment says Rinsch lost more than half of that money in less than two months through risky stock market investments.
Although he told the streamer that his sci-fi show White Horse was “amazing and was doing very well,” Rinsch allegedly moved the remaining money into cryptocurrency over the next few years and ultimately profited from cryptocurrency speculation. He was accused of spending about $10 million on five Rolls-Royces, a Ferrari, watches, clothes, luxury bedding, credit card bills, lawyers to sue Netflix for more money, and lawyers who worked on his divorce.
According to the indictment, about $3.8 million was spent on furniture and antiques, including two mattresses valued at $638,000. The half-dozen cars cost just over $2.4 million.
Rinsch was arrested in West Hollywood in March and released the same day after agreeing to post $100,000 bail to guarantee his appearance in federal court in New York.
“Carl Eric Rinsch took $11 million intended for a television show and bet it on speculative stock options and cryptocurrency transactions,” U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said Thursday. “Today’s conviction shows that when someone steals from investors, we will follow the money and hold them accountable.”
Rinsch never finished the show. His sentencing is scheduled for April.
Times assistant editor Christie D'Zurilla and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
