Filmmaker Carl Erik Rinsch, who directed the 2013 action film “47 Ronin” starring Keanu Reeves, was convicted Thursday for 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, Southern District of New York announced. Attorney Benjamin Zeman, who represents Rinsch, denounced the verdict in a statement shared Friday.
“I think the verdict was wrong and I fear that this could set a dangerous precedent for artists who become embroiled in contractual and creative disputes with their benefactors,” Zeman said, “in this case one of the largest media companies in the world, finding themselves indicted by the federal government for fraud.”
A representative for Netflix did not comment on Rinsch’s conviction.
Federal prosecutors alleged in a March indictment that the $11 million was meant to go toward finishing a TV show in which $44 million had already been invested. Prosecutors allege the money instead went into Rinsch’s personal accounts, his personal spending and his personal gains and losses. The director, 48, “quickly transferred” the money from the Rinsch Co. account, where it had been deposited March 6, 2020, by Netflix, through a number of additional accounts until about $10.5 million wound up weeks later in a personal brokerage account. Rinsch proceeded to lose more than half of that money in less than two months via risky investments in the stock market, the indictment said.
Though he told the streamer that his sci-fi show “White Horse” was “awesome and moving forward really well,” Rinsch, over the next couple of years, allegedly moved the remaining money into cryptocurrency and ultimately profited from crypto speculation. He was accused of spending around $10 million on five Rolls-Royces, a Ferrari, watches, clothing, luxury bedding and linens, credit card bills, attorneys to sue Netflix for more money, and lawyers to work on his divorce.
According to the indictment, about $3.8 million was spent on furniture and antiques, including two mattresses that cost $638,000 total. The half-dozen cars cost a little over $2.4 million.
Rinsch was arrested in West Hollywood in March and released the same day after agreeing to post a $100,000 bond to guarantee his appearance in a New York federal court.
“Carl Erik Rinsch took $11 million meant for a TV show and gambled it on speculative stock options and crypto 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 set for April.
Times assistant editor Christie D’Zurilla and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
