A Hollywood writer-director was taken into custody on Tuesday on allegations that he embezzled $11 million from Netflix for a science fiction series that never aired, using the money for cryptocurrency investments and a string of extravagant acquisitions that included a Ferrari and a fleet of Rolls-Royces.
Perhaps best known for directing the movie “47 Ronin,” Carl Erik Rinsch has been charged with wire fraud and money laundering in connection with a conspiracy to swindle the streaming behemoth, according to federal authorities.
Prosecutors claimed that after paying roughly $44 million to acquire Rinsch’s incomplete show “White Horse,” Netflix later gave him an additional $11 million after he claimed he needed the extra money to finish the project.
Rather than using the extra money to wrap up production, Rinsch quietly transferred the money to a personal brokerage account, where he made a series of failed investments that lost about half of the $11 million in two months, according to prosecutors.
The filmmaker then dumped the rest of the money into the cryptocurrency market, which proved to be a profitable move, with Rinsch eventually transferring the earnings into a personal bank account, according to an indictment.
From there, Rinsch spent about $10 million on personal expenses and luxury items in a spending spree that, according to prosecutors, included about $1.8 million on credit card bills; $1 million on lawyers to sue Netflix for more money; $3.8 million on furniture and antiques; $2.4 million for five Rolls-Royces and one Ferrari; and $652,000 on watches and clothes.
Rinsch, 47, was arrested in West Hollywood, California, and had an initial court hearing on Tuesday.
He appeared in a federal courtroom in Los Angeles in a turtleneck sweater and jeans with shackles on his arms and legs. He did not enter a plea and spoke only to answer a judge’s questions. When asked if he’d read the indictment against him, he said “not cover to cover” but told the judge he understood the charges.
He agreed to post a $100,000 bond to guarantee that he would appear in court in New York, where his indictment was filed, and U.S. Magistrate Judge Pedro V. Castillo authorized his release later Tuesday.
Annie Carney, his recently hired lawyer, refused to speak outside of court. During the hearing, she stated that she had not yet viewed the evidence used by the prosecution against Rinsch. “The allegations in this case are purely financial,” she stated in reference to the conditions of his release.
The date of Rinsch’s court appearance in New York was still pending.
