Hollywood director sentenced to prison for $11M Netflix fraud scheme
Hollywood filmmaker Carl Rinsch will be serving prison time for a multi-million dollar scheme against Netflix.
New York judge Jed S. Rakoff sentenced Rinsch to 30 months behind bars followed by three years of supervised release on Monday, June 29, United States Attorney Jay Clayton announced in a press release. The "47 Ronin" director was also ordered to pay $11 million in forfeiture and $700 in mandatory special assessments.
This comes six months after a jury found Rinsch guilty of misusing funds in connection with the production of an unfinished Netflix series.
“Carl Erik Rinsch orchestrated a scheme to steal millions by seeking $11 million from a subscription streaming service, falsely claiming that money would be used to finance a television show that he was creating,” Clayton said in a statement.
Look back at Carl Rinsch's fraud case
Between 2018 and 2019, Netflix paid Rinsch $44 million for a sci-fi series called "White Horse." In March 2020, Netflix gave Rinsch $11 million after he demanded additional funds, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
While the money was intended to complete the remaining episodes of the show, Clayton said "Rinsch made risky bets on highly speculative stock options and cryptocurrency," ultimately losing more than half of the $11 million within two months of receiving it.
Rinsch proceeded to spend the remainder of the funds "to speculate on cryptocurrency, and on personal expenses and luxury items, including at least $1.7 million on credit card bills; at least $3.3 million on furniture, antiques, and mattresses; at least $387,000 on a Swiss watch; and at least $2.4 million on five Rolls Royces and a red Ferrari."
"White Horse" was never finished, and Rinsch was arrested in March 2025. In December, he was convicted on seven counts, including wire fraud, money laundering and engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity.
"Today’s sentence sends a deterrent message: fraud will not be tolerated," Clayton's statement concluded.
Ahead of sentencing, Keanu Reeves, who worked with Rinsch on the 2013 film "47 Ronin," submitted a letter of support for the director to the court.
"I do not know the details of this case," Reeves, 61, wrote in documents obtained by USA TODAY at the time. "But based upon what I do know about Carl, I did want to take the opportunity to write on his behalf, in the hope that his sentence might be tempered with measures of leniency and mercy as well as justice."
The actor said Rinsch, who he has known for about 15 years, had shown him the work he did for "White Horse" during a prior visit to his Los Angeles home.
"In my opinion, Carl is an exceptional artist," Reeves added. "And 'White Horse,' in the form in which I saw it, was a superb and visionary work of art, although unfinished."
Reeves further alleged he was part of an "intervention" in 2019 in an effort to help get Rinsch mental health care. The "John Wick" star noted his letter was not an "excuse or diminishment of what [Rinsch] has been found to have done," but said Rinsch has brought "exceptional joy and warmth to the people around him," including fostering "wonderful artistic environments where exceptional work was done with him."
"I am, of course, not a therapist or psychologist," Reeves wrote. "I write instead as an artistic peer of Carl's, and as a friend. In my opinion, Carl can self-sabotage by amplifying the scale, scope and landscape of what had been negotiated, accordingly placing himself and his counterparties at odds."
Contributing: Edward Segarra, USA TODAY